| BY DESIGN
Lie
of the
Land
Award-winning architect Paul Jansen discusses the importance of ground contours and asks why they have become a taboo subject in modern golf course design.
David Cannon / Getty Images
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Royal County Down (opposite top) and the Old Course at St Andrews (bottom) are courses which use ground contours to stunning effect 38
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f you happened to watch the Open C ha mpion sh ip la st mont h you would have noted how much Royal Liverpool called for great creativity – and in many cases the need to improvise or invent shots. Royal Liverpool, otherwise known as Hoylake after the nearby village of the same name, rewards brain over brawn – at least when you stay out of the thick stuff. Much of this has to do with the course setup and how much influence the wind and ground contours have on day-today play. Added to this Royal Liverpool is a strong strategic test, so intelligent play is the name of the game. Instead of having to skirt clover leaf shape bunkers or large water bodies – with fountains in them – at Royal Liverpool the golfer has to manoeuver his way around the links using the humps, bumps, cants and depressions to great benefit. The direct line to the pin may not always be the ideal line and this is where the smart golfers will use the wind and ground contours to positively influence the flight and roll of the ball. This type of golf is not something you see every day. In fact many of today’s golf courses have been ‘dumbed down’ to accept one type of golf shot – the aerial one. This in part thanks to the way many golf courses have been designed and are being maintained with extensive use of irrigation systems. Whilst hard and fast is sometimes difficult to achieve in
certain conditions, although not impossible, it’s not difficult to build or utilise existing ground contours that add strategic interest and call for creative shot-making. To d ay t h e r e i s t o o mu c h e mp h a si s on designing features such as bunkers and water bodies to create golf course charm and strategic interest when something as simple as a bump or depression can add as much value – with the penalty being much less severe for the golfer. Also, if we were to substitute some of our manmade features for more natural ones (think of grass depressions, fairway tiers or bumps in the ground) then I am willing to bet it would go a long way in helping solve some of the pace of play issues that harm our game. It’s my view that ground contours are the most underused golf feature today, which is alarming given what they bring to the party at a fraction the cost of any other feature. If designed intelligently ground contours can be very effective in guiding water off the play surfaces as well. This can negate the need to add sub-surface drainage – another hefty cost. Good drainage is essential and grading the ground to help achieve this end is of paramount importance. Mounds are typically always well drained and surface swales help move water off the play zones. Golden Age golf architect Dr A lister MacKenzie, the mastermind behind such classics as Augusta National and Cypress Point, once wrote that “Undulating ground consisting of HKGOLFER.COM
hillocks and hollows is of enormous interest”, yet rarely do we see much undulation on our modern courses. This is hard to fathom given how interesting the game becomes when having to contend with the ball below or above the feet – from time to time. Certainly the game becomes so much more fun to play when the golfer is asked to invent shots which ground undulation demands. You could even argue that difficult stances extract the very best ability out of a golfer. Past Open champion Harold once wrote, “It is these unequal stances which bring out the true ability of the golfer. It is not at all difficult to hit a ball when the stance is what may be termed plumb and the lie a good one: this is the A B C of golf; but it is a very different thing to hit a ball when it is lying at an awkward angle and you have to take stance with one foot placed inches above the other. The playing of such shots requires a good deal of the knowledge of the game and the application thereof.” Ground contours are an essential golf feature, they always have been, so why are we not making more of an effort to utilize them much more in the play areas: it is almost as if today they are seen as taboo. A golfer will never bore – nor tire – playing shots from varied lies and the cost of creating – and then maintaining – these features is minimal in comparison to the “standard” features we get fed from day to day. Let the ground dictate the play and there is every chance your course would be better for it. HKGOLFER.COM
Today there is too much emphasis on designing features such as bunkers and water bodies to create golf course charm and strategic interest when something as simple as a bump or depression can add as much value – with the penalty being much less severe for the golfer.
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