"PLAYABILITY"
Providing the opportunity for all levels of golfers and their different golfing abilities to play each hole is the challenge golf architects must meet squarely. Good design will allow players of all skill levels to hit their shots but be rewarded when they can execute varying shots consistently. The key is for an architect, as they analyze a site, to produce the widest variety of shots out of the existing physiography.
"Playability" or play quality is always our foremost design consideration when it comes to planning the strategy of the golf course. It is important that all levels of handicap feel comfortable employing their game on our courses. "Playability" should be distinguished from the word easy. Golf courses can be playable meaning there are many ways to attack an individual hole and not be easy to score on. Easy would constitute a lack of features, lack of undulation, lack of rough, and lack of contouring. It is important that a player always has an option to play a hole even when they have encountered hazards. It is equally important that they also have the option to play as they try to circumvent hazards. The key is to develop the amount of reward proportionate to the risk that each golfer ensues.
Overall, a round of golf should be a wonderful walk through nature in which a variety of obstacles were either circumvented or directly challenged to which rewards were proportionate to the risks taken. But most importantly, one should feel as if they're familiar with the overall golf course site once they are done playing.
