Golf Course Architecture - Issue 65, July 2021

S horter rounds of golf increased in popularity during 2020, with the National Golf Federation reporting a 15 per cent increase in nine-hole rounds. This appetite for a quick hit of golf is mirrored by the recent rise of short course projects, particularly at resort facilities, such as the new 10-hole par-three course at Blackwolf Run in Wisconsin and Bill Coore’s 14-hole Bougle Run at Barnbougle in Australia. Another resort that has added a short course to its offering is Gamble Sands in Brewster, Washington, where David McLay Kidd has designed QuickSands, a 14-hole layout located on a 25-acre parcel of rolling sand dunes. “Historically, short courses were often afterthoughts, squeezed into useless corners for non-golfers to go try their hand,” said Kidd. “Today, short courses have become a serious addition to world-class golf resorts. “QuickSands is located on maybe the best piece of terrain on the property. We didn’t use it for the big course because it is wildly contoured. It was pretty difficult to figure out a way for a full- scale hole through it, but for fourteen short holes, it was perfect.” Kidd’s layout has holes varying between 60 and 180 yards, each designed to offer a unique challenge to a golfer’s skills and imagination. Hole names like Plinko, Crater, Donut, Corkscrew and Boomerang give some sense of what to expect. “Golfers love short holes, it’s a chance for success, it’s immediate gratification,” said Kidd. “QuickSands, however, has a different twist; wild holes, impossible to replicate on full course. If you ask for the yardage, you’re not getting the concept, it’s about reading the ground and imagining a shot, maybe it’s a chipped seven iron or a low checking wedge, it might even be a putter off the tee!” GCA Wild ride We hole out the issue on Gamble Sands’ new QuickSands course, 25 acres of rolling dunes Photo: Evan Schiller HOL ING OUT 72 “ The final routing was a little different to the plan, with the final hole split into a puttable 80-yard hole and a short wedge finale, so we actually built 14 holes,” said Kidd Image: DMK Golf Design