Sometimes a course’s design can be so fantastic that its identity or characteristics are emulated by others. I love Pine Valley and think its premise to be the hardest course in the world is perfect. It’s been called “one big bunker with occasional patches of grass.”
That statement struck a chord with me and made me wonder why everyone hasn’t tried to do the same? I understand that every course cannot be Pine Valley but why not try. If you fail and are just “good” in the process, everyone wins.
It is with this intent that we started our #Crumpify campaign to improve upon some of the 'less than thrilling' tracks we know & love in honor of G.A Crump, the architect of Pine Valley.
Our first #Crumpify candidate is the nine-hole East Course at Deerfield Golf & Country Club in Brockport, NY. I’ve played this course a hundred times, literally, since it was my home course in high school. It’s kind of the ugly duckling compared to the North and South sides at Deerfield. Exciting it is not.
No offense to (original course architect) Mr. Pete Craig, but it will serve as the perfect place to start our new venture into course design.
I colored over an aerial photo to make a comparison easier (see above). Now look at it as we #Crumpify and breathe some fun into it...
While keeping the routing and greens the same, except for sharing a tee on 5 and 8, I tried to emulate Crump by turning the place into a giant bunker. I may have had a bit too much fun with the cigar-shaped features, but in doing so we're changing the name from Deerfield East to 'The Humidor'.
This redo was neither asked for nor necessary, so I took a bit of artistic liberty.
Let us know your thoughts, good or bad, and whether this style is something you'd play or want to see done to a track near you. And most importantly, if you think this is a terrible exercise...Dooner did it.
If I were to explain the overall design theory here, I'd start by saying I wanted to force a layup off the tee. This is a shortish course, just over 3000 yards for its nine hole loop. Forcing a shorter tee ball will give some added length and difficulty, particularly holes #1 and #8. The latter being a short par 5 and by adding a pseudo 'Hell's Half Acre', it gives the hole some needed teeth.
Small green-side pot bunkers are always intimidating. Having clusters of them would hopefully scare shots away making fun pin placements tucked in tight. All in all, a round would (hopefully) consist of trying to avoid waste bunkers off the tee and pot bunkers on approach, all while making the course play longer. Since most people fear sand (I know Dooner does), it seems like the right thing to do.
To learn more about Deerfield Golf & Country Club and its history, click here.
We hope you enjoyed our first #Crumpify project! If you have a course you'd like to see us reinvent, please drop us a line using the contact form on the 'About' tab. You can also subscribe and 'Join The Crusade' by entering your email in the page footer below.
Rock on,
BMAC