Power of one more

Eighteen holes is the standard round of golf. The handicap system and formal competitions revolve around the familiar number. When St. Andrews cut two holes in each of their eight common greens, and retained two single holes, the total was 18. In 1834, King William IV bestowed “Royal & Ancient” status upon St. Andrews, known as the home of golf, in Scotland. Golf professionals followed suit.

An indeterminate number of holes then is as old as the game itself. How and why a proper “19th hole” came about is more debatable. Many people believe one extra hole was created for settling matches that were all square, but an extra hole (or holes) could also be used to extend the routing back to the clubhouse. An extra hole can also serve as a substitute for a hole that is temporarily unavailable.

Legendary Run Golf Course in Cincinnati, Ohio, was designed in the mid-1990s as a private club and it is now a hugely popular public facility. It’s known for its holes inspired by renowned courses, such as Turnberry (No. 4), Dornoch (No. 7) and Inverness (No. 16). Hole 19, with an unforgiving carry over a pond, was built as a hog hole and named Legendary. It plays from 100 to 163 yards and is an easy place to lose a ball — or a bet!

About 75 percent of golfers play it. “On the busiest days, we close it to turn carts around faster,” superintendent T.J. Collins says. “For outings, it’s used for hole-in-one or closest-to-the-pin contests. We don’t get much feedback unless it’s closed. Then we hear about it!”

The hole also serves a more functional purpose.

“It’s handy when we do things beyond routine daily maintenance,” Collins adds. “We utilize No. 19 when we have an in-play irrigation repair, aerification work or a project on another hole. Rather than disrupt our player experience, we close the hole we need to work on and ask players to use No. 19. They get to play a full round and we can work. It helps tremendously with efficiency.”

Most 19th holes are par 3s, but a property with multiple extra holes will likely have more variety. Forrest Richardson, architect and author of “Routing the Golf Course,” created a par-2 bonus hole at Mountain Shadows, a popular par-3 course in Paradise Valley, Arizona. “We had this space between No. 17 and No. 18, so we created a par-2 wager hole,” Richardson says.

A resident who views the hole from her backyard has recounted how much people enjoy it. “That’s the key to extra holes,” Richardson says. “They’re fun. They do settle bets. They can also be used for practice and instruction.” Extra holes can be a product of renovation work, usually resulting in placement randomly throughout the course. It’s part of the way courses shift and change.

Routed through lava fields, Black Desert Resort, in Ivins, Utah, will have a 19th hole soon. Designed by the late Tom Weiskopf, the course prioritizes playability for all skill levels and the aesthetics are striking. The 19th plays from 80 to 90 yards and is still growing in under the direction of superintendent Ken Yates. General manager Brenton Rice has noticed how the 19th is already generating buzz. “Once ready, it will offer entertainment, like closest-to-the-pin and beat-the-pro contests,” Rice says. “Groups will also be able to reserve it for team-building activities.”

Payne’s Valley in Branson, Missouri, has a gorgeous 134-yard bonus hole. Surrounded by cliffs with flowing waterfalls, the island green was designed by the visionary Johnny Morris, founder of Bass Pro Shops. He worked with Tiger Woods, leader of TGR Design, and Beau Welling, senior design consultant for TGR Design, to create it.

Morris wanted the last hole to finish below a large rock escarpment, but the 18-hole routing made this tricky. The solution became a 19th hole. Welling and the team had never seen the finished product until a promotional event. “The final look of it was all Mr. Morris and the team at Payne’s Valley,” Welling says. “I get comments from people who have played it almost every week.”

Extra holes can make a big impact.

Construction, maintenance and trends

The construction of the 19th at Payne’s Valley was intense. The lake was shaped with rebar, framing wire and gunite. This was completed in stages to allow for machinery to access the green. The bunker was reshaped numerous times. Carefully designed, the green’s drainage exits below the bottom level of the lake and daylights out the side of one of the lower cliff walls. This also allows for positive gas exchange for the root zone.

“The bridge to the green is 5 feet wide so only certain equipment can be used. Air movement is another challenge,” says Steve Johnson, director of golf maintenance at Big Cedar Lodge. The water around the hole has largemouth and hybrid striper bass that are fed by the team member assigned to course setup for the day. After playing the 19th, The Cliffhanger Trail is a one-mile ride back up the cart path to the clubhouse. It’s an experience.

Johnson gets asked about the maintenance. “A standard walk-mower fits across the bridge along with our 648 aerifier and our walk-behind topdresser,” he says. “To verticut we remove the front two cutting units from the triplex to cross the bridge then put them back on. We use a SprayBug to make our weekly fungicide or foliar applications. Tee work is challenging with similar access constraints.”

Still, the benefits outweigh the work. “The grandeur and magnitude of this 19th hole make it all worth it,” Johnson adds. “It’s the sort of hole people imagine, but it’s real.”

The 19th hole at Legendary Run is maintained like the rest of the course with the same mowing heights, frequencies and applications. Due to its structure, there isn’t much additional turf. “The green is about 5,000 square feet and the tees are 7,500 square feet,” Collins says. “In a time crunch, we may skip a mowing or rolling. Our GPS pace of play tracking system does not factor in play on the 19th hole. Accessory ordering is plus one.”

As the trend for more diverse playing options continues, maintenance considerations should help guide that creative work. “More golf holes alleviate golfer congestion and reduces wear and tear, but it adds to the maintenance costs,” Collins says. “In addition to regular rounds, new strategies for three-, six- or 12-hole rounds make sense if the tee sheet can be managed.”

Not everyone welcomes extra holes. “The pushback is normally that people do not want to lose any yardage,” Richardson says. Yardage remains a prime consideration for many courses and not all facilities have the land that extra holes require.

“It’s rare that we have a client that wants only a practice range and 18 holes of golf,” Welling says. “They want extra holes, and/or they are increasingly interested in the idea of golf returning to the clubhouse with a number that doesn’t have to be nine. Nine is good too, but people want more optionality for how they play. Everyone is looking for something more innovative.”

Troon operates Black Desert Resort and the management team knows the extra hole will be worth the investment. “Where the 19th hole sits in relation to the resort, it’s one of the first things guests see when they check in,” Rice says. “We market the course as 19 holes and that’s a draw.”

Looking forward to hosting PGA Tour and LPGA events, Black Desert Resort is also finding ways to engage people coming into the sport, including a 36-hole putting course. “In trying to keep up, figuring out a different routing for a shorter round of golf is necessary,” Rice says. “We are excited for where we are and where we are headed.”

“We are seeing driving ranges get lit and a lot of short courses,” Welling adds. “It’s like the 18 holes of golf, there is a culture to that, but there is a culture to the new stuff, too. There is more music, more interaction, even more activation in food and beverage. The score is less important because it feels like a different experience.”

Extra holes and other different options create opportunities to push the boundaries. “Some of the short courses we are doing have holes that are really short,” Welling says. “Because of that, we can do things you wouldn’t do on a regulation-size hole in terms of the size and shape of greens, severity of slopes, things like that. There is more freedom from a design standpoint.”

Extra holes go by many names — bet hole, wager hole, 19th hole, hog hole and more — but extra holes are extending beyond a 19th for many properties, with multiple purposes. As courses diversify, there is potential to take some pressure off the maintenance team. Designed well and executed thoughtfully, extra holes are full of promise.

Lee Carr is a northeast Ohio-based writer and senior Golf Course Industry contributor.