[JRuckles]

So I've decided to make my home track - Wellshire Golf Course by Donald Ross.  I've played it so many times that I feel comfortable recreating the greens in an accurate fashion.  The trouble I'm having is the overall elevation differences between all the hills and valleys (which are a key part of the course).  I am currently using an app called "measure your land" for distances but is there a good app anyone has used for pretty accurate elevations (preferably free...)?

Fun fact about Wellshire.  Ben Hogan won the Denver Open there in 1948.  He started the day so far behind the leaders that he didn't think he actually had a chance to win by the time he finished his round, so he flew home.  The leaders choked and Hogan wasn't even there to accept the trophy after the tournament.. Haha.

[BoomBoom]

I use google earth pro, had for years, not sure if I paid or not. Not sure how accurate it is either, but it's helpful if there is a description somewhere of the elevation change. Famous courses usually have that somewhere, but home tracks you could get away with eyeballing it I'm sure.

[McBogga]

Pictures. Multiple angles will tell the story. Video helps as well.

Courses are more undulated than what originally "feels" right.


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[JRuckles]

Thanks for the tip McBogga.  I tried google earth but couldn't find a "google earth pro", but I stumbled upon one called "Elevation - Find Your Elevation"..  Haha, it was rated poorly but so far it works great, seems to give point elevations to the nearest meter..  Perfect




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[RockManDan]

Nice !!!  Interesting layout on that course.

[Royce]

Download Google Earth Pro mate, it's free and provides excellent data.  You can even revert to historic dates, I was able to determine when a certain tree was removed on my Oakland Hills project by going back in time and looking at historic maps.  Really great tool for recreating a course accurately.  And go buy the StrackaLine "book" for the course (if available), provides nice info.  I also watch YT vids of past tournaments and Links 2003 is a great resource. 

[JRuckles]

Thanks for the suggestion Royce.  That's a neat feature to go back in time, my favorite tree on #1 was actually removed about 4 years ago, I'll have to decide if I capture the state of the course back then vs. now

[JRuckles]

Nice !!!  Interesting layout on that course.

Yeah, the layout looks a little quirky from top down but hopefully I'm able to capture the hills and feel of the track.  It also boasts a pretty nice view from 12 tee:

[JRuckles]

So it turns out one of the important water hazards (affects tee shot on #10) is 30 ft higher than the lowest point on the course, and the other water hazard on #17 is around 50 ft higher than the lowest point on the course.  Has anyone come up with a clever method of placing water hazards at higher elevations...  I wish I could mark the area as a water hazard even though there won't be water in it..  Similar to marking an area as OB...

[McBogga]

Yes. Check my Tobo wip thread.


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[JRuckles]

Just wanted to share..  Going through this effort is opening my eyes to why I have struggled on a few of the greens at my home track.  I had to do a double take when I realized certain greens slope completely the opposite direction from how they "look" on the course, due to the larger global hill overriding the local hills.  A few of the shorter holes trickily slope from front to back slightly even!  Will change how I play this in real life, thanks TGC designer, haha