1. What is Kaleidoscope Golf?
Let’s start with the definition of a golf course. A traditional golf course as we know it for many hundreds of years is a fixed route which a golfer is supposed to play successively from the first to the last hole. The route is always pre-determined and can differ only in tee positions on each hole for players of different skill levels. In order to be played within the handicap system a golf course must receive an official rating and each hole – a stroke index.
Every golf course, even the most difficult one, eventually becomes a bore for regular golfers who play it day after day. Golfers try to overcome this problem by inventing various fun games. Golf clubs even organize special fun tournaments like timed golf with prizes for the fastest game, “surprise” golf where a greenkeeping team devises unusual obstacles on each of the holes and many others. If things get terribly bad anyway, one can even shoot at completely different, non-golf targets, like Kevin Costner’s one-putt to the famous “Pelican” shot from the bar in the legendary movie “Tin Cup”.
And, of course, cross country golf has been popular among golfers since long ago – when a group of golfers comes on a golf course but instead of playing an existing routing they scramble the golf holes completely and agree which green to play from the next tee. This is a fun and fascinating game which lets you see the familiar golf course from a different and unexpected perspective.
Cross country golf hearkens back to the earliest years of the game when players would just pick a point and play to it and there were just three basic rules:
- play the course as you find it;
- play the ball as it lies;
- if you can’t do either do what’s fair.
As fun as it is, such a game is only possible when the course is empty so that it does not get into the way of other golfers playing the official routing – that is, either during a really nasty weather or late at night when no one else plays. Some golf clubs offer the course for cross country playing one or two days in a year, usually the last days of the golfing season. Sometimes they even organize cross country tournaments in order to provide a new experience to their members.
Imagine now that a selected cross country routing can get an official USGA rating because new holes are within standard playing distances and the whole routing is contiguous and corresponds to all requirements and standards set by USGA. Such a routing can be officially approved by the golf club’s administration and can be played within the existing handicap system even at official tournaments.
This is what Kaleidoscope Golf is about!
Sounds fantastic but still possible to implement – a golf architect needs to provide that shots from at least one tee to two or more greens are possible and, correspondingly, there is more than
one approach to each of those greens. This will create opportunities to combine various tees and greens to form new full-scale routings while the total number of tee and green areas stays the same as on a traditional golf course.
2. How did you come up with the idea of Kaleidoscope Golf?
I can’t say that this idea dawned on me in one moment. Rather, it was brewing in my mind for quite some time as I was getting different inputs from different situations which eventually lead to a thorough understanding of the concept.
Being professionally involved in land development I’ve once got a land plot with a gas pipe on it. We have decided to build a golf course around the pipe’s restriction area. Unfortunately this project didn’t come to life but it helped me a lot in my understanding of the Kaleidoscope concept. There were rumors about reallocation of the gas pipe in some future, so I wanted to design the golf course in such a way that it would be possible to use the released land for real estate construction. The task for the golf architect was to place the holes so that the course would be easy to change at a minimal cost. I realized that there were some expensive and complex elements of the golf course – such as greens. Therefore they had to be initially placed so that there was no need to relocate them. At the same time there were other elements that were less expensive to build and less expensive to relocate. That exercise led me to the idea that a golf course is not a set of fixed holes, but rather – a set of different separate elements.
This same thought was supported when I saw the renovation of the Old Course at Gloria resort in Belek, Turkey, where I used to go on vacation. At some point they completely relocated holes 16, 17 and 18 to build a new hotel. I’m sure that if the course had been initially designed with the future hotel construction in mind, it would be possible to cut the relocation costs significantly by preserving the most expensive elements such as greens and, possibly, tee areas.
Next, the idea of Kaleidoscope got a big impulse while I was bicycling around the golf course in the golf community Agalarov Estate where I live. There are paths around each nine and I rode my bicycle every morning, always clockwise, so that I do not accidentally get hit by a golf ball flying from the course. This was rather boring because my route was the same every morning. Once I got up earlier than usual, while there was nobody on the course, and I rode the same path but counterclockwise, facing the rising sun. I was astounded how different my route was – there were different landscapes, different slopes, different shadows, even the wind was different! So I’ve got not just two different routes, but four because I could ride one way around the first nine and the other way around the second nine. But those four routes became custom quite soon again. While riding I thought that if there had been a few paths across the nines, the variety of my routes could have been way greater!
At the same time I realized that the same thought applied to the game of golf as well: if there had been a few alternative fairways between some holes there could have been some variety to the game! And it was quite realistic almost on any links-type golf course: if one “erases” some obstacles there would be additional “half-fairways” created that would create new approaches to existing greens.
