Private vs. Public course design question

[rustystrings]

OP here, just wanted to follow up on my course. I ended up going with a 13 Hole layout. I live in an a rural area called Bakers Grove, and my address is Bakers Grove Rd. A friend had an idea to have 13 holes and name the course "Baker's Dozen". It's kinda clever but also gave me license to not have to have the traditional 9 or 18 hole layout. I had some preliminary 10 & 12 hole layouts that were met with confusion from my friends …haha. I mean who says it HAS to be 9 or 18?? I just want to maximize my property's potential. My conclusion was that the property isn't big enough for even a short 18 holes, but I also had more than 9 good holes I could link up. Turns out 13 was really the perfect fit. The holes are more tightly spaced than a public course but I don't cross over other fairways or share baskets. Average holes are 225-250' with a couple 300-340'. I've redesigned and edited countless times over the past year or two… fine tuning the design and pin placements. A round is about 1 hour to play… I play almost every day during my lunch hour since I work from home. I'm finishing up the course map with distances but can share that along with some photos soon. Thanks to everyone here for the helpful feedback!

 

[DavidSauls]

A course designer should keep his target audience in mind.

Your target audience is you, since you're going to play it more than anyone else. So whatever's the most fun for you, is the way to go.

We have a private course on much more land, but in the early days it was a 7-holer, an 11-holer, a 13-holer, and a 17-holer. I wouldn't worry too much about a "standard" 9 or 18. Plus, Baker's Dozen is clever.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Sounds good to me. Love the name.

There's something to be said for finding a sweet spot in terms of maximizing the property vs. shoehorning in holes all over the place.

Holes being closer together than a public course shouldn't be an issue since it's a private course and you can control course traffic.

It becomes more of a issue if you intend to open it up to many players at the same time.

 

[biscoe]

A course designer should keep his target audience in mind.

can't be repeated enough...