Jacobsen hopes to provide new golf experience

ROSLYN – From youth tees on every hole to an innovative and versatile practice range that can play as a six-hole short course on its own, Peter Jacobsen and Jim Hardy, co-founders of Jacobsen Hardy Golf Course Design, have seemingly thought of everything in an effort to make Rope Rider Golf Course appealing to golfers of all ages and ability levels.

“Our goal is to be able to have Tiger (Woods) go out and play golf with his mom and his dad and enjoy the same golf course,” Jacobsen, a Portland, Ore., native and longtime member of the PGA Tour, said earlier this summer during groundbreaking ceremonies for Rope Rider, one of three championship courses that are part of the 6,000-acre Suncadia resort and golf community being built here.

“They all play at different levels, but the enjoyment factor should be the same.”

With that philosophy in mind, Jacobsen and Hardy have set out to design a course that will not only lure more young people to the game of golf, but placate accomplished players, as well.

Rope Rider, when completed in 2007, will stretch just over 7,200 yards from the back tees and play to a par of 72. It will unwind over diverse terrain that includes heavily wooded hills and open, rolling meadows. Part of the course will also sit on the site of a former coal mining operation.

“This is a ‘Wow!’ ” Jacobsen said of the mountain-view property on which the course is being constructed. “You could find 100 holes out there. The key is to find the best 18 and design those.”

To that end, Jacobsen has come up with an imaginative layout that features a splendid mix of tough, intermediate and easy holes, all of which will include youth tee boxes strategically situated between 70 and 120 yards from the green.

“We’re going to build each tee as its own separate tee so your child, as a junior, will actually feel like they’re playing their own golf course,” Jacobsen explained. “You’re not just throwing a ball out there 100 yards form the green and saying, ‘Here, Honey, go ahead. This is your hole. Play it.’

“They’re actually going to have their own tee with tee markers, and we hope to have youth scorecards, as well. To me, it’s very important to get kids into the game early, because I think it teaches the proper morals and proper values for life.”

In keeping with the family-first theme, Rope Rider will feature an innovative layout that will allow golfers facing time restraints the opportunity to play six- and three-hole loops.

Holes 10 through 15 will play as six-hole loop and holes 16 through 18 will play as a three-hole loop, both of which start and end near the concessions stand located between the ninth green and 10th tee box.

The idea, Jacobsen explained, is to give families and chance to play a few quick holes without having to devote five hours to a complete round of golf.

The short-iron practice range will feature six target greens that can be played as a short course.

“We’re designing the range so it’s not just wasted space,” Jacobsen said. “It’s just another way to incorporate something extra into the whole design philosophy of the golf course.”

The regular 18-hole course will be a straightforward layout with at least six holes that offer a legitimate chance for making birdie.

“I really love to see a 30-handicapper make two birdies in a round,” Jacobsen said. “There’s nothing wrong with that. You’ll see a lot of fairways and greens on the grade here. You’re not going to see a lot of elevated greens and you’re not going to see a lot of forced carries.

“I think a lot of golf courses today are designed for the great players. They’re designed for the Tour players. That is not our goal. Our goal is to design a family oriented, playable golf course for all levels of players – from the professional golfer, down to beginners.”