Shorehill Golf

BTME 2025 Get in touch if you're in Harrogate for #BTME2025. Harry will be attending Tuesday - Thursday so please reach out if you'd like to catch up or learn more about what Shorehill do...

BTME 2025 Get in touch if you're in Harrogate for #BTME2025. Harry will be attending Tuesday - Thursday so please reach out if you'd like to catch up or learn more about what Shorehill do...

KEY FINDINGS An example of our report structure which outlines discussed changes to the course based on data-led findings and conversations with all involved parties (club staff, committees, architects, agronomists etc). Our reports serve as a kind of SWOT analysis for golf courses - how does the course currently function, where are the main problem areas, and how might the aims of the club be best achieved? From the data collected, we uncover a spectrum of findings and contextualise them against the aims of the club and developmental timelines. Then, we prioritise these based on the severity of the issue (and/or value of the opportunity) VS the effort/cost/time required to make the change. This is a summary page with all significant findings outlined on a course map - our reports then delve into detail on each. Here, we have: - 'High Priority Changes'; mostly high value changes with low effort to implement. -'Medium Priority Changes'; perhaps less urgent, or less viable to fix than the above. *We do also have low priority changes too, though those suggestions are covered in detail on a hole by hole basis rather than shown here. -'Maintenance Suggestions'; usually area usage data or sustainability insights; generally smaller tweaks to maintenance which, when accumulated, make a huge difference to the maintenance budget and/or the sustainable management of the course. -'Major Projects'; this one is pretty self explanatory. This usually relates to green sites which have problematic traffic flow or playing patterns. These are costly changes to implement, and the value of the changes are documented in detail in the rest of the report. -'Pace of Play Bottleneck Areas'; a key area of concern for many clubs, with any viable solutions detailed later in the report. Contact harry@shorehillgolf.com if you'd like to see some of our real case studies ⛳

LANDING AREAS: There is a very fine line between getting players to think carefully about their strategy, and presenting an equation which forces them into a specific decision (in this case, not taking driver from the tee). See here how the narrow landing area and fairway bunkering forces players to lay back off the tee - by yardage, we would expect to see shots in/around the fairway bunkers, but heatmap data shows the vast majority playing short of these into the wider, bunkerless portion of fairway instead. In this instance there are some safety concerns for those hitting driver so forcing a lay-up is no bad thing. But for those considering adding or renovating bunkers to encourage a strategic choice for a tee shot - care needs to be taken to encourage players to truly consider their options. The perceived risk vs the perceived reward for each route/club selection needs to be carefully balanced to create a strategically compelling shot.

Where Shorehill fits into the planning process for golf facilities.... A (simplified) diagram outlining how many clubs plan, communicate and execute their projects, and where Shorehill adds value within that process. Ultimately, collecting and using golfer data provides value no matter the scale of the project or the exact decision-making structure at any club. Data-led decision-making is becoming more prevalent in the industry, and this should be no different for capital investment projects (or even routine winter work). Golfer data of this kind provides value in early and later stage planning discussions, in cultivating golfer buy-in, maximising the ROI of any project and finally in helping the facility after construction has been completed. We're here to arm the key decision-makers with more precise, impactful and actionable information to enable them to maximise the success of their specific projects, whatever they may be. Contact Harry Cloke to learn more ⛳

A really interesting piece on whether the famous road hole needs redesigning (spoiler alert: it does not, but it makes for a great thought exercise). In our view, the 17th on the old course is brilliant because of its simplicity, much like many of the best strategic holes. Here, strategy comes from the interplay between hitting over the right OB (and the real estate within it) and desperately wanting to avoid the road hole bunker. The angle of the green, road and wall behind it all contribute, but the toss up between a scary tee shot bringing OB in play VS a scary second navigating the road hole bunker forms the crux of the strategy. Many of the data patterns we see suggest that most golfers overlook nuanced strategy, but their choices can be strongly influenced by significant danger. Most golfers only spend a few seconds deciding which club and line to take, so a very simple but compelling strategic problem is required to grab their attention and force them to think carefully. The strategy here is easy to understand (risk going OB or risk going in the road hole bunker) but it is much more difficult to settle on a solution. Here, we would expect to see a lot of golfers bail out to the left (particularly higher handicappers). But, as is the beauty of the hole, that leaves them with an approach which is all but impossible to get close. On their next visit, this experience might encourage them to be bolder off the tee, bringing OB squarely into play. One nice aspect of the hole is that there is a good chunk of space to bail out short and right of the green- so you can play it as a three shot hole without too much trouble. Just our thoughts on a very interesting article in By Design magazine.

