Glenmarnock golf links now avalaible for download!

Glenmarnock golf links have been released and is now avalaible for download at the www.mygolfer.net website. Thanks a lot for all the support and I wish everyone many enjoyable rounds on the course :)

I'm in the process of a major computer upgrade right now that includes a new motherboard, processor, and memory....all these will lead to october 22nd and the release of windows 7 by Microsoft. I should be up and running with a brand new system around october 25th and be ready by then to show some new things about my future projects, as well as adding more articles and stuff to the blog. I found out the last few weeks that building and maintaining a blog can be quite a monumental task given my limited free time, and I don't think I've yet managed to keep pace  with my initial expectations about content, analysis and discussions, but I'm slowly getting there one step at a time :)

See you all pretty soon!

Glenmarnock final pre-release pictures

 

 

 

Over the last week or so work on Glenmarnock have been smooth and fast, and therefore I can announce that the course is finished and will be uploaded shortly :) Here's some pre-release pics that will give a good idea of what to expect with the course (click pics for larger view). I'll post more pictures a bit later....

Hole no.8-----par 4--------422 yards

The 8th hole at Glenmarnock is a slightly downhill straight par 4 that gives the player an open view of the fairway and the surrounding links land. The green is perched on top of a small hill and features a deep, cavernous back bunker.

A small update after quite a long time!

After a break of a couple of weeks, I feel ready to get back to Glenmarnock to put the finishing touches. As it stands right now the course is about 85% complete, and I plan to get back to regular blog updates with pics of some of the holes, strategy discussion and plenty of other related stuff :)

Hole no.6 par 3 156 yards and playtesting infos

Glenmarnock's 6th hole is a short par 3 measuring 156 yards. Situated at one of the high points of the course it offers to golfers panoramic views of the surrounding holes. The best approach is to aim left of the deep front bunker and work a high soft fade towards the middle of the green. When the wind blows, you must avoid being short as this cavernous bunker is almost a 1 stroke penalty in itself. Missing left of the green is a "good" miss on this hole.

On another note, if any of you is interested in playtesting the course, please send me a request via email or leaving a comment on the blog and I'll be happy to send the course. The course is in good enough shape at the moment to be considered "in beta state". Lots of work still needs to be done but I'm slowly getting there :)

Hole no.3 par 4 408 yards

Here's an overview of the par 4 3rd, heading inland and playing relatively short at 408 yards from the back tees. The view from the tee to the wide open fairway can be quite deceiving as the player must choose to play left or right of 2 deep bunkers right in the middle of the fairway. Play left and you're rewarded with a clear view for the approach shot to the green (2nd picture). Play right and you can add extra yardage down the hill to your drive but have a semi-blind approach. The green slope from back to front.

Exploring some concepts about greensites

One thing that I've read time and time again in countless books about golf course architecture is the importance of finding good, natural greensites for a course. This is the fundation with which we can then build the routing and establish the flow of the holes. Many early architects started to work on a potential course site by exploring every square inch of the land to find the best natural greensites to lay the course on. Then they worked backward finding a fairway, and a teebox...and off they went for the rest of the course. They didn't have bulldozers and other heavy machinery to shape the land like what we have today on modern courses. They mainly relied on the quality, natural features and richness of the land to give life and character to their courses. Many famous links courses in the british isles and some more classic tracks around the world have been built that way, and this is in my mind the only way to do it. Nature is of infinite richness, and the architect must work in harmony with it at all times.

Like I said in an earlier post, minimum earthmoving have been applied to the landplot I've been given to work with, and this apply particulary to the greensites at Glenmarnock. I took extra care refining and contouring the greensites on the course so they integrate seamlessly in their surroundings and look as natural as the architect program and skills can allow. I found about 14 to 15 natural greensites on the plot that have been used to build the course, with those extra 3-4 requiring a touch more work with the land to get it done. Most of the greens at Glenmarnock golf links are large and undulated with ridges and collection areas that can certainly test the short game. I did choose to be not overly aggressive with the rough around the greens to let the greensites "breathe" more openly with the rest of the course so to speak. Here pictured is the greensite of the 209 yards par3 2nd.

Glenmarnock hole no.1 par 5 498 yards

The opening hole at Glenmarnock is a beautiful par 5 playing along the coast. The modest lenght of the hole can provide an opening birdie with the helping wind. The player must negociate a double dogleg as the preferred line of play off the tee is a gentle draw around the menacing bunker to the left part of the fairway, followed by a long iron or fairway wood fading around the big dunes to reach the green. The large green is inviting and but many balls can find the back of the green which can challenge a bit the short game.

Design Notes: That hole was at first a very tough, very long par 4 opener of some 470 yards with the black tee box much closer to the sea. It proved to me during testing that it was a bit too harsh for an opening hole so I built a new tee and changed the hole to a par 5. I don't usually open my courses with super challenging holes and this won't change here with Glenmarnock. With 2 solid shots the player may see an eagle opportunity right at the start of his round.

