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This intrepid golfer built his own par 3 on the power line behind his house. How? Why? What’s next? – Australian Golf Digest

This intrepid golfer built his own par 3 on the power line behind his house. How? Why? What’s next? – Australian Golf Digest

Golf is a sport of ingenuity. It’s a game of doggedness, passion and creativity centered around a desire to consistently improve and grow the game. In the never-ending arc of time, the greats always figure out what to do whether they’re A. W. Tillinghast, Pete Dye, Tom Fazio or … Ed from South Carolina?

This may seem like an embellishment, but this go-getter from the Palmetto State recently joined a long lineage of golf architects who wanted something and took matters into their own hands. Ed set his heart on a nearby locale to get some golf in with his neighbors and two sons, and thus he built “Our Course.” As the old adage goes, if you build it, they will come.

I half assed a par 3 on the powerline behind my house. byu/eepippin143014 ingolf

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“I half-assed a par 3 on the powerline behind my house,” wrote Ed who goes by eepippin143014 on r/golf. “I drove two ‘flagsticks’ in, one at 130 and one at 100 and just alternate between which one to go at, makes for a fun night of practice or post-work game with the neighbors and a beer.”

It was a simple desire: to be able to work on ball striking, trajectory, ball flight, and distance control without trekking over to the range. But most wouldn’t have the inventiveness that Ed so clearly has. To find out more, we reached out to the architect newcomer and he had plenty to say on the design.

“For a few years now I had been going back to this power line behind my house and hitting balls and doing my best to find them in the brush but more often than not they would just be so bedded down that I would lose them,” he said. “I finally decided to cut a nice walkway that I could walk down from ‘tee box’ to ‘green.’

“I also was looking for somewhere that I could take my two young sons with me to get them interested in the game of golf, they actually assisted me in the design and ‘construction’ of the hole; in fact I made the walkway as wide as I did so that it could double as a small fairway for my 4-year-old and he could play it as a par 4/5.”

Our Course South Carolina

“The decision to cut in a par 3 was a simple one. I wanted a spot near my house where I could go a few times a week and work on ball striking, trajectory, ball flight, and distance control without having to load up and drive to the range. I also liked the idea of going back there with some of my neighbors that play and have a beer or two and walk back and forth playing a form of closest to the pin match play. I have a chipping net and can practice that in the yard but as far being able to take full swings the range was really the only option.” -Ed

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How exactly did this come together? Well, Ed used an old craftsman riding mower on the lowest setting possible and “just went to town” making laps. An assistant greenskeeper, his 4-year-old helped steer the mower. In total, it took two hours of cutting on the first day and then a bit more work the following day.

This new course designer has flirted with the idea of constructing new holes but is leaning toward mixing it up on the par 3 he already has. The power lines are perfect for electricity, but more importantly (depending on who’s asking) as a hurdle to make the golf more challenging.

“I joke about making additional holes to it but I think more realistically I would just cut a few more ‘tee boxes’ in different locations giving you further or even shorter looks at the hole for those nervy 60-80 yard chips onto the green after you’ve put a good drive in play,” Ed said. “Or even using the power line poles themselves as obstacles like trees on a real course to have to play around or over/under. I’ve played the hole a few times by punching a 7-iron and keeping it low to mimic having to punch under trees but still wanting to run the ball up onto the green.”

A self-described “not stellar but not awful” golfer, Ed stated that he usually shoots between 85-95 on a given day and wanted an opportunity to work a bit more on shot-shaping and consistency when it comes to distance control. More than anything though, it’s a good way to get the family together and have some fun.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to break 80 once right before my first son was born back when I was playing much more regularly, but more important things came so the golf game took a back seat to the family,” he said. “I could care less what I shoot as long as I’d be able to pass the game down to my kids.

“My dad lives around five hours away from me and we don’t get to see each other much but we always do our best to squeeze a round in when we do get together and those rounds and that time spent with him are what’s the most important, not the scores, and I want that for me and my sons. I play soccer and basketball as well but I more than likely won’t be able to play those with my kids into my 50s but with golf, I can and hope to do so.”

There has yet to be an ace at “Our Course,” but Ed and co. are optimistic that one will come sooner rather than later. Ed rightfully won’t acknowledge it as a proper hole-in-one—it is a fake course by a power line to be fair—but the celebration will be as real as it can be:

“I’d still abide by the rules,” Ed said. “Everyone in the ‘clubhouse’ a short walk away would be getting free beers, mimosas and juice boxes on me.”

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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com