Michigan Golf Journal March 2020

23 March 2020 www.michigangolfjournal.com merit in the years ahead. It’s called Three Sticks. Basically, the design is made up of six fairways of varying length, laid out in a way very similar to any six-hole stretch of par 3s, 4s and 5s, found on a standard golf course and ranging from 135 yards to over 500 yards. Each hole has a couple sets of tee boxes, just like a standard golf course. The difference is the green complexes. Zaliagiris, founder of Visionary Golf Design, offers up three different flag sticks – red, blue and white – all at different lengths and angles from the common landing area off the tee. Sometimes there are three very distinct, separate greens with their own bunkering. A stream might even run between them, changing the attack angle and length between the three. On other holes, there could be two greens, but one of them is very large and has two different pin placements, with a bunker or high rough splitting parts of the putting surface. The third option for variety in design and playability is a massive, undulating green that shares three different flags. Frankly, the design options for green complexes are endless. On one sample blueprint, one par 4 fairway had three different total distances of 355-yards, 385 and 405, with the two longest flags requiring a carry over a stream and different attack angles. Continues on page 25 >>