The conversation surrounding what makes golf fun, and where we can find it, has increased significantly of late. Frankly, fun was missing on most new courses over past decades, but with designs such as David McLay Kidd’s Gamble Sands and others roaring onto the scene, “fun” is making a comeback.
One such place where fun was clearly the architect’s foremost motivator was the new Short Course at Mountain Shadows Resort in Paradise Valley, Ariz. The original Martin Stern Jr.-planned resort opened in 1959 and was a great favorite with celebrities and other well-heeled guests. Its 18-hole, par 56, executive-style course was designed by Arthur Jack Snyder and opened in 1961.
For a decade, it was constantly busy, a great favorite with locals and those staying at the resort. But its popularity began to wane in the 1970s when the USGA established a length threshold for courses to receive an official rating. In an effort to gain official status, Snyder’s design was seriously compromised and it continued to suffer as numerous good courses were built within a short distance.
As the golf course slowly faded from view, so too did the resort which eventually closed in 2004. Ten years later it was demolished.
In June of 2015, however, Scottsdale’s Westroc Hospitality announced it had formed a partnership with Dallas’s Woodbine Development Corporation to jointly redevelop the iconic hotel and its old golf course.
The man chosen for the job of resurrecting Snyder’s layout was his protégé Forrest Richardson, a Phoenix-based architect with dozens of acclaimed new-builds, renovations, and remodels in an impressive portfolio.
Richardson, for whom the project clearly meant a great deal and who described his role as “preserving, honoring and uncovering,” knew exactly what he wanted to do with the $3m budget. “FUN was the primary word,” he says, noting that it should be written in capital letters for emphasis. “The trick with an all-par 3 design is to make each of the greens an interesting story and experience. You are presenting the golfer with repeated attempts to get the ball close, if not even into the hole, on every tee. My goal was to give golfers a different look and make them think about every tee shot.”
Displaying common sense, great imagination, and sound judgement with regard to water usage and maintenance costs, Richardson chose Bermuda turf (TifDwarf and 419) that works well in the desert, reduced the area of irrigated turf to just 13.5 acres by covering largely out-of-play areas with gravel, and limited the bunker count to just 18. Think again though, if you assume that makes it easy.
“I wanted to avoid making bunkers the sole defense,” he says. “There is a combination of slopes (the 4th is named Biarritz), mounds (the 14th is Dell), trees, and a pond that combine to protect par. Yes, it’s fun, but it’s certainly not without its challenges.” Fun and challenging—the mark of intelligent design.
At just 2,310 yards from the back tees, with holes ranging in length from 90 to 193 yards, the Short Course at Mountain Shadows probably won’t be the highlight of your golf trip to a town with a dozen or more world-class venues. And it certainly won’t be the reason you reject Palm Springs, Las Vegas, or Myrtle Beach next winter, and head to the Arizona desert instead.
What it could be, though, is a really cool way to settle some bets one evening. Or it might be the perfect place to introduce your wife and kids to the game during a stay at the seriously cool, $100m, Mid-Century-inspired resort which reopened earlier this month to huge acclaim from publications saying it looked set to regain the “iconic” status it once knew.
But could it be more important than that even? Could it be a model for the direction in which golf should be headed?
We’re all suffering from reduced golf time these days. We simply don’t have the necessary gaps for multiple rounds (or even one round) every week. But we don’t love the game any less, and need something to quench the thirst. Mountain Shadows, and other shorter than conventional courses (Sweetens Cove in Tennessee, Bandon Preserve at Bandon Dunes in Oregon, Caldera Springs at Crosswater also in Oregon, Magnolia Grove in Alabama, Threetops in Michigan, Top of the Rock in Missouri) are obviously viable alternatives.
“Nine-hole, executive, and Par 3 courses are vitally important in a world of time-urgent, but still enthusiastic golfers,” says Richardson. “What better way to get your golf in without always having to plan for five to six hours?”
Thus far, reviews have been almost entirely positive with golfers young and old, good and… less good, giving the Short Course an unequivocal thumbs-up. “We’re not taking away the golf,” Richardson stresses, “just redistributing it into smaller bites.”
FUN, smaller bites.
By Tony Dear
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Do you think short courses are key to getting new golfers in the game? Let us know in the comments below!
Someone needs to design and build a course with three 6-hole segments. I mentioned this to Arnold Palmer 30-years ago, and he said “I just did that; well, not really. I had a client in Virginia who only had room for six holes, so we built his three tees and three greens for each hole.”
Also, someone needs to lead the charge to open up the hole to at least six inches, if not eight. The pin could be left in, and play would be smoother and faster!
No offensively, but a 6-inch hole is not golf. Speeding up play does not require changing the game of golf, but changing people’s behavior.
When we lived in Connecticut, there was an 18 hole course with 12 par threes and 6 shortish par fours in our town. My wife and I would play that course once a week during the golf season. We now live in Virginia where the nearest executive course is 45 minutes drive (when traffic is good which is a rarity in northern Virginia). My wife hasn’t played in two years. So, YES, we need more short courses.
I agree on the 6 hole option. Easy to design around current 18 hole layouts. Better for my back. Walkable!
Yes, absolutely this is the way to go. I haven’t played a regulation 18 hole golf course in over 10 years. I am a 68 year old golf enthusiast with congestive heart failure, arthritis in my back, fingers, knees, and hips that isn’t getting any better as I get older. I cannot bend down to pick a ball out of the cup – I have to use a suction cup on the top of my putter to pick the ball up. I also cannot bend over to put a tee in the ground – I have to use a rubber tee from the driving range and then place the ball on top of it, and I can barely do that. I can only play with a motor cart because I can’t walk any lengthy distance without getting shortness of breath and pain in my legs and back.
In my younger days, maybe 30 years ago, before all these medical problems came about, I use to be able to drive a golf ball over 200 yards. Today, I am lucky I can drive a ball a 140 to 150 yards, and that is my A plus shot. I love these Par 3 courses because they fit my skill level to a tee. They are cost efficient, time efficient, and challenging enough to get the ball in the hole in the least number of strokes. If I can walk off with bogey 4 on these Par 3 holes – I am happy. A Par, where I would have to chip on and 1 putt would make me feel like a got a birdie.
I live in Franklin Square, NY and I am fortunate enough to have 4 Par 3 Public courses within 15 minutes of my house. These courses consist of 4 Par 4 hole, nothing longer than 370 yards, flat, straight away, and very little rough on either side of the fairway making it easier to find your golf ball.
For example, I just played 9 holes yesterday, for $16.50, and that included a motor cart and a senior citizen discount rate, and we played in under 2 hours – no more 5 and 6 hour rounds going up and down hills like at Bethpage Black. Bethpage Black is a nice course to visit, but in my current physical condition, I wouldn’t want to play there. I’ll leave Bethpage Black to the PGA Tour Pros and young low handicap players who young, and in good physical shape and can hit the ball a mile.
Thank you,
Steve Franjola
e:mail: stevefr@optonline.net
Yes, this is a good step in growing the game by maintaining interest of current and aging golfers and new people to the game…it puts fun in the game and gives people a chance to “win” at the game. Pinehurst Resort is doing the same thing this year, building a nine hole course of similar length right in front of the clubhouse!
I’m all in favor of courses for the limited golfers. I love golf. 71 years young but I cannot get around as fast as I used to. I had to stop playing because I was holding up the game.