Hochstein Design: Golf Course Design + Creative Construction

Looking forward to getting back to England soon and places like Huntercombe, which has some of the most amazing created features anywhere in the world of golf.

This may well be Willie Park’s masterwork alongside Sunningdale Old (where Colt’s later influence is probably understated). The greens at Huntercombe contain bold shelves and tiers oriented at different angles, perfect challenges for what in the summer is a very fast running course where approaches bounce their way up and on.

I can’t tell you too much about the routing, and I don’t know which hole is which here. My visit was a wonderful and very educational walk with head greenkeeper Grant Stewart, and we went out of order to dodge the numerous foursomes matches about the course.

That’s all right in this case, though, as what I most wanted to see were the old Park constructed pits and ridges. I’ve been fascinated in general over the past 5 years with these types of dug-out and above-ground old features, and the ones at Huntercombe are the most dramatic, lumpy, and sharp versions of such you will see anywhere. Add to that the evolution of certain mosses and plants that grow on them plus the ant hills that have popped up over time, and they’ve perhaps gotten even more colorful and textured with age.

Getting to see these things in person was as pleasantly jarring as I could have hoped; I really felt like I had entered some sort of different realm of golf—a different place, a different time. Few things can elicit such a strong guttural reaction in me, and it left me wondering which ways I could do the same in future designs—not so much in the exact shape of those features (though that would be cool!) but how it can make the golfer *feel* a certain way about the setting they find themselves in.

Hey folks: did you know that the Golf Course Master Plan has elements inspired by Oakmont, this week’s U.S. Open host?

On the 9th hole, we want to open up the front of the green, make it more rectangular in shape, and guard the sides with flanking grass-faced bunkers, much like you see at numerous holes at Oakmont. We also want to straighten up the angle of it, yet still keep it tilted a bit to favor the play from the right, where we also want to build out the shelf in the fairway—from which the green is more visible—to be more reachable for most. The fairway bunker would be eliminated, as that direct-line angle from that left side would be more difficult and visually uncomfortable on its own. The hole should be more playable for most and more thought-provoking for the better player.

At 8, we seek to solve the winter drainage issue in the short landing zone by introducing a ditch, much like Oakmont has throughout the course to alleviate saturation on their heavy clay river soils (similar to our heavy clay river soils!). Rather than how most of theirs flank, however, ours at Land Park would cross at a strategy-inducing angle and allow play to both sides of it. The more direct line low left will cut off significant distance, but it also leaves an uncomfortable blind shot with the bunkers and hummocks on your direct line to the green and layup zone. The play out right, especially if you can reach the top of the ridge, will leave a longer shot but also a more open and visible one that contends less with the left bunkers and hummocks.

Some things to think about during your next round or while watching the tournament this weekend 🙂

My leader for favorite course seen or played this year up until recently was Woodhall Spa. It’s still a course I very much think about 3 months later (and imagine I always will).

I have a particular fascination with flatland course architecture, as I contend a flat site is hardly a bad one for golf, and especially so if it is sandy. So, , which is generally flat and very sandy, is a great case study in backing my theory.

And back it up it does. With key deep cuts into the sandy ground and creative fills to make green pads and defense features, this otherwise subdued site is loaded with charm, character, and strategic playing interest. You will do best to avoid those pits at all costs, though they tempt you to play oh-so-close to them. One example of this is the deep coffin bunker guarding the outside edge of a broad feeder slope into the 2nd green, which awaits those who get a bit too greedy seeking the slope’s help (pic 4). Another is the tee shot at the 7th (pic 8), which tempts one to take on the corner of the dogleg but risk finding serious trouble in the bunkers, cops, and heather. Tree removal by here has done wonders to amplify the luring effect.

Plotting your way around these features is not only a thrill given the way it engages the mind, it is also delightful just in how charming and ruggedly beautiful they all are. Combine this with the linkslike fescue fairways (which played far better than anywhere else in this very wet February), the heather, the moss, the occasional Scotch pine, and cool features like the old hunting tower ruin (pics 5&13), and this is the delightful type of golfing landscape one could play over for the rest of their days.

Special thanks to my host Richard Latham, past GM who was instrumental in the excellent recent work with the Renaissance team and provided great insights to both that process and the course’s history itself. It was an amazing day (despite the brutal soaking we received on hole 10!).

Woodhall Spa is well worth its countryside trek.

Picking back up on England with some courses toured over this past winter’s stint at Hadley Wood.

First up is Walton Heath Old and New, one of the most charming and fascinating golfing grounds I’ve ever seen, laden with deep rugged pits (both natural and dug), delightful spoils pile mounding, sneakily tilting greens, and random patches of broken heathery ground that simultaneously break up the vast landscape and provide all sorts of golfing challenges. I found myself constantly looking in all directions, far and near, observing all these features and how they changed in form from different angles.

Walton is also one of the most historic places you’ll find in golf. Course architect Herbert Fowler lived there for years, constantly tweaking the layout a la Donald Ross at Pinehurst. James Braid, multiple time Open winner and prolific golf architect in his own right, served as long-time club professional, with his shop still standing today adjacent to the putting green. Winston Churchill was one of its many famous members. One of the earliest printings of MacKenzie’s famous Old Course map stands in the clubhouse, bearing signatures of those who’ve won The Open, from Nicklaus and Watson to Arnold Palmer to Ben Hogan to the early player/architects of Braid and J.H Taylor and Harry Vardon to Willie Auchterlonie, 1893 winner and club maker whose shop still stands a few doors down from St Andrews Old’s 18th green.

Phillip Truett, co-author of an excellent biography on Fowler and perhaps the foremost collector of golf books in the world, also lives on property. After my full day around the Old and New, Phillip welcomed me into his library for a tea, chat, and browsing of just a small part of his amazing collection. There, I saw numerous club histories, gazed upon the earliest known printing of the word “golf” (1497!!), and held in my hands a book owned by Allan Robertson, a rarity for a working class man of that time and surely one of his few prized possessions. The latter still gives me chills to think about.

This frosty day at Walton Heath was all around one of the best days I’ve had in golf. Very grateful all who welcomed me in to experience this special place.

Some scenes from the first two weeks of Pasatiempo’s re-opening ⬆️