Hello

It has often been suggested that a good golf course design offers players of all abilities a perfect game.  This statement would be more appropriate if we added “on any given day.”  What really determines the difficulty of the course, or an individual hole, is the setup.  Setup includes flagstick location (whether it is near or behind a hazard or in a more open, accessible position), and tee marker position (which could force a player to play a shot he is uncomfortable to execute).  Certainly, the course setup would be different for a strong amateur event or professional event verses a shotgun outing of average players.  A good rule of thumb for most play days is to offer a mixture of six easy, six medium, and six more difficult flagstick locations, which should vary in difficulty as the player progresses through the round, offering diversity and excitement.