Lesson 4: Your First Design Draw a Golf Hole
Every golf hole begins as an idea in someone’s imagination. Before the land is touched, before any equipment arrives, the architect imagines a hole — its shape, its challenge, its beauty.
This is your turn. You have been learning about land, topography, terrain, and the different types of golf landscapes. Now you are going to use that knowledge to design your first golf hole.
A golf hole design needs to answer a few basic questions: Where does the tee start? What is the par (3, 4, or 5)? What shape is the fairway? Where are the hazards (bunkers, water)? Where does the green sit?
There is no correct answer. Great golf holes come in every shape and size. The only rule is this: your hole must be interesting. A player standing on the tee should face a genuine decision — a clear route and a risky route. The safe way and the exciting way should both be visible from the first moment.
Every golf hole needs a tee, a fairway, a green, and at least one decision point where the player must choose between a safe and a risky route.
Real architects today sketch holes by hand first — just like you are doing. But they then transfer those sketches into CAD software that calculates exact areas, slopes, and drainage paths. The hand sketch and the digital model work together.
What is the most interesting natural feature you have ever seen on a golf course? How would you use it in a design?
Design your first golf hole. Draw it from above (bird’s-eye view) on a blank page in your design journal. Label: the tee, the par number, the fairway shape, any bunkers or hazards, and the green. Add an arrow showing the safe route and another showing the risky route. Give your hole a name. Write one sentence below the drawing explaining what makes it interesting.