Nature’s playground is impressive.

What’s more impressive then the sheer beauty of this massive creation is the fact that we’ve been able to wedge a golf course – albeit a damn impressive one – right in the middle, on top and at the bottom of this thing. More on that in a bit.

Welcome back to the Golden Tee 2012 Road Tour. Our camper has ample gas and we’re on our way to Tusayan, Arizona which is right in the heart of the Grand Canyon. Although Dusty Trail was unique in its own way, GT has never seen a gem quite like this.

I know what you’re thinking. You’ve played canyon courses before and can casually assume that this is more of the same. Before you begin to tell me that this course is just like Monument Valley or [insert canyon course of choice] here, however, wait until you give this one a test drive or two. Trust your buddy here.

And away we go…

From Top to Bottom

Playing Grand Canyon is a journey. That’s not just marketing speak, (okay there’s a hint of marketing speak in there), but it’s also indicative of where you start and where you’ll finish the round. Hole one starts at the very top of the Grand Canyon, giving players perhaps the best view they’ve ever had in Golden Tee. No joke.

Elevation will come into play early on and you’ll hit both up and down into a variety of fairways and greens. There’s also some significant drop offs that come into play – TRUST me on that – so staying on the short stuff will be key on the front.

From that point, however, players will begin maneuvering their way over and around various canyon drops while slowing working their way down the canyon itself. By the ninth hole, the views of the giant canyon backdrops will be long gone and suddenly players will find themselves nestled between canyon walls.

The back nine is a 180 from what you just played, and you’ll have to adjust your game accordingly. The room for error will decrease significantly and canyon walls will be everywhere. On the 18^th hole, you’ll notice a helicopter positioned 50 yards from the green ready to take you to the top once your done. Hell yeah we thought this thing through.

The Drivable Par 4s

Do you go for the gusto or play it safe? This is what you’ll have to ask yourself on the tee box on a handful of drivable par-4s that are scattered throughout the Grand Canyon.

By now you’ve probably read about the new and improved drops in GT 2012. For those of you that haven’t, here’s the deal. On drivable par-4s, if you go for the green and end up in a hazard or OB you’ll be put back on or near the original tee box. It hurts, and it’ll certainly make you think twice about going for the green or laying up. “Pshhh, I never lay up, it’s Golden Tee, bro.” –a few of you right now.

You will, or at least you should on this course. There are a handful of drivable par-4s that can be reached with your drive, but it also comes with significant risk. I mean, it is the Grand Canyon. How you decide to play these holes will determine your score and where you finish up.

The stroke you gain by driving the green is a big, but the potential strokes you give up by missing can be even bigger.

The Par-3 17^th

Each year, there is one hole that truly separates itself as being THE statement design in the game. While each course has their own unique creations, the par-3 17^th on Grand Canyon is one that sticks out more than any other Jim design in the game.

It’s not a short hole, and you’ll likely be hitting fairway woods or short irons into the green. After a decent amount of attempts on this, I’m not exactly sure which option works best. Sticking the green with a fairway wood can be a tough task with a strong wind in your face. The loft, however, can be incredibly beneficial with an out wind and in calmer situations. You also have a new spin option in Bite, which will come in very handy when just trying to land safely.

Another interesting tidbit was that a sand trap was added to the front part of this green to give players a legitimate bailout spot in tougher conditions. T Use this to your advantage. While we all hope to birdie each and every par-3 we play, there’s nothing wrong with par here, especially with a nasty wind.

Play smart, and most of all avoid the blowups. It’s a possibility here if you’re not careful.

So there you have it. We’re done with the Grand Canyon but still have 3 courses to dive into in the coming weeks. Stay tuned to the GTB for all of ‘em and enjoy some scenes of this beauty on your way out.

Cheers,

-Ak

We’ve gassed up our Golden Tee tour bus, plane and boat and we’re once again taking our show to the road. Welcome to our 2012 course preview on the Golden Tee Blog; I’ll be your host for the next five weeks.