ENGAGING GOLFERS IN COURSE DEVELOPMENT WORK The power of golfer engagement in course development work cannot be overlooked. I have seen some fantastic, ambitious projects fall flat because of a lack of engagement from golfers and, conversely, I have seen some pretty minor tweaks getting members truly excited... One happy surprise we found with our data-led approach is that, through using an app to document golfer play across the course, we are able to facilitate early stage golfer buy-in. It is a difficult task when designing and proposing course changes to ensure every golfer feels heard, represented and valued. Asking golfers to engage in the decision-making process in a controlled manner; in this case by using our app to inform course development decisions, does exactly that. Fast forward to proposing and executing change; the data can frame difficult conversations with committees and golfers. The stats don't lie... From our experience, you can find golfers ready to defend absolutely any feature on any course - having hard data to back up your decisions is hugely valuable. The merits of data-led decision-making can be seen all over the world, in almost all industries. We firmly believe in golf's adoption of data too, and are proud to help facilities make more impactful and precise decisions while generating positive engagement amongst their golfers.

SUSTAINABILITY IN GOLF Thankfully, more and more golf courses are looking at ways to improve their sustainable course management. Sustainability is not only a social/societal movement, but water scarcity poses an immediate problem for many facilities too. We see golfer data playing a key part in helping facilities find the sweet spot in heightening sustainable course management while upholding (often enhancing) the golfer experience. The key questions in our minds are: -Are there highly maintained areas on the course which serve little purpose to the golfer experience? We have seen some great efforts globally to reduce the total area of finely maintained turf, but it can be difficult to find the perfect balance without taking stock of exactly how golfers engage with each square ft of a course. Why use up resources (including time and money) maintaining areas which have no impact on the golfer experience. Those are easy wins 😎 -Are there (even lightly) maintained areas which are never visited by golfers, which could be naturalised or ecologically enhanced? There is so much opportunity for courses to encourage local ecosystems; why not convert out of play areas from a nett negative to a nett positive for the environment? -Where are the highest usage areas on the course? Target resources into these areas and adopt precision maintenance practices to ensure a quality experience for golfers day in, day out, in a way which is a kinder to the environment. There are so many incredible products, initiatives and studies out there which can help facilities exceed their sustainability goals; golfer data is just one of those. Get in touch with Harry Cloke to learn more

What is the "point" of a bunker? It's an interesting topic of conversation which we have regularly. Is it supposed to catch poor shots? Force golfers into making a strategic decision? To make a hole look pretty...? Do we want a bunker seeing a lot of play, or little? Below is an interesting one; the cross bunker (in the lay-up area of a par 5) sees relatively little play itself, but clearly exerts a major influence on golfers. We see mid handicapper's second shots divided between the area in front of and after the bunker. Higher handicappers tend to traverse it on their 3rd shot, low handicappers tend to clear it in 2. It also influences the walking route of the majority of golfers too (as seen below). This is a bunker which heavily influences play, but doesn't actually catch (punish) all that many golfers. Is that the best kind of bunker....? We use data to understand how golfers of all standards interact with the golf course. Context is vitally important; we look beyond simple stats and instead explore the role of each feature and the story of each hole against the developmental aims, history, sustainability policies and architecture of a course.

One of the inspirations for Shorehill was the shotlink system; tour courses generally receive a shotlink report after hosting a tournament, and use it to make key decisions in the design and maintenance of their course. But most facilities don't have access to this data (and the pros don't engage with the course the same way your average golfers do for the other 51 weeks of the year anyway). So we wondered; what if we could provide this kind of analysis for any course, and for all golfers? Fast-forward quite a few years and that's exactly what we do; provide informative reports on how golfers of all standards are engaging with your course. Used to inform sustainable course management (particularly useful for courses looking to reduce their total areas of finely maintained turf without negatively impacting the golfer experience), save on maintenance costs, improve pace of play, enhance course strategy and more. These insights are no longer reserved for the elite few courses who host tour events. We're proud to serve facilities of all kinds around the world! Image taken from the US Open website (Bryson's exceptional final hole, shown on shotcast).