A monster course

No_Catchy_Nickname · April 15, 2017

I'm watching a documentary about the redesign of a club in Japan called the Royal Golf Club. The concept behind it is basically "a world class course". From the competition tees it measures 8,143 yards. There's a 705 par five, and all the par threes are over 200 yards. In fact, the shortest par 3 is 239 yards; the longest is 287, and there's a 271 harder that is also over a lake. The shortest par 4 is 422 yards, and the longest is 532.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but is this the future of championship golf courses? Or is it just over the top design? Personally, my biggest dislike is the four long par threes. First, I think there should be variety, and second, I think they should test shotmaking with a range of irons, not just fairway woods and drivers!

I was watching the RBC Heritage a bit earlier, which is played over a relatively short track, but it still manages to test the players. Then I watched this documentary and was struck by the difference in design approach.

Here's a link to the course:

http://the-royal-golf-club.com/course/

What do you think?

Edit: all the distances I have given are from the tips, but I don't know how they would actually set the course up for a championship.

Chomper · April 15, 2017

Making a course hard solely by length is a dumb idea. Costs a ton more to maintain, and pace of play is slowed to the point that avid golfers will stay away.

Dumb idea, but I understand the reasoning behind it.

You want a tough course that is not long? Think Merion, Prairie Dunes, etc. Find good land, get an architect who can design holes based upon a golfer's shot making ability, but still keep it fun for the high handicap. That is a recipe for success (as much as success can be measured).

brkuck · April 15, 2017

The harder you make the course, the longer it will take and the less you will play. With that being said, if there was ever a place to put a course like that, its there. Japan takes golf very seriously and they may flock to a course like this, they may not. But putting one here would be a killer. As Chomper said, get an architect that knows where shots can/can't be played from and make risk reward holes that aren't focused on long, but shotmaking and people may shoot 100, but they would have fun. Its what they would talk about versus trudging through a 705 par 5. It would be cool once or twice, but after that it would be a pain to play, not to mention the upkeep on a course that long.

augustgolf · April 15, 2017

Why is a 705 yard par 5 thought to be so tough for a true WRX'er????

It's a cut driver, 4H, and 62ᵒ wedge to tap-in....no problem.

BITD, par 5 over 570 was a pretty big deal, especially up North, where you didn't get much roll off the driver.

IF you hit it 255 off the tee, and a good 3-wood about 240, you'd still have a half-wedge or pop a SW (we didn't have 17 wedges to choose from...well, we did, but we didn't use 'em all)

So....IF you hit a drive 345 (like Rory, DJ, or Rahm)...a 3 wood off the deck about 295, you have basically the same distance into the hole....about 65-70 yards.

I say, all you millennials.....GO FOR IT!

I'll have NO PROBLEM playing the forward tees on that puppy

No_Catchy_Nickname · April 15, 2017

Why is a 705 yard par 5 thought to be so tough for a true WRX'er????

It's a cut driver, 4H, and 62ᵒ wedge to tap-in....no problem.

BITD, par 5 over 570 was a pretty big deal, especially up North, where you didn't get much roll off the driver.

IF you hit it 255 off the tee, and a good 3-wood about 240, you'd still have a half-wedge or pop a SW (we didn't have 17 wedges to choose from...well, we did, but we didn't use 'em all)

So....IF you hit a drive 345 (like Rory, DJ, or Rahm)...a 3 wood off the deck about 295, you have basically the same distance into the hole....about 65-70 yards.

I say, all you millennials.....GO FOR IT!

I'll have NO PROBLEM playing the forward tees on that puppy

The course designer or course pro was saying in the documentary that he thought it was reachable in two for some pros, and he would like to see it happen. I thought, sure, some pros can squeeze out a drive of 350, but then they've got another 355 yards left...off the deck.

farmer · April 15, 2017

They'll charge a thousand dollars to play, from the tips it will be a 4 hour front, break for lunch, another 4 hours for the back, and you will leave feeling like you just got grabby with Ronda Rousey.

JonnyKrasnodar · April 15, 2017

Why is a 705 yard par 5 thought to be so tough for a true WRX'er????

It's a cut driver, 4H, and 62ᵒ wedge to tap-in....no problem.

BITD, par 5 over 570 was a pretty big deal, especially up North, where you didn't get much roll off the driver.

IF you hit it 255 off the tee, and a good 3-wood about 240, you'd still have a half-wedge or pop a SW (we didn't have 17 wedges to choose from...well, we did, but we didn't use 'em all)

So....IF you hit a drive 345 (like Rory, DJ, or Rahm)...a 3 wood off the deck about 295, you have basically the same distance into the hole....about 65-70 yards.

I say, all you millennials.....GO FOR IT!

I'll have NO PROBLEM playing the forward tees on that puppy

I agree. With the average driver carry of members here being 50 yards longer than the pros average of 289.8 then a 290 3 wood leaves 85 yards or so. Which will be a 64 wedge. Easy.

For mortals it will realistically be a part 6 at least.