I’ve now had ample time to play all five of the new courses (#humblebrag) and I’m ready to pass along some observations for each. Note: I haven’t perfected the art of course domination just yet, but I’ve been in plenty of places on each that you’ll hopefully avoid.

Our 2012 journey begins in the golfing hotbed of Sayre, Oklahoma at the fascinating Dusty Bend, which is positioned directly on Route 66. Known for motels, diners, and awkward truck stops that you’ll likely want to avoid after 10:30 p.m.

Dusty is a unique creation that provides challenges and designs new to the GT. There’s also a dinosaur on this course. Not a real one… OR IS IT?

In any event, here are a handful of things to take note of for when you get your paws on GT 2012.

Dusty Dirt 2.0

The surface that surrounds a giant portion of Route 66 could be classified as deadly. Not in a sense that you won’t be able to hit out of it if you happen to find it (and believe me, you will), but because if your ball even glances this surface it’ll stop dead in its tracks. If you’ve seen how your ball will react in snow, you can expect something very similar in this regard.

Where dusty dirt really comes into play is around the greens. Anything short of the green will likely stay short and not roll on. This shot is especially prevalent on the par-3 17^th, where water surrounds the back of the green and dusty dirt lies just in front. Shot planning becomes more important, and you’ll need to evaluate distances a little more with your approaches.

While hitting the dirt with your tee shot won’t kill you, it will kill your distance and likely crush your chances of reaching par-5s in two. If there’s a penalty stroke in Golden Tee without actually splashing down or going OB, this just might be it.

Oh Hello, Design-a-Hole

David Donovan’s 2012 Design-a-Hole wining creation calls Dusty Bend home.

Abandoned Railyard, which is hole #12 on the course, is a beauty and you’ll certainly recognize this baby once you get there. In terms of the level of difficulty, it’s hard to assess this early on. For those unfamiliar with the design, it’s a drivable par-4 tucked in between, you guessed it, an abandoned railyard.

How you attack this hole will depend a great deal on your tee box. Although you’d like to be closer to the hole in almost all cases, too close here and you may get up close and personal with a railcar. Believe me, I’ve had my fair share of run-ins, and I’m happy to report that “TING” sound of ball hitting steel is indeed in the game.

When you do get past the railcars and over the other obstacles, you’ll also have to deal with a massive green. And I mean massive. While it may not be the largest green in the history of LIVE, it’s damn close. My advice: avoid the railcars and get your ball close to the pin so you don’t have a putt over 100 feet.

Got it? Good.

Get Your Golden Tees Ready

I don’t want you to view the following as a sales tactic to encourage you to purchase Golden Tees, but I fear it may come off as such. Oh well. /adjusts corporate hat

Off the tee, I’ve used more Golden Tees on this course than I have on any other course in 2011 or 2012. I know they cost money and some of you likely scoff at the idea of buying further equipment, but my goodness they are useful on a handful of reachable par-5s and par-4s with impressive obstacles.

Without getting into specifics and ruining 2012 strategy for y’all, a fairway wood and a high tee can do wonders on this course. Whether you’re looking for extra distance or need to get over some large farming structure/obstacles, trust me when I say this is an option that you should examine closely on various occasions.

That’s all for now, trackballers. Check out the Dusty Bend trailer below if you haven’t seen it quite yet, and come back soon for our look at the four remaining courses. Next up… Grand Canyon.

Cheers,

-ak

Jim Zielinski is a virtual golf course expert. Wait, scratch that. Jim Zielinski is THE virtual golf course expert and frankly it’s his fantastic mug on the virtual golf course Mount Rushmore (surely there is such a thing) four times. Now THAT would be somethin’.

Photoshop anyone?

In any event, you get where we’re going with this. Jim Z is the man, and he’s the creator of every GT hole you’ve ever played, except for the three Design-a-Hole winning holes he’s finished and the one he’s working on right now.

California’s David Donovan is next up to go from fan to creator, and as we saw last week Jim Z is well on his way to getting the hole into 2012. As for this transition from sketch to virtual masterpiece, this is no easy task enough the layout of the hole is all but set.

