Golf


Modern Technology


Are longer courses the only solution?


Are longer courses the only golf course design solution to modern technology and long-hitters? Svein Drange Olsnes, EIGCA Senior Member & Council Member, believes that other options are available


O


f the many American golf courses built during The Golden Age - the years 1915-1940 - twenty-four are still ranked among the best 100 golf courses in the world (Golf Digest 2016). Why? Because


some of the talented, creative and forward-thinking golf course architects of the time understood golf course design and that courses are only interesting if the golf holes are of varied length and challenges and also have great strategic values.


The influence of modern equipment technology


Using the analogy of what has happened in tennis, technology has killed the game. Modern rackets have replaced the skill of making a shot with power and, as a result, people got bored of watching strong players smash the ball and the resulting one- dimensional game. The public stopped going to


professional tournaments and then stopped playing tennis themselves. Will golf be the next victim of technology


overkill? Has golf learned anything from tennis? I think not. The golf professionals of today drive more than 300 metres; that’s 100 metres further than in 1920, and bunkers are no longer in play. Is this a problem or just an evolution we have to accept?


The simplest solution to the gauntlet thrown down by enhanced equipment technology is to add length to golf courses, to accommodate longer shots - look at the courses preferred for the PGA and European Tours as evidence. The next tournament golf course design is longer than the last and many classic courses cannot be used as they are not challenging enough for the modern professional game.


28 I PC APRIL/MAY 2017


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148