Dec 22, 2023
Building Old Rascal: my backyard golf course
Imagine 'If You Give a Mouse a Cookie', but with a mid 30's dad and a sand wedge.
Confession: I'm a golf sicko
Imagine adapting 'If You Give a Mouse a Cookie', but for a mid 30's dad with a sand wedge, and you'll have a pretty good understanding of how I got here.
I used to be sort of normal. Ish. Ok fine that's a lie.
Our backyard was no oasis, but decently maintained and at least somewhat aligned with my interior designer wife's European countryside aesthetic. Then I picked up some chipping nets. Fun, right? And they're portable so I could quickly fold them up to keep our yard looking tidy.
Then came the 12ft hitting net. Not quite as easy to hide, and undeniably reaching a new level of obnoxious. But the good news is: this is the limit for most sane, self-respecting golfers. Nothing to panic about.
Things take a turn
The latest chapter of my borderline obsession with golf began on a weekend trip to Gran & Papa's. Down a dirt road outside Oklahoma City there is a classic farmhouse perched on the central high point of five acres. Surrounded by gently sloping fields and a tranquil pond to the northeast, the quiet & stillness overwhelms your senses upon arrival, forcing you to slow down and rediscover the many aspects of life easily overlooked in our non-stop routines.
Creativity can thrive in places with no wifi or daily agenda. So it makes perfect sense that the last time our extended family was all gathered there, I found an old feather duster in the work shed, grabbed a mallet and a kids gardening spade, and excavated a crude golf hole on one of the far corners of the property.
Within minutes, Papa, the brothers-in-law, and my six-year-old had joined in playing country golf and riffing off each other to take the idea further. We surveyed the land and experimented with tee box locations (marked with cedar trimmings) and hole layouts. By dinnertime there were 3 flags, (we found a broken shovel handle and another duster,) with enough distinct routes and assigned pars to form a front nine.
The eight of us played until sundown, reveling in our creation. We also noticed just how nice it was to still feel connected with the rest of the family when right out the front door instead of at a muni 20 minutes away. No five hour time commitment, (if you're lucky), no waiting behind slow players, no group size limits, just pure, unrefined golf goodness.
Alpha to MVP
As I've gotten older I'd like to think I've become a bit better at recognizing when something just feels "right" and trusting my gut to lean in. Or maybe I'm just becoming more unhinged.
But anyway I couldn't stop thinking about the thrill of creating and playing my own little golf course. When we returned home I went straight into R&D mode. I was looking to find that sweet spot of reasonable effort to reward, and thanks to the internet and some trial and error, things quickly started taking shape.
The yard itself was a huge initial lift. Not watering it once all summer meant any remaining grass was burned to a crisp. In addition, heavy thatch buildup was choking out basically any potential for new growth. But as temps cooled, rain came, and countless yard bags were hauled off from raking sessions, new life began to emerge.
It wasn't too tough to improve upon our improvised feather duster / golf flagpole. And my technique for cutting circular, sharp-edged holes with only household items started off pretty comical but eventually got quite dialed.
Finishing touches
Starting with one hole location allowed for an iterative approach to course design. After some testing I added a second hole, and then a third, which I initially thought would be the ideal mix. But following a few trial runs, it became glaringly obvious that a fourth hole would dramatically increase my options for hole configurations. Thankfully, there was just enough space in the remaining corner for a final hole placement.
With flexibility in mind, I placed a tee box just off of each green complex, each with a compelling look at all four pins from a variety of distances. Then came the fun part of dreaming up 18 unique hole layouts and determining how best to stitch them together to form a pace and narrative ready to capture the player's imagination again and again. I did the initial scaffolding of each hole on the Notes app, drawing inspiration from European links style courses as I was working with limited space and didn't want to make any drastic changes to the original landscape. Taking advantage of existing landmarks like the central pecan tree and back patio, I successfully constructed a front nine and back nine, each with its own mix of par twos, threes, and fours.
As I excitedly played my first few rounds on the course and kept score on my phone, inspiration struck again. I was going to design an official scorecard.
This ended up being quite a rabbit hole, (probably worth its own blog post,) but one I intensely enjoyed. It naturally gave way to other big creative milestones like course name & branding, a course map, and a marketing write-up. I got especially hyped printing off my first batch of scorecards on premium card stock and learning how to cut and score them for professional-quality folds.
Branding became an homage to my late grandad Harry, (affectionately nicknamed Rascal), who handed me my first golf club when I was still in pull ups. A favorite childhood activity was spending evenings with him searching for golf balls along the course that bordered his property.
To round out the brand identity I leaned into my attraction to the history and heritage of golf. The result is a nod to vintage catalogues, tradition, and the restrained artistry of links style golf, while utilizing just enough modern, minimalist touches to ground the brand in the present.
Working on my short game more regularly is a blast, but the most joy has come from sharing it with my kids and hosting friends and family to test themselves against my creation.
I know what you're thinking: "he can't possibly take this idea any further into madness."
…..aaaaaaaand I'm afraid it appears this is only the beginning.
I'm currently researching further course improvements with turf grasses, specialized mowers, and drain installations for the greens. On the club operations side I'm working on a Pro Shop of goods/memorabilia, (including the collection of vintage golf bags I've restored), and planning the first edition of the Dirtbag Cup for this Spring. The club even expanded to Austin, piloting a short course in my parent's front and back yard.
It's all absolutely absurd, and I'm loving every second of it.
P.S.
If you've made it this far, I hope we get to play Old Rascal together sometime soon.
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