Each November toward the end of its golfing season, Columbia (Mo.) Country Club mixes up its layout with the annual Cross-Country Day for members and guests.
Golf properties that offer variations on their typical course layout can give golfers a new perspective and help maintain interest. Each November toward the end of its golfing season, Columbia (Mo.) Country Club mixes up its layout with the annual Cross-Country Day for members and guests.
“In order to successfully coordinate the tee sheet and guarantee safe shots [and golfers] throughout the event, we must have the ability to close the course for only tournament players,” says General Manager Brett Bieske, PGA. “When the weather is nice we expect our tee sheet to be full of golfers enjoying their round at the club. By scheduling this in November, we are creating a social event combined with a golf aspect that anyone can try to tame comfortably.”
Each year, the layout changes—in 2015, 10 holes were configured, with the first hole beginning on the #8 tee, traveling down #7, and ending up on the #6 green. The layouts have ranged from 7 to 10 holes over the past seven years (the layout covers more acreage than standard golf holes), with a pace of play of up to three hours, says Bieske.
“The professional staff creates a safe and altered route around and through the entire course. We use a variety of tee boxes and meander through, around and over anything to reach one of the greens,” Bieske says. The most important piece of preparation, he adds, is creating a scorecard that represents true yardages and the newly established pars for the course, which has holes ranging from par 3s to par 7s.
As guests check in, the staff clearly communicates how the layout works, and manages the tee times to guarantee spacing. “We promote this weeks out, so golfers have time to discuss their plan of attack prior to the day of the event,” Bieske says. “There is no shortage of conversation leading up to this event on how to play the holes, which leads to great excitement and increased participation levels.”
And the chatter continues beyond the event, with a gathering in the club’s 19th hole afterward. “The result is endless stories being told in The Fireside Pub of shots in places no one never thought,” Bieske says.
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