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.