Length and Par - Dispelling the Myth

But what of Asia?

The last two golf courses to win the “Best New Golf Course in Asia-Pacific” award each have a total yardage of less than 7,000 and a par value of 71. Shanqin Bay (2012) on Hainan Island, designed by the Coore and Crenshaw team, measures just 6,894 yards. Laguna Lang Co (2013), located between the cities of Danang and Hue on Vietnam’s central coast, a golf course I was involved as lead golf architect alongside Sir Nick Faldo, has a total yardage of 6,958. As the game grows in Asia it will be our responsibility to create golf courses that are less about the scorecard and more about how they relate to their surrounds.

It’s simple: the merit of any great golf course is not determined by its length and par value. Instead, a great golf course is a culmination of factors such as its character, interest and variety. Golden Age architect Albert Tillinghast’s famous quote, “It isn’t how far but how good” should ring as true today as it ever did.

Yet still we are obsessed with designing and building long golf courses, over 7,200 yards, as if this is the prerequisite for great golf. In many cases these courses carry a par value of 72, as if this is important. I disagree with that opinion and one need only point to the best golf courses to make my point. Length does matter but it should never take precedence over wanting to create holes with character and interest. The land should dictate the length of any hole and the golf architect should pay less focus at fixing yardages for the purpose of figuring par.