And, of course, I was long familiar with the cross country golf concept – similar tournaments were held in Moscow City Golf Club when I just began playing golf. At Agalarov Golf we also have an annual fun tournament called “Greenkeepers’ revenge” when all the holes of the course are criss-crossed and packed with unusual obstacles. It is really fun but of course such a game does not fit any standards for distances and other requirements.
If, however, such an idea were initially built-in into the course design as an “origin and destination matrix”, it would make it possible to combine tees with different greens and generate a variety of new continuous routings based on the same set of elements!
This was the logic behind the idea of Kaleidoscope Golf.
3. Why the name “Kaleidoscope”?
When I realized that I’ve come up with something completely different it came to my mind that it needed a brilliant name.
At first I tried to find the name for my invention among math concepts or, rather, in the theory of combinations – just because my idea was to create a multitude of combinations of tees and greens on the same golf course. But I failed to come up with anything suitable. I also tried to use the concepts of a transportation problem which has to connect origins and destinations by the shortest route possible, but to no avail, either.
Once I saw someone playing with a kaleidoscope and right away it hit me: here is the name! Kaleidoscope fits my concept perfectly because it lets you see completely different ornaments from the same set of mirrors and colored pieces of glass, all you have to do is just to change its angle. It is just the same with my idea: when you stand on a tee box you can turn in a different direction – and you have a completely new routing!
I also like it a lot that the word “kaleidoscope” is of Greek origin: καλός — “beautiful”, εἶδος — “that which is seen: form, shape”, σκοπέω — “to look to, to examine” – hence, “observation of beautiful views”. This means that this word sounds the same in all languages. It is important because I would like to see Kaleidoscope golf courses not only in Russia but in the rest of the world. At the same time I’m pleased to know that kaleidoscope was first invented by my fellow countryman Michail Lomonosov, although it was patented later by a British physicist.
All in all, this name reflects the idea and novelty of my invention in the best possible way and I am really happy that I found it.
4. How can the implementation of Kaleidoscope Golf concept help golfers and golf clubs?
Predictability is the worst enemy of a golfer on a familiar golf course. You come to the course and can make the first shot from any tee with your eyes closed. You are not excited by the obstacles any longer, you know for sure what club to use and how strong your strike should be, so that the ball does not get stuck in a bunker, does not slip into water or is not lost in the rough. Of course you can play from a different set of tees, but front tees are not always as interesting to play while back tees may be too difficult for an average golfer. Besides, usually front and back tees differ only in the distance to the green which makes the game a little more difficult but does not add a lot of novelty or excitement. Surely, weather has it’s say in the way the game goes, as well as pin position on the green – and that’s about all the variety you can count upon on a traditional golf course.
As a rule, if a golfer plays four to five rounds in a row on any new golf course, he has to look for another course or take a break, because it gets boring. And this is a huge problem if you live in a golf community and have to go out on the same course year after year. You can compare it to a single dish restaurant where you have to go every day. Not a great idea even if the dish is a tasty one.
Golf clubs and golf resorts have long realized this problem and try to fight with it in many different ways. It is especially so in the traditional golfing countries where the number of golf courses is in over-supply and the competition is fierce. Some build several golf courses next to one another, some design reversible golf courses as at St. Andrews, Scotland, while some add a few extra tees and greens in order to instill at least some variability.
A golf course designed with a Kaleidoscope concept can change the routings regularly, even every day. There are really several different and unpredictable courses in one. Golf club members will not need to look for variety outside of their club and the club will not have to spend millions of dollars and dozens of hectares on the construction of several golf courses. It’s a win-win situation!
More than that – it will be possible to make short routings for busy people or to make more simple and more difficult routings for players with different skill level. It will be possible to conduct multiphase competitions with different routings for each phase within the same golf course!
Kaleidoscope Golf is a very powerful instrument which can make a golf club more competitive, and its possibilities are only limited by one’s imagination and proper application.
5. Are there examples where the concept of Kaleidoscope Golf has been already implemented?
There is a new golf club named Mill Creek near the city of Vsevolozhsk, 15 km from St. Petersburg. The construction of the golf course was completed in the fall of 2017. This is the first golf course in the world with the concept of Kaleidoscope Golf.
The course architect is Ross McMurrey from the European Golf Design company. EGD is a British architectural bureau which designed several best courses in Europe, including the course Twenty Ten in Celtic Manor which held the Ryder Cup in 2010 and also the course PGA National in Zavidovo, Russia. I have known this company for several years, saw both its existing courses, and also had an opportunity to follow and participate in the design process. That’s why I hired them to design the Mill Creek course.
When Ross and I discussed the concept of the golf course I stated that I would like to have maximum variability. I used to practice with golf simulators a lot at the time and that helped me to understand how different stroke angle could be an important variability factor, not just the distance. So I suggested that each hole at Mill Creek had two sets of tees located at a different angle to the fairway, so that one set would be easier to play than the other. The location of obstacles is strategically important for the first stroke, so by moving a teeing area one can create a completely different hole. The first thing we did was to create two different teeing areas for each hole – thus creating two different courses in one. Every golf hole has been designed to offer different challenges and shot values by using the two sets of tees to create alternative lengths and angles for the drive and subsequently set up very different approaches.
