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The cameraTypes of Golf Courses
There are generally three types of golf courses in terms of ownership and hole length, as defined by the National Golf Foundation.
Private Golf Course: A golf course where play is restricted to members and their guests. The members may have an individual proprietary interest, or the club may be owned by private enterprise, which makes it available to members for dues or fees.
Daily Fee Golf Course: A golf course that is privately owned but provides at least limited public access and which may or may not offer memberships or annual passes.
Municipal Golf Course: A golf course that is owned by a tax-supported entity such as a city, county, state, school, park district or other special tax district. The course may be operated by the agency or by private enterprise under the terms of a lease agreement. This course is open to the general public and may or may not offer memberships or annual passes.
Regulation Length Golf Course: A traditional length and par golf course that includes a variety of par three, par four and par five holes; a 9-hole course must be at least 2,600 yards in length and at least par 33, and an 18-hole course must be at least 5,200 yards in length and at least par 66.
Executive Length Golf Course: A shorter or compact version of the regulation length and par golf course that includes a variety of par three, par four and/or par five holes; a 9-hole course is 2,600 yards in length or less and a par 32 or less, and an 18-hole course is 5,200 yards in length or less and par 65 or less.
Par-3 Golf Course: A short course comprised solely of par-3 holes that average at least 100 yards in length.
Stanford Golf Course
The Stanford Golf Course is privately owned and of regulation length. In 1998, GolfWeek Magazine named Stanford No. 87 among the world’s top 100 courses built before 1960, describing the 6835 yard par-71 course as a “demanding but fun, daunting but beautiful … bona-fide classic”. This amazing course also doubles as the home of Stanford’s cross-country teams, providing a picturesque yet challenging long-distance course.
The concept for the Stanford Golf Course began in the 1920s, when students lobbied for a golf course. At that point, the men’s golf team practiced at a golf course in Burlingame, half an hour away. Fortunately, the University Controller Almon Roth was an avid golfer, and eagerly took up the students’ cause with success. In February of 1929, Roth persuaded the Stanford University Board of Trustees to provide the land and finance the construction.
Almon Roth, Stanford's University Controller
In May of 1929, construction on the course began, but not without difficulty. The two primary concerns were with preserving the oak trees already on the land, and securing enough water to maintain the course. Although the designers could not preserve all the oak trees, they removed as few as possible (75). In order to supply the course with enough water, the designers enlarged Felt Lake (roughly two miles south of the course), turning it into an artificial reservoir with a capacity of 278 million gallons. After overcoming these two obstacles, the course was quickly finished by December of the same year, and opened for play on January 1, 1930. Surprisingly, the cost of construction was relatively inexpensive at $188,000 for the course, $190,000 for enlarging Felt Lake, and $54,000 for the clubhouse, for a total of $432,000. Compare this to the current average construction costs for golf courses, which range from $1.6 to $4.5 million, and yearly maintenance budgets alone averaging $384,000 to $636,000!
Because the Stanford Golf Course is a private course, playing privileges are restricted to club members, students, faculty/staff, and alumni. Club membership can only be purchased by alumni, but the waiting list has become so long that applications are no longer accepted. The dress code is described as “appropriate golf attire including a shirt must be worn at all times”, which seems rather vague. In the more laid-back atmosphere of California filled with young university students, one can easily see “baggy shorts, saddle shoes, and backward baseball caps” alongside the classic Greg Norman and Ralph Lauren polos. It seems like the rule is simply no jeans. A round of golf for a Stanford student costs $20, while alumni would need to pay $100. Although the course is not open to outsiders, guests of those with playing privileges can pay $125 to play, but are limited to two rounds per month. While this might sound pricey, compare it to Pebble Beach, the number one public golf course in America as ranked by Golf Digest, for a wallet-breaking $425 per round.
The beautiful and famed Pebble Beach, for $425
Several characteristics of this course have changed with time. Where the course once used to be the exclusive domain of club members, now students constitute 20% of all golfers. During the 1940’s and 1950’s, although there were no golf carts, there were still caddies – usually local high school students looking to earn some extra money by hauling a heavy bag of clubs over five miles for club members. Nowadays, 65% of all players walk, carrying their own bags. One of the most notable, and perhaps regrettable changes is the pace of play. In the old days, “there were times you could go out there on a weekday afternoon and not see another golfer”. But now, the course is booked solid on most days, and the emphasis is on “keeping folks moving”. This is managed by 20 volunteer player assistants, whose responsibilities include cruising the course on their golf carts from 6:30 am to closing to check whether groups are on schedule and telling them to “please pick up the pace” for those falling behind.
In the end, although the Stanford Golf Course is owned by a university and appreciated by a slightly different mix of golfers, it is still a challenging course easily capable of testing one’s mettle. Diane Rogers describes the somewhat frustrating experience of playing the opening hole aptly: “From the first tee, the possibilities are wide open. You could slice your ball and land on Campus Drive West. You could hook it and spook the horses in the Red Barn. You could fail to carry Junipero Serra Boulevard and listen to the sound of your ball whacking against a guard rail (or, it’s happened, bouncing off the roof of a passing car). More likely, you could drive your ball 190 yards and watch it bury under the lip of the left bunker.”
Looking out from the first tee at Stanford Golf Course
Stanford Golf Course, like many other golf courses, also includes a driving range. Unlike the course itself, the driving range is open to the public seven days a week. Driving ranges are primarily used for practice of various shots necessary on the course. They consist of many stations containing a mat and a place for golf balls. One of the benefits of the driving range is that one can stay for as little or as long as one wants, in contrast to the golf course, where the average round takes three to four hours. Furthermore, golf courses are limited by the amount of daylight, whereas driving ranges are sometimes equipped with lights for night practices too. Monetarily speaking, driving ranges are also beneficial. A bucket of 25 balls is $3 at Stanford’s driving range, and a swift hitter can go through three buckets in an hour. However, in the end, a driving range can never completely replace the real learning experiences on the golf course.
Stanford Driving Range
The Layout of Stanford's 18-Hole Golf Course