Planting in progress at Glenmarnock

Just a quick update to let everyone know that the planting of Glenmarnock is well under way and that I should be able to post pics of the course quite soon. To this point I must say that the project have been going smoothly, though I need to put some more time balancing the layout and working on some holes....

Lately I've been playing courses like Darnoch high, The American Club and Lochiel as they are very good examples of the spirit, course strategy and style I want to put to Glenmarnock. I'll go more deeply into these fine courses once I start presenting Glenmarnock holes.

Glenmarnock overhead

Here's the overhead picture of Glenmarnock in it's current state (click the image for a larger view). I'm currently testing the basic playability of the course while making notes of things to change. Normally in this process I can put up a list of about an hundred things that need more care and refinement before going into the first steps of planting the course. Next up will be articles about some of the key holes of Glenmarnock, their inspiration, and some strategy analysis using some famous courses and holes already released for the game.

Introducing Glenmarnock golf links

Greenbook golf design is proud to present his first course project: Glenmarnock golf links!

I cannot remember the exact time but I believe it was during our work on W0odford Park. My good friend Jorgen Ekroth told me about a fictionnal course he was working on that got me pretty interested to say the least. He was in a bit of a design burnout with that project and I offered him to take a look just for the fun of it. He then sent me his architect file, the 2 librairies he created for the course and told me to go ahead freely with the course.

I barely touched the course for the first few years and really started seriously on this one a couple of months ago. Jorgen had at the time 9 holes layed out (generic tee, fairway and green shapes) on a very beautiful seaside piece of land. The land came to life thanks to the 2 wonderful libraries featuring a detailed texture set, a great pano and some very realistic objects.

Glenmarnock will be a fictionnal seaside links course set on Ireland's west coast. Inspirations for the course comes mostly from Royal County down and the Carne golf links. All precautions have been made to keep intact the spirit and personality that Jorgen gave to his early work on the course. The greensites already there have been mostly kept as is....as well as most of the original routing. I tried to be as minimalist as possible with terrain work and shape design to let things as natural as possible. No bulldozer have been used to build Glenmarnock; the layout flows with the land in the most realistic way possible.

Prepare yourself for 18 holes of pure, irish seaside golf among high sand dunes, ferocious winds and beautiful ocean views. The final layout is now completely finished as well as the major elevation work on the course. I'm currently finalizing shapes, bunkers and greensites design as well as the texture work. The first phase of testing should start in the upcoming days....

Golf course philosophy

Golf course design philosophy simply cannot be described easily with simple, basic terms.One may just look at the sheer amount of books on the subject to notice the depth and intricaties of this art and discipline. I don't want to go "in depth" about course design (at least not right away) as we'll have plenty of time for that in future articles. What I'll do right now is describe the global course design philosophy I'll try to apply in my future courses, which will help tremendously to create, mold and maintain a true identity to Greenbook golf Design.

Things I'll focus on:

- The course, at all costs, needs to feel natural and intimately connected to the land it's based on. The shape design, general strategy and overall flow of the course is dictated by the land in the most natural way possible. Nothing must feel exagerated, out of place or unnatural.

- I'll try to provide as much strategic choices as possible, without falling too much in the "risk/reward" zone. Every caliber of player must face an appropriate challenge for his or her skills. Players must see the course not as a boring point "A" to point "B" using shot type "C" affair, but rather an invitation to discovery, open thinking and creativity that leads to a rewarding and different experience every round.

- The approach to design will be as minimalist as possible. I want to keep the design "clean" and without unnecessary bells and wistles. The Tom Doak approach to design is the style I'll try to adopt in most situations, unless of course the design calls for a different approach.

- I'm not a fan of "signature holes"....courses that are recognized for a single, spectacular hole but not much else. A good course should contain 18 good golf holes, each unique with his own challenges....and each an integral part of the course. The whole course must be an experience to remember, and I'll try my best to achieve that.

I think that may cover the basics for now about Greenbook golf design philosophy. My next post will be about the projects currently in development, with tons of infos, notes and hopefully pictures :)

This is a start at least....

Well this is it.....welcome to Greenbook golf design. This blog is intended to help you discover, one small piece at a time, this ambitious and crazy project that I've been tinkering around for a couple of years. Slowly but surely I'll walk you into the details and general outlines of the project and I truly hope to make the ride as smooth as possible for everybody.

For now let's stick to the essentials. One amazing golf game called PGA2000. One superb architect program offering limitless possibilities to the user. Hundred of downloadable courses to please any player. This is some very good material to start from.

Greenbook golf design is first and foremost the label with which I'll release any future pga2000 golf courses. It will also be an opportunity to discuss the concepts, techniques, strategies, and philosophies that goes into golf course architecture. The ground to cover here is almost endless, and the ultimate goal is for everyone to learn (including me!) through extensive studies, discussions, and reflexion about what's so great about golf course design.