Designs for the big screen

This article first appeared in the Spring 2025 issue of By Design, the digital magazine of the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA). Subscribe to receive a free copy.

The new TGL high-tech golf simulator league has now progressed from vision to (virtual) reality, with the six teams of PGA Tour pros hitting into a 64-feet tall screen for 15-hole rounds at the purpose-built SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, culminating in a playoff final in late March.

Among the stars of the show are the virtual golf holes, created over fantasy environments by golf course architects Beau Welling, Chad Goetz of Nicklaus Design, and Agustín Pizá.

By Design spoke to Goetz and Pizá to gain an insight into their design decisions and early thoughts on how the holes have performed.

“The first impression that one can have is that we had no constraints,” says Pizá. “But there are restrictions, not in the imaginary world of the golf setting, but in regard to technology and how the game transitions from the simulator world into the existing green.

“We had to design for this one putting surface that can rotate 360 degrees; the outer tongue of the green can also rotate.”

For those that have played on a simulator, uphill and downhill shots are uncommon or don’t display too well. “If you’re looking at a five-storey screen and you have a shot that is more than six-to-10 percent uphill, you can’t see the horizon, you only see a big wall of green because the cameras are fixed on that one point,” says Pizá. “The same happens when there is a 30-foot (or more) drop to a fairway or par-three green, the only thing that you see on the screen is sky, because the screen doesn’t move with your head.

“Other than that, the sky has been the limit!”

Goetz also highlighted slope as one of the primary considerations. “We were given some early slope criteria of what would fit on the screen,” he says. “I decided to try and test that criteria and create a mountain hole with a more uphill tee shot followed by a downhill approach. We had to tweak the design a little bit but combining that idea with the speed slot feature of the tenth hole at Augusta National and you have the ‘Alpine’ hole. This seems to be a favourite of the fans and players, as the guys can drive it massive lengths if they hit the speed slot.

“TGL also wanted us to avoid shots in the 30- to 70-yard range as the players would have to hit that pitch shot almost into the bottom of the huge screen. That is why you see so many holes with bold, non-recoverable cliffs or water features around the greens. TGL also wanted to avoid having trees where a player might get stymied, or deep faced bunkers in the line of play, as those obstacles would be difficult to replicate in the game format.”

And while it’s early days for the virtual league, the architects have found season one to be a gratifying and educational experience.

“We’re all still learning, and it’s a cool learning curve,” says Pizá. “Each week we’re seeing how players respond to each hole and each feature. Our original intent was to design holes according to the average carry of the top players.” However, some setup changes have been made recently, with tees moved up or back depending on the distances the players have decided or managed to hit during matches.

“I’m really happy with how the holes have performed,” says Pizá. “I have liked this experimental phase of TGL and have enjoyed seeing how they have been played and hearing what the players are discussing. Seeing them on a 40-second shot clock and talking about how to play the hole in different ways has been great – it was designed to be matchplay alternate shot and to generate conversations between the best players. The way TGL has set up the 15-hole experience with my, Beau’s and Chad’s holes has been great.

“The entire TGL experience has been fantastic, and, for the first time in my career, I can finally say I had a blank canvas to work on.”

Goetz says: “Watching the early matches, I feel like many of the players have the same expressions as I did when starting the design process. It’s a feeling of ‘this feels like the sport and profession I know well, but this is a different animal and I’m not exactly sure what to think or do yet.’

“I really did not know what to expect when the players started playing these holes in live matches. They have made some of the shots I thought might be extra challenging look pretty easy, and in some cases, they seem to be playing the holes a little more conservatively than I would have thought. I guess a conservative tee shot with the ‘penalty’ of playing an approach shot that is an extra 10-to-20 yards longer with a carry over a bunker doesn’t scare them too much. Maybe the more human golfers among us could learn a lesson from that?

“During early meetings we asked if the holes should be based closer to reality, or could they take on more fantastical forms like one might see in a video game. We were asked to keep our holes more traditional in appearance. So, if we were asked to design more holes for season two, it would definitely be fun to try a more unconventional form. To add more variety to the catalogue holes, I think a par three requiring a driver could be a fun option.

“This has been such a unique and fun experience, and it has definitely pushed me to explore my creativity and continue to explore what makes a great golf hole.”

Richard HumphreysRichard Humphreys

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