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Design Nine Around the Pond

Countchunkula

Base Plastic Don't Come Free
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2009
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3,273
Lagoon.jpg


I think that this park would make a great place to play a final nine, after a tourney at nearby Madison Meadows (if the PD allows anymore tourneys). This would be a temporary layout only. The shape of the pond lends itself well to a couple of water carries and some risky greens.

I only see enough room for 9 holes. What do you think would be the ideal layout?
 
The temptation would be to design some sort of loop around the pond. The problem with that, though, is that means the pond is always to the same side. Go clockwise and the course is RHBH friendly, reverse it and it's LHBH friendly.

Using the water effectively and fairly for all styles is your biggest challenge.
 
The temptation would be to design some sort of loop around the pond. The problem with that, though, is that means the pond is always to the same side. Go clockwise and the course is RHBH friendly, reverse it and it's LHBH friendly.

Using the water effectively and fairly for all styles is your biggest challenge.

I'll comment on this real quick regarding the harder setup

Harder setup, This is the one I would choose
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1. It's running clockwise. Starting at the square building going left/west. This shot is a typical righty hole, with trouble right. (RHBH friendly)

2. Place the pad between the trees so that righties cannot hyzer it out over the water for trouble-less drive. (neither)

3. Putting the pad almost to the road and surrounded by trees limits the shot to a straight or left to right shot through the gap. (neither, maybe slightly LHBH)

4. Late hook to the right at the end. The trees near the pad allow no hyzers at all, from either. (LHBH friendly)

5. Depending on where the pad is, you could limit the hyzer approach, or allow for it from both sides. (neither)

6. Easy enough for both parties, a hyzer from the lefty, plenty of room ro throw an anhyzer or slight turning shot from a righty. (neither)

7. Late hook to the left, righty hole. (RHBH friendly)

8. If you consider skipping off the road and possibly into the water an advantage, then it's a lefty hole. Difficult and dangerous shot for either (neither)

9. The difficult landing areas is the trouble here, not the lines. (neither)
 
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Here's one I came up with. Numbers are by tees. Two water carries and a few baskets near water.
 
what's the coordinates of the pond so i can find it on google earth?
 
Lagoon1.jpg


Here's one I came up with. Numbers are by tees. Two water carries and a few baskets near water.

I like this one the best as far as overall layout. Only problem I see is that it doesn't start/end near parking lot. I would maybe start it and current hole #3, and end at current #2.

Might also want to push 8's tee up from 7's fairway to give a little more room. Otherwise, it looks like it would make a pretty cool temp course.
 
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came up with that on the fly, not sure about some of the holes now that i look at it. 7 should maybe go straight across in to that open field and 9 do something else as well. it's hard to tell what trees can be thrown under and which ones are definite obstacles to go around.

one thing i noticed on google earth is the space between the side walk and the pond is not as much as you would think, definitely not enough to put baskets down in most places.

another thing i'll point out is that in yours, #1 goes straight at a parking lot, #5 goes towards the road with not a lot space between your basket placement and the road, #7 goes in to what looks like mud from google earth and some of the pics on there.
 
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I've got 4 baskets I can get my hands on if you ever want to meet up out there and try some of those different shots out. :thmbup: It's a little hard to see which trees offer low ceilings etc. from the overhead view.
 
for the most part it looks like the bigger trees can be thrown under from street view
 
I like this one the best as far as overall layout. Only problem I see is that it doesn't start/end near parking lot. I would maybe start it and current hole #3, and end at current #2.

:doh: Good call, I walk the dog to this park so I never thought about parking.

I've got 4 baskets I can get my hands on if you ever want to meet up out there and try some of those different shots out. :thmbup: It's a little hard to see which trees offer low ceilings etc. from the overhead view.

I've wanted to do something like this for a while. I've got 2 baskets. If we can get a few more and a few other folks, we can do park takeovers.
 
I know a few others from the Illianasconsinigan thread who have baskets and would probably be in for something like that. I've been saying for a while that we should do some DGCR meets in forest preserves and random parks with good dg terrain with our portables.
 
