50 What makes golf interesting is its infinite variety. But the “infinite variety of strokes used” (perhaps not entirely in the meaning MacKenzie intended when writing his ninth principle) makes nuts-and-bolts golf course routing somewhere between hard and impossible. “I think that in the past, I have made my courses just too long and tough for a lot of ordinary golfers,” says English designer Adrian Stiff. “With the original course at the Players Club, the Codrington, many people can’t play it, and even for me now, at 62 and nearly crippled, I can’t make the carries off the back tees. Off the front tees, I reckon some carries are 100 yards, and certainly for a lot of women that’s impossible. That’s the reason only about five ladies play that course! But then it is those great carries at Cypress Point or Pebble Beach that take courses to elite status. You have to figure out your audience I guess.” Catering for ‘ordinary’ bad golfers, those who top a few, slice a few, hit a few reasonably straight but don’t go out of the county is not too difficult. As American architect Phil Smith says: “It comes down to attack angles when designing particular holes. I try to minimise forced carries whenever possible and I always try to design a safe option to play a hole, so high handicap players can navigate the hole by using bump and run shots if desired.” Ron Forse says that the focus should mostly be on the tee shot (because it typically goes further, there is more scope for error than on shorter shots). “Properly positioned forward tees for those with slow swing speeds; bailout areas along the right side of common hitting areas; areas pitched inward to help contain balls; sand bunkers placed beyond their range but positioned as visual guides; wide welcoming fairway dimensions; easy undulations in their landing areas; a preponderance of lakes or water hazards on the left side rather than right,” he says, noting that all this doesn’t do much to help lefthanded players! “At the green, provide a wide approach for a run up. If there’s an upslope present, many times the good golfer will spin the ball off it. This feature does not scare the high handicap, but a front pin is treacherous for the fast clubhead speed. To keep interest for the high handicap, cross bunkers can be placed where a second shot on a hole can easily be carried. Dimension-wise, invading or cross bunkers at 300 to 320 can readily be carried with two decent shots.” So far, so straightforward. This is fairly commonplace design thinking that architects have practiced for BAD GOL F ERS Golf courses that are accessible to the public, like the Old course at St Andrews, may be more likely to feel the need to be accommodating for beginners
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