Inverse, Double Mando or Alternate Mandos

[roggenb3]

Temp hole for one or two events.

Why did I play it then? Never played an event there. Maybe I'm misremembering, or maybe the trees are marked but just no one plays it except events?

 

[Cgkdisc]

Why did I play it then? Never played an event there. Maybe I'm misremembering, or maybe the trees are marked but just no one plays it except events?

Maybe you played right before or after an event when the signs were up or remained up for a few weeks. When the really long pin placement is used for the previous hole, the temp tee for the double mando is a much closer walk than the regular tee to that pin.

 

[JC17393]

What if it's the only option to add some challenge? If that's what you have to work with, go for it. It may be lame without the mando but with it it would be slightly less lame. It's relative. My issue is with the current default penalty. This does make the hole with that mando, under current rules, net lamer.

Are we talking a temp course or a permanent one?

With a temp course where you are limited on time and space (as in you can't cut trees or otherwise alter the property), then sure, a mando is better than nothing. But for a permanent course that can be designed in any number of ways, I'd be looking to create a sequence of holes that doesn't pin me down to using an otherwise "boring" space in a boring way (absent a mando).

I'm not a believer in "filler" holes that have to be there just because it's the only way to get from A to B. I'd rather change A and/or B to make the hole in between better than settle for a hole that needs a rule gimmick to not be boring.

 

[Karl]

And while not wonderful to have too many of them, a totally "boring" hole on a course DOES provide a 'test' of golfing skill...that of not losing concentration and / or looking too far ahead. I know of a couple of totally plain-jane holes right before a 'killer hole'. Yup, and I can't count all the times I've seen really good players get par (or worse) because they're already ramping up for the biggie. Mission accomplished Mr. Designer!

 

[roblee]

Go for it Doofen. If the Bamboo Wall is good enough for the premier event in the world then your IDM will work for you. Mando discussions seem to generate some interesting opinions. When thoughtfully used I wouldn't define them as a "rule gimmick" any more than OB, Hazard, Relief, etc. I can identify with design challenges being on the Southern High Plains. When you have a job to do use all the tools at your disposal. Your idea has merit.

 

[Steve West]

Why did I play it then? Never played an event there. Maybe I'm misremembering, or maybe the trees are marked but just no one plays it except events?

I think Chuck is thinking of the hole by the hockey rink at the South end of the park. There are two pines trees where the mando paint may have still been visible long after the event.

The only tennis courts are at the North end. I've only heard fables of a hole that went by the tennis courts way back when the tigers smoked.

 

[joecoin]

So it is there to force you to take a route that could actually be physically dangerous should you throw an errant shot? If that is the case it is most definitely unacceptable.

Uh-oh. My entire course is "physically dangerous".
Drop offs, water, stumps, snakes, skunks, nasty woodchucks and bunnies, thorns, widow makers, poison ivy, sometimes hot sun, sometimes snow, sometimes standing water.

The hole in question is not too long, around 230'. Risk of losing a disc is minimal, but if your disc does go down the cliff I'll retrieve it for you. My course is strictly private, not open to the public. It's mostly for me and a few friends.

House rule says miss the manda and take a stroke, play it from where it lands. Unless you go down the cliff, then I'll let you re-tee with no penalty. Unless you're scoring better than me at that point.

 

[joecoin]

There is no one-size-fits-all answer but yes, there is certainly a possibility that the hole is still not good if it's a thicket that forces the over the cliff throw rather than a mando. Other factors include the overall distance of the hole, the severity of the bend/turn required to go out over the cliff and back, and what the landing zone looks like.

But I stand by my statement that if the mando is the only thing that makes the hole "interesting" or challenging, it's not a good hole at all. Mandos should be a tool in the box for course designers, but it shouldn't be a crutch. Simply dropping a mando into a hole for effect, to me, shows a lack of creativity.

Well pardon me for not being "creative". Lots of people think Andy Warhol was creative. I'm not one of those people.

I think I'll reverse the hole, take out the manda and make it more LHBH/RHFH friendly. I'm gonna send a lot of discs over the cliff myself.

 

[biscoe]

My course is strictly private, not open to the public. It's mostly for me and a few friends.

In that case carry on as you would prefer. I was mistakenly thinking course open to the public.

 

[JeremyKShort]

Why?

The biggest concern is that many casual players ignore mandos, or aren't educated with the rules enough to play them. So they just play the hole without they mando and throw where they want.

 

[JeremyKShort]

As for the original idea, it may be a way to make the course interesting. I think an 18 hole course can have one or two gimmicks in it. If you try to trick up every hole, it starts to get a bit like mini-golf. Sometimes you can do a little something to a hole to make it much better. We have wooded holes around here that have height mandos on them to force you to throw down the narrow fairway. We don't have 80 ft tall pines here, and it's the only way to stop guys from just tomahawking or grenading over the top. I'd like taller trees, but it's not going to happen here. So that's what we've got. But we try to only do that in a few places on a course, and not do it 15 times.