More senior moments in golf course architecture

GCI golf course architecture columnist Jeff Brauer presented his list of “senior moments” in golf course architecture in our May issue. Here are some additional flubs we couldn’t fit into the print edition.

You can’t beat Mother Nature

Large waste sand areas have been designed in rainy climates where unwanted plants (i.e., weeds) grow too easily, quickly over running the sand, which is often eliminated later.

Beach bunkers were trendy, until someone realized they couldn’t be drained properly, because the drain pipes were underwater.

Designing without site analysis has led to many problems, including building a golf course on the contaminated soils old salt mine, where turf wouldn’t grow, and allocating the best land at a multi-season resort for golf on the northside of the hill, leaving the ski hill south facing the sun, and very slushy slopes.

Surely, Someone Has Tried Chocolate on Roast Beef

Looking for a unique signature, one designer experimented with a “flooded grass bunker,” but turf wouldn’t grow under 3 inches of water, and water moccasins soon used it as a sunning area, hastening its early demise.

Carts – Can’t Live With Them, Can’t Live Without Them

Some architects leave paths to be field designed during shaping, occasionally resulting in expensive cart tunnels, either to hide paths, or because course circulation forced them to tunnel under a tee.
One architect lined fairways with a solid row of huge mounds. Golfers couldn’t access the fairways from the paths, and gaps had to be cut in later.

A Fitting Finale – A Senior Moment in A Senior Community

Years ago, in a senior citizen community, the golf course featured par-3 holes averaging over 240 yards, out of reach by the locals. Maybe the developer insisted that the architect stretch the course through the community to yield more golf front lots, regardless of how it would play for future members, because such courses still get built.

Jeffrey D. Brauer is a veteran golf course architect responsible for more than 50 new courses and more than 100 renovations. A member and past president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, he is president of Jeffrey D. Brauer/GolfScapes in Arlington, Texas. Reach him at jeff@jeffreydbrauer.com.