OB: More or Less?

[GLong]

i love OB. this game is too boring, every hole should have an island green with OB outside the 10m circle.

 

[chain-addicted]

i love OB. this game is too boring, every hole should have an island green with OB outside the 10m circle.

I dont know about all that....:\

 

[SMGausch]

I feel something needs to be done, especially with a lot of the older courses. They may be nice layouts, but short, intended for a time when the game was less popular, there were less resources, and probably a lot fewer birdies. We have a local 18 with a few really open 400+ holes and a lot of 250-300ish mostly open holes. It's a great beginners course, great facilities, bathrooms, well maintained, but too easy. If i don't shoot ten to 15 under I'm pissed. I think some creative ob to define a fairway would be great. Rope is the easy option, but tall grass, bushes, the right plants make a more beautiful and just as adequate ob.

 

[Smigles]

Totaly depends on the course. If there are not enugh natural obstacles and difficulties, then OB's make it more interesting.

 

[Stud Muffin]

If you are in someone else's fairway, you deserve to be OB

In ball golf you can often drive into another fairway and not be OB. In fact, I see pros do it quite often. Tiger Woods did just that on his last round #18 of his very first Masters win.

Nobody should birdie a par 4 after shanking into the woods onto another fairway and coming at the hole from the opposite direction intended.

Who says they are always shanking it? If golfers know of a better way to approach a basket, and are making birdies, then they are playing smart golf.

Totaly depends on the course. If there are not enugh natural obstacles and difficulties, then OB's make it more interesting.

OB should be natural, being another persons/business property line, roads, and water. If the course is too wide open, I would rather see people plant trees, or build mounds or holes, than put up yellow line or colored posts, etc. When you put up OB, you are not allowing golfers to play to their strengths, but are narrowing the area to force everyone throw the exact same type of shot, which will be the strength of some, and weakness of others. I am all for allowing people to use their imagination. If there is a place where people are taking advantage of a hole too easily, put up a obstacle, not a OB line. A island green is one thing, but not overdone.

 

[DavidSauls]

Totaly depends on the course. If there are not enugh natural obstacles and difficulties, then OB's make it more interesting.

Exactly. Depends on the course.

I'll point out to earlier posters that making the course "more difficult" is not always the point. Sometimes it's adding "risk/reward", which is why it's more interesting.

But the downside on a public course is how to mark "created O.B.s" Most of the things you can do look tacky, or disappear due to weather or vandalism.

Otherwise, I have no problems with creating O.B., as opposed to designing around pre-existing features. I enjoy the decisions compelled by well-designed O.B.

 

[Karl]

OB: More or Less?

Less.

 

[Brall]

i like natural OB to be roped off. this way there is an exact line to avoid arguments.

i dislike creating an OB out of nothing using rope or something like that. just seems fake to me.

 

[Stud Muffin]

OB: More or Less?

Less.

:thmbup:

You took the words right out of my mouth! lol

 

[Aim For The Chains]

roped off OB is dumb. even most of the top players feel so and it takes away from a lot of challenging upshots/approaches. Defining holes and keeping people safe is one thing but just not as fun to watch with tons of OB. Hardly ever see shots to get out of trouble bc anywhere bad is OB

 

[Cgkdisc]

More buncrs, bunkers and less OB.

 

[Ryan P.]

natural OB needs to be marked off so people can know exactly where it is.

Man-made OB can be really good if done correctly. Some of the best man made OB i've ever seen are the ponds at the Scandinavian Open, and split rail fences or other fences around here in NC. Yellow Rope is fully, but it does allow for rollers, whereas a low fence doesn't allow for a roller to swing out wide and then come back in.

A good way to make OB "natural" is to let some grass grow up really tall over a couple of years and don't cut it. Cut the grass where you want in bounds to be.

I like the idea of putting an OB line between fairways for safety rules. If the course is crowded, it can really help keep everyone safe.

 

[denny ritner]

i love OB. this game is too boring, every hole should have an island green with OB outside the 10m circle.

island greens are over-rated. i do like the current hole 17 on winthrop gold that offers three distinct options on the tee: go for the basket, play to the fat part of the green on the right, or lay up and play for a 3. most island green holes, however, are of the deuce or die variety. there needs to be some shape to such a hole. the "island" needs to be bigger than 10m radius and NOT circular.

 

[jtreadwell]

Hardly ever see shots to get out of trouble bc anywhere bad is OB

Agreed. The course that brought this question to bear, Bellamy Park, doesn't need OB as most of the time, the OB makes the course easier. There have been times that I've gone into the woods and added 2-3 strokes getting back to the fairway where, if there were OB, I would have only added one. So while a lot of folks that are for more OB are saying it makes things harder, that's not always the case in a lot of situations

 

[Ryan P.]

island greens are over-rated. i do like the current hole 17 on winthrop gold that offers three distinct options on the tee: go for the basket, play to the fat part of the green on the right, or lay up and play for a 3. most island green holes, however, are of the deuce or die variety. there needs to be some shape to such a hole. the "island" needs to be bigger than 10m radius and NOT circular.

Great point. Golf is a game of risk/reward. Forcing a shot that is all risk is not golf. The Scandinavian Open has a hole like you are describing, with a small rectangular island, and I don't like it. They did have a good idea of installing in a short tee where you can tee off from if you miss the island.

I also don't like the idea that if you don't land in bounds you just re-throw from where you originally threw (usually the tee) with a penalty stroke. This is commonly used at Winthrop Gold. If someone throws a disc that flies over an area that is in-bounds, but it lands out of bounds, they still have to go back and throw from the original spot, and there's a stroke penalty. It's just risk. Granted, it is the players choice of risk by not throwing an easier shot on most holes. But I still think if you fly over an area that is in-bounds, you should throw from there with a penalty.

 

[DavidSauls]

Great point. Golf is a game of risk/reward. Forcing a shot that is all risk is not golf.

I understand what you're saying, but I think there's a place for an occasional exciting, high-risk shot. Not a lot of them, but one or maybe two on a course.

One issue with small island holes, especially with re-tees or long drop zones, is scoring spread. If a hole produces almost all 2s and 4s (or 6s or 8s....), it has a disproportionate affect on the results of a round. Better if the island is large enough to produce some 3s, or the drop zone close enough to save 3s.

(Cue Chuck and the buncr)

 

[gotcha]

Clarification

There is no such thing as artificial OB, man-made OB or natural OB.

Everything is in bounds until the course designer designates it otherwise.

Period.

 

[jtencer]

Am I the only one that thinks it's harder to see/aim with the yellow rope?

 

[Stud Muffin]

There is no such thing as artificial OB, man-made OB or natural OB.

Everything is in bounds until the course designer designates it otherwise.

Period.

So if a CD does not call a lake OB, then you can jump in and play out of the lake?

And if you are outside 10 meters, can swimming to the shore and throwing be considered a 'jump putt'?

 

[gotcha]

So if a CD does not call a lake OB, then you can jump in and play out of the lake?

Yep. Casual water is casual water. Some creeks/streams are played as casual whereas other creeks/streams are played as OB. Some sidewalks/pathways are played in bounds whereas other sidewalks/pathways are OB. Nothing is automatically OB until the course designer (or tournament director) designates an area as being OB.

By the way, a majority of the lakes in the US are man-made.