Designed for dDevelopers find right layout can aid pace of play By Brian A. Lee

Ask any golf operator for a list of reasonsfor the difficulty in attracting new golfersand it's bound to include the length of timeit takes to play a round. Slow play, theysay, is choking the fun out of the game 'formany golfers. I,

But some course developers and architectsare finding that the right design can helpimprove the pace of play.

The routing of a golf course-thesequence of holes and green-to-tee distances- has a huge effect on pace of play, said

pace of play expert Bill Yates. Founder andCEO of Grey Town Golf and creator ofPace Manager Systems and Pace DesignerSystems, Yates said an optimum speed ofplay can be determined from the time thecourse design is first put on paper. Everycourse has a flow, but some are harder tomanage than others.

"If you start a golf course off with a par-5hole, that's more difficult to control froma pace-of-play standpoint, simply becauseit forces the management team to actively

manage the start times and flow onto thegolf course," Yates said. "If there's a backupon the fourth tee all of the time, it may notbe that the fourth hole is so difficult. It maybe that the third hole is too easy."

Rick Robbins, director of golf coursedesign for Morrisville, N.C.-based ETD/Robbins & Associates, said architects shouldkeep pace of play in mind as they come upwith routing plans.

"Invariably, the places you know you'regoing to be held up are the short par 5s

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"When you consider that even oneextra foursome per day on a well-playedcourse could mean as many as 1,000 moregolfers per year, the revenue [difference] isstaggering," said Phoenix-based architectForrest Richardson. "Multiply 1,000 golfersby $50 and you will see an extra quartermillion dollars every half-decade."

Development I trend

where people are going for the green in two,drivable par 4s and par 3s with a forcedcarryover water, coupled with a short par5 on the next hole," he said. "If we designthose strategic, short par 4s, we put themfairly far into the round."

Bob Cupp, president and founder ofAtlanta-based Cupp Design, said somedesign elements that promote speed of playdo not necessarily promote ease of play.

"Probably the most important one is thesize of the greens," he said. "If the greensare fairly small, players play significantlyfaster because there's not so much putting.The key to speed of play is having a layoutthat yields a very difficult birdie, but a realeasy bogey."

One of the newer obstacles to pace ofplay is the requirement that environmentallyprotected wetlands must be integrated into alinks layout. That isn't exactly the best wayto protect the future revenue stream of thatgolf course's operations, Robbins said.

The extra environmental constraintslead to more difficult shots for golfers and,more than likely, longer golf rounds. Andthat could result in a less enjoyable golfexperience for the player.

"Under today's government regulations,you basically have to leave all thoseenvironmentally protected areas untouched,and therefore they become forced carries,"said Robbins, whose firm confronted thisissue in designing Poplar Hill Golf Club inFarmville, Va. "We're dealing with more andmore forced carries on golf courses, and inmany cases it's going to slow down play andmake the course's degree of difficulty muchhigher. The average foursome will likely putat least one or two balls in the hazard."

Yates says that difficult courses can meanfaster play in some cases. Echoing advicehe got from renowned course architect PeteDye, Yates spoke of the maintenance aspectof course design and pace of play.

"The mere fact that there's water doesn'tnecessarily slow down play," he said. "Whatslows down play is people looking for lostballs. If the water hazards are clean on the'playing side, that's an obvious drop situationfor the golfer."

Bunkers, green speed and heavy rough inhigh-handicap driving areas or on the insidesof doglegs are other course components thatcould pose pace-of-play problems if designand setup are not aligned.

"These aspects are an easy fix becauseit's something that can be maintained,"

Yates said. "The maintenance practicesto keep a course honest with the originaldesign and to keep it playing smoothlyare key elements."

If the importance of designing a layoutwith pace of play in mind doesn't registerwith some golf course owners or operators,then the bottom line should.

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LJuly 2006 57