The location of the hole is always an interesting topic, everyone has an opinion on where and if they are unfair.
The course staff change our 18 holes three times a week, every week, that works out to be around 234 hole locations every month or 2,800 a year. I can guarantee, every location is chosen with the view to being fair as well as challenging.
There are many factors that go into deciding the hole location, from wind direction, wear on the green, upcoming weather, green firmness, current players abilities, and future events. As the holes aren’t changed every day, we sometimes find that weather can play havoc with the position, a hole could be positioned on a Wednesday for a strong northerly blowing but by Friday there might be a southerly resulting in the pin not necessarily being in a great position.
As course staff change the hole location, they consider the previous and next few hole locations, we never want too many difficult or easy positions in a row. The staff member that is conducting the task is responsible for choosing the positions.
Moving pins along with moving markers is a way to allow players to play regularly without becoming bored. In theory they should never play the same course twice. Generally we set up pins – 6 easy, 6 medium and 6 hard locations. Sometimes this isn’t always achievable due to the above-mentioned factors. What one golfer feels is an easy another might find a challenge, on the other side, what one golfer finds to be a challenge another could find unfair.
You may find yourself above the hole putting down to a pin, this may seem difficult or possibly unfair, but doesn’t mean the hole is wrong. Maybe if the ball was better positioned on the green the putt wouldn’t be so difficult, course management and ball positioning plays a large role in golf. I think if we added up how many times the pins are possibly in an unfair position, we could come up with 10 times per year? 10 out of 2,800 isn’t a bad strike rate!
Nathan Bennett
Course Superintendent
