I Want To Be A Course Designer

  I'm going to go into the course design business. Why is it that this is what a lot of touring pros say after they are no longer competitive on the PGA tour?  I don't know.  Maybe it is because there is the thought that because they can hit a golf ball 300 yard and have played a lot of courses they can take a plot of land and turn it into a great golf course. Sometimes I think that this is a tragic flaw in their thinking. I honestly think they forget who is really playing the game and that we are not all professional golfers.
     I'm not going to say that all former touring pros can't design courses, I haven't played their designs.  I have played Johnny Miller courses and I played a Freddy Couples design. I was not impressed with either. There are a couple of problems that I have experienced with those designs. One of the biggest design flaws I have seen is the forced carries over water or barrancas.  I can see bringing these features into a course's design, but at least make it so that the average golfer has a fighting chance. There needs to be ample bailout areas where the shorter hitter can make a good score with some good shots.  Don't make it so that the hole is unplayable for shorter hitters. And, the design is such that even though you play the shorter tees the hole still is unfair. That is not good course design.
      Many of these designers give you the option of playing shorter tees. It is certainly a good thing that in their benevolence they had a brief thought about we who are short hitters. This shortens the course.  What bothers me is that even though the course is shorter from the front tees, it still brings the trouble into play. Instead of having to smash your three wood into the middle of the barranca and loseing you 3 dollar ProV, you are now faced with a four hybrid that fails to clear the barranca by ten feet.  You could use your three wood, but that would put you over the green and into the canyon at the back of the green.  Are these designers trying to appease the golf gods by having we mere mortals sacrifice our ProV's to them. There is no advantage with most of these courses to play the shorter tees.
     I have played some great courses in my golfing career.  Bayonet/Black Horse in the Monterey Bay area comes to my mind as a couple of great courses. They are tough courses that do not rely on tricks and gimmicks. They are fair but tough courses. They stand there and say, "I am not going to throw anything strange at you, just take your best shot and try to beat me." That is what a great course design is all about. You don't have to throw in forced carries, barrancas and water just to make a course hard.
     I leave you with one final question on this subject.  What does Johnny Miller think about as he is designing a golf course?

One of my favorite holes. There is a carry over the barranca, but you can drive the ball to where you need to put it. The hole is very playable and fun. You can get on with a decent second shot.