I know a few others from the Illianasconsinigan thread who have baskets and would probably be in for something like that. I've been saying for a while that we should do some DGCR meets in forest preserves and random parks with good dg terrain with our portables.

I've always wanted to set up a temp course at Swallow Cliff FP in Palos. That's the park where they used to have the tobbogan runs. Great elevation changes.:thmbup:
 
When I see this I immediately want to start the round with a carry directly across the narrow part of the lake. Here's how I would let it flow from there, though it's close quarters in a few places...

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Good thought to use this park, Countchunkula!

Here is a design that I would love to play (and it would make this the best 9-er in Chicagoland!)

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The things I like about this design are:
1) Two 2-throw holes (Par-4's)
2) Several risk/reward placement holes 1, 3, 5, 9
3) Tees are paved for all but 2 short holes (2 & 7) and one long one (6)
4) A few technical placement holes that are well suited to shorter arms (2, 3, 5, 7), a few bomber holes to reward the big arms (1, 4, 5, 9), and a few medium-long holes for the medium arms (3, 6, 8, 9)
5) Trees are strategically used for more of a wooded effect (6, 7, 8). An Errant drive could easily end up with a bogey 4
6) Flow is good. Longest walk is to tee 1, and then 4B to 5T is 190'
7) Water use is not too punitive
8) It is only 10 minutes (4 miles) from where I often work

What I do not like:
1) Hole 9 could conflict with 5's tee.
2) Hole 9 uses a Mando (for safety)
3) Hole 4 comes a little too close to the playground (200' off tee)
4) Walk from 3T to 3B conflicts with hole 2
5) There are crossing fairways.....but those will only conflict in January & February :D
 
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Lewis, I thought about that across the water shot too. The only problem is the long walk around almost half the pond to get to the basket. You would be crossing other fairways. It would be a sweet shot, but not practical. Unless you've got a john boat or canoe.
 
Your pic is not showing up dave. I'm interested in what you've come up with. Sadly, this is pure fantasy as far as a permanent course is concerned. The park is too busy with other users for a permanent couse to work. I was just thinking about creating a crazy temp course with all the water and street OB.
 
I know a few others from the Illianasconsinigan thread who have baskets and would probably be in for something like that. I've been saying for a while that we should do some DGCR meets in forest preserves and random parks with good dg terrain with our portables.

I have 2 baskets I could bring (SkillShot and DisCatcher). I'll join in at Lagoon if we use my layout. :D

Your idea here actually would be a ton of fun if we combined it with a design session like this and did it on a semi-regular basis.
 
Your pic is not showing up dave. I'm interested in what you've come up with. Sadly, this is pure fantasy as far as a permanent course is concerned. The park is too busy with other users for a permanent couse to work. I was just thinking about creating a crazy temp course with all the water and street OB.

Dang it - the 5 minute edit rule bit me. I was uploading the corrected picture and had just deleted the original one when the edit window must have slammed shut on me. Here it is:

Good thought to use this park, Countchunkula!

Here is a design that I would love to play (and it would make this the best 9-er in Chicagoland!)

attachment.php


The things I like about this design are:
1) Two 2-throw holes (Par-4's)
2) Several risk/reward placement holes 1, 3, 5, 9
3) Tees are paved for all but 2 short holes (2 & 7) and one long one (6)
4) A few technical placement holes that are well suited to shorter arms (2, 3, 5, 7), a few bomber holes to reward the big arms (1, 4, 5, 9), and a few medium-long holes for the medium arms (3, 6, 8, 9)
5) Trees are strategically used for more of a wooded effect (6, 7, 8). An Errant drive could easily end up with a bogey 4
6) Flow is good. Longest walk is to tee 1, and then 4B to 5T is 190'
7) Water use is not too punitive
8) It is only 10 minutes (4 miles) from where I often work

What I do not like:
1) Hole 9 could conflict with 5's tee.
2) Hole 9 uses a Mando (for safety)
3) Hole 4 comes a little too close to the playground (200' off tee)
4) Walk from 3T to 3B conflicts with hole 2
5) There are crossing fairways.....but those will only conflict in January & February :D
 

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