We caught up with Jim Zielinski to find out much more about how Abandoned Railyard is coming along, where we can expect to see it in the game, and what differences might be made when it comes to getting it GT ready.

And away we go.

AK: Jim, as always thank you very much for joining us. Let’s start first with 2012 and an update on how the game as a whole is coming along.

JZ: Well, we’re in crunch mode now. The courses are more or less complete, although we’re still adding some of the finer details and into the testing phase. At this point we’re looking for potential bugs and just trying to get the game ready for launch. Needless to say, it’s probably our busiest time of the year.

AK: Switching the focus to our Design-a-Hole winning design, Abadonded Railyard, what was it about this drivable par-4 that really impressed you and led you to believe this hole would fit brilliantly in Golden Tee?

JZ: It’s difficult to come up with a feasible but original design, and we thought David Donovan (the 2012 winner) did a superb job of that. Using the railyard theme was also something we were all excited about and an interesting fit with the course we have decided to place it in. On top of this, we felt with some minor tweaks, this would be a risk vs. reward hole that really would force players to think about whether they should try and drive the green each and every round.

AK: In terms of these tweaks and changes that were made, what did you and your design team have to do to make sure Abandoned Railyard was ready for the game?

JZ: This is the toughest aspect of this entire contest, and as good as a design might be there’s always changes to be made. This is something I battle myself and I’ve been doing this for quite a while.

The biggest change I’d say we made was with the train cars. On the design itself, they were scaled rather large, so we had to change the size a bit. The next thing we did was alter their placement and total number of these cars, bringing them back towards the tee box. They now serve as more of an obstacle, something that will be much more prevalent from certain tee boxes.

AK: Up until this point, I think it’s safe to say most GT players would acknowledge that the previous Design-a-Hole winning designs have not been as challenging as some of your other designs. Well, I certainly am very capable of messing up The Lighthouse every now and then, but you get what I mean. How easy (or hard) will Abandoned Railyard play in your eyes on GT 2012?

JZ: It’s hard to know exactly how players will do on the hole, but as I mentioned earlier, tee box placement will impact if and when you go for the green more than ever. Even when you do have a relatively manageable shot to the green and the conditions are favorable, getting to the green in one is far from a given. The green itself is also rather large and you’ll likely be given some lengthy putts for both eagle and birdie. I would say this will be the toughest DAH design to make it into the game, but it’s also very fair.

AK: Where will we see Abandoned Railyard in Golden Tee 2012?

JZ: In terms of what course we will place it on, we think we found the perfect match for such an original hole. You’ll know exactly what I mean when you see which location is at soon enough. In terms of where it currently sits on that course, right now we have it as hole 12 but that could certainly change before launch. We’ve also briefly discussed about actually moving it back a bit towards the end of course because we think it’s going to be a great hole.

AK: Jim, we cannot wait. Thanks once again for your time, and we’ll certainly be talking to you more about 2012 as launch day approaches.

There’s no need to adjust your screens. The scene above is meant to look like EXACTLY how you see it, and this is what course designer Jim Zielinski works with when he’s designing a Golden Tee hole on his computer.

As I walked into Jim’s office to check up on how the Design-a-Hole was coming along, I was greeted to this image. I then awkwardly stood over his shoulder for five minutes, saying nothing, watching him move every tree, bush, (in this case boxcar) into the perfect position. It was mesmerizing (for a Golden Tee nerd like myself).

2012 Design-a-Hole winner David Donovan’s outstanding creation, Abandoned Railyard, is indeed well on its way to becoming a Golden Tee hole. There is still some fine-tuning to be done, but the basic outline of Abandoned Railyard is complete and it is fantastic.

Creating a Golden Tee hole from someone else’s design is no easy task. Jim, and the superbly talented Golden Tee team, have worked hard to keep David’s key design features intact but also make sure it translates well into the game. This is something we’ll tackle further in Part 2 of this feature when we interview Jim about creating this design and how and where it’ll fit in the game.

As for now, check out the images below of Abandoned Railyard as it makes it way into your favorite game. Oh, you’re going to LOVE it.

Cheers,

-ak