Technical
“In order to tie the golf hole together, the fairway line should generally look to pass through the landing zone incorporating the bunkers within its skirts”
luxury, but it is usually still possible to create a varied challenge with the correct placement of hazards. A fairway which is twisted on a diagonal can be a successful way to create interest or, more subtly, creating or utilising a pre-existing roll or plateau within the fairway line can set up an advantageous and disadvantageous position in relation to the green. The golf course architect looks to
create a playing area wide enough for balls to find a good selection of landing points, which will help to spread wear whilst also creating a realistic challenge. Fairways that include steep slopes can sometimes struggle, with many balls landing in a relatively small area leading to wear points which, after a playing season, could be littered with divots and bad lies. The architect should look to avoid these issues at the design stage by making some subtle adjustments that can spread the wear of these problem areas. In order to tie the golf hole together, the fairway line should generally look to pass through the landing zone incorporating the bunkers within its skirts, tempting the golfer with the preferred landing zone between these points. This should be wide enough to conceivably land a ball struck at full length with a driver in most cases, equating to a landing zone of between 20-40 yards wide, although some courses can include much wider fairways. Fairways are time consuming elements of golf course maintenance, and the acreage of the eighteen fairways within a typical course directly reflects the amount of time taken to maintain them. This has meant that some courses have greatly reduced the width and, in some cases, the length of fairways in order to cut down on the man hours taken to maintain them, adding to the likelihood of the average width stated above. The overall course size also adds an upper limit to the likely width of a fairway as the hole should, at all costs, look to integrate with its surroundings. If it is hemmed in on both sides by other
holes, then the fairway, visually, should look to fill approximately a third of the available space, to allow for clear separation between one hole and the next (see figure two below).
Placement
When designing a golf hole on paper, I look to add the fairway line last. This is the element of the hole which draws the other elements of the hole together. The playing area will typically expand around the landing zone, and contract in the areas where fewer balls are likely to come to rest. It will wind through bunker complexes and wrap around the green, incorporating some run off areas that may help to create greenside playing and aesthetic interest. The levels of the fairway have to be shaped to allow for shots to be played from it, to appeal enough for shots to be played at it, for it to be aesthetically pleasing and visible for the approaching golfer, and to tell a story, or sometimes sell a story about how the golf hole should be played. Without the fairway as the central focal point of the golf hole, there would be no hierarchy of targets to be aimed at, the hazards would simply be floating in an empty field, and the hole would struggle to make sense. The fairway’s relationship with the
rough is also very close. The designer’s decision on where the fairway line is placed is as much about the importance of a good lie as a bad lie, because the fairway line will obviously always determine the rough line.
In a lot of cases in the modern game, a
semi rough line is cut for the first few metres into the rough to aid golfers whose balls trickle off the fairway. Past this point the challenge for the golfer increases. A shot played into the rough should lessen the available options to the golfer. The ball is less likely to spin from a lie in longer grass, and may be more impeded by obstacles such as trees or a bunker complex within the line of sight to the green, and the shot will have to be played
stronger and truer to find a similar length and accuracy to those shots played out of the fairway. It is, therefore, an important element within the strategy of a golf hole. The conscious designer will look to
create a naturally shaped rough line which generally follows the contours of the hole and interjects the playing line at points that will challenge the golfer. For instance, the fairway may be a diagonal form which tests the golfer from the tee to carry as much of the rough line in order to progress down the fairway, knowing that, if the first bounce finds the rough line, it is likely to affect the final length of the drive. Deep rough lines generally tend to
correlate with the semi rough and rough lines, but shouldn’t interject with the playing line unless the hole is a relatively sharp dogleg, or there is a forced carry. Deep rough, if maintained and placed correctly, can also add to the aesthetic complexity of a golf course, adding depth of textures and colours. This feature should be used rarely as a hazard, as balls can be easily lost in thick rough lines resulting in slow play. Yet, if placed well away from a target line, but still at a point which is clearly visible, can add much to the aesthetic appeal of a golf course.
Summary
I look to create fairways that link with the other elements of a golf hole to provide a varied challenge throughout the course of a round. The fairway should balance and reflect all other elements of the course, either pre- existing or designed, and should create a path for the golfer to aim towards and play successfully through, rewarding them as they find the right points within the wider hole.
This article has considered the fairway as the lynch pin of the other elements of the golf hole, and has given an insight into the elements that I look to include when successfully designing the fairway line into a golf hole.
In this series Andy Watson has picked the four major elements of a golf course and dissected them to provide an insight into the fundamentals of an architect’s approach to designing a golf course. We hope you have found all four articles interesting to read. If you are
interested in Andy’s work, or are interested in
Figure two: Illustration showing a well proportioned fairway to rough ratio. 118 PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012
working with him, you can follow him on twitter @AWGolfDesign, be a ‘fan’ of his facebook page (search for Andy Watson Golf Design), or visit the website
www.andywatsongolfdesign.co.uk.
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