DESIGN OF PARK AND RECREATION AREAS 157 



A golf course is composed of a certain number of what may be called units, 

 nine or eighteen of them, determined by the number of holes in the course. 

 Each of these units has a start and a finish --the "tee" and the "green" 

 - the former the point from which the ball is driven, the latter the point 

 to which it is driven. 



This putting green at the end of the unit consists of a carefully main- 

 tained area of smooth, closely cut turf, containing the hole. The greens 

 may be level or slightly undulating, true, not full of excrescences, must be 

 well drained, and should be arranged so that the "cups" can be changed 

 around to distribute the wear. The most difficult greens are often fortified 

 by pits of sand dug into them as hazards. The greens are usually kept at 

 about sixty feet in diameter, for to make them smaller adds to the difficulty 

 of playing, concentrates the wear and the tendency to keep them in poor 

 condition, and to make them larger adds to the expense of the course and 

 to the encouragement of the careless player. In general the shorter the 

 holes the smaller should be the greens. 



Putting greens may be of three general types as far as location is 

 concerned; they may be placed in a valley, on a hillside, or on a hilltop. 

 The first of these is probably the least interesting of the group because it 

 is most easily approached and usually needs to be surrounded by traps to 

 make it more difficult. It is difficult to approach a green upon a hilltop 

 and for the ball to stay upon it when at last it has been gained, and there- 

 fore this green may become a good sporting green. It is not desirable to 

 place a green at the end of a long shot. The good view to be had from a 

 hilltop green also adds to the player's interest. It is a kind, however, that 

 is used rather infrequently, because of the expense of properly building it. 

 A green upon the hillside is in some respects the most interesting, if it is 

 designed to offset the curvature of the ball, and the tendency of the same, 

 after a long drive, to roll away from the hole. A fair proportion of all three 

 types should be introduced where possible, because of the variety of 

 interest that they offer the players. 



Tees and greens of different units should not be too close together, 

 because of the danger from flying balls both to players and spectators. 

 Neither should they be more than one hundred or two hundred feet apart 

 as a general thing, because the distance would unduly impede the progress 

 of the game. 



Strictly speaking, the ground that lies between the tee and the green 

 (exclusive of hazards) is known to the player as the "through-the-green." 

 The elements that compose it are the "fair-green" (or fairway) and the 

 "rough." The first of these constitutes the fine playing surface, lying 

 midway between the teeing ground and the putting green. The second of 