But I wanted something more, that’s why I suggested that we incorporate some cross country ideas into the course design.
The result of the design effort was not only a golf course of the highest quality characteristic of all EGD golf courses but a golf course with an intrinsic possibility for multiple changes of the game routing. As of today we’ve laid out and scored five different, most evident 18-hole routings and 5 short 9-hole par 3 routings. All of them comply with USGA standards, can receive an official rating and can be played within the handicap system.
With no doubt there are many other variations of the game which are yet to be discovered.
Formal opening of Mill Creek golf club is planned for 2018, but those who already had a chance to play there, were astounded by the idea of Kaleidoscope and the opportunities it offers. The landscape looks so differently when the greens are approached from another angle that it’s hard to believe you are still on the same course. When I offered a team of singles to play the first nine and then showed them a Kaleidoscope routing on the very same nine they had a very hard time to believe that they’ve just played the same nine twice. They tried to tell me that I had 27 holes on my course, not 18. That was a real victory lap for me!
This is exactly what traditional golf courses lack – the variability. At the moment Mill Creek is the only and absolutely unique golf course in the world!
6. How did the course design and construction progress? What was the architect’s opinion of your revolutionary idea?
The work on designing and implementing the Kaleidoscope concept at Mill Creek was very interesting and rewarding, first of all because there was a cohesive team of likeminded people who accepted my idea of “cross country golf within a planned environment” with enthusiasm and brought it into life brilliantly.
I’ve already worked with Jeremy Slessor, the director of European Golf Design, before, so we were really quick to understand each other. In addition to many years of experience and highest professionalism Jeremy happened to be the fan of cross country golf which, by his own words, lets a golfer test his strategic brain cells to the fullest and make a familiar home golf course extremely exciting.
The golf course architect – Ross McMurray – is an incredibly creative and very experienced professional. This year he was elected as President of EIGCA (European Institute of Golf Course Architects). He bought into my idea very quickly and turned the heat on. He grew up on a golf course in Scotland and often took fun in cross country in the evenings with other fellow caddy boys. But, as he confessed, it never occurred to him to implement cross country idea within a formal course design.
Then we used to sit together and I would ask Ross if he could move this green a little so that there is par 4 from that tee and if it was possible to remove part of this obstacle so that there is an approach to the 4th green from the 8th tee. Ross nodded his head, went to think it over and came back with an optimal solution.
I think our cooperation was very fruitful. I, as a mere amateur, always tried to push the boundaries of the traditional golf development, while Ross, with his giant experience and professionalism, tried to implement my caprioles of fancy while staying within the modern design principles.
The course construction was managed by Braemar Golf – a well-known management company from the very cradle of golf – St. Andrews, Scotland. Keith Haslam, the managing director of Braemar, and Bobby Kirkwood, the project manager, were very enthusiastic about the implementation of our brainchild. They invited the best shapers in the world: Steve Crotty, Scott Laughlin, Freddy Summerford and Bryan Ricket. This was a real dream-team which, in the course of fine shaping, introduced a lot of creative features to complement and elaborate on the architect’s idea.
The result of the whole team’s effort exceeded all expectations!
7. Kaleidoscope Golf applicability. Is it possible to turn a traditional golf course into Kaleidoscope and how difficult is it?
To answer this question it is necessary to understand the limitations of Kaleidoscope and their reasons. Full-scale playable routings need to comply with USGA standards – that is, the standard course par and the length of each hole, continuous route, the absence of blind shots (one has to see where the ball should land after every strike).
Having said that, an ideal golf course for Kaleidoscope would be somewhat dense, i.e. not very stretched out, and it should not have non-golf obstacles as boundaries – e.g. houses, roads, trees and other high natural objects, like many golf courses in residential communities with a stretched “shore line” where as many houses face the golf course as possible. Also most parkland-style golf courses are not suitable for Kaleidoscope.
There are also certain golf courses which could implement Kaleidoscope but have no sense doing so. These would be legendary golf courses which have a historic value as they are and which try to keep their original layouts – examples being Augusta National (USA), St. Andrews Old Course (Scotland) and many others. Also these would be courses with unique landscapes which are visited not only for golfing but also for their remarkable views – such as Old Head Golf Links (Ireland), Trump Links at Ferry Point (USA).
With the exception of the above, Kaleidoscope Golf can be applied on all other existing golf courses and courses under construction. Our estimate is that about 80% of all golf courses can implement Kaleidoscope Golf concept.
For new courses a special design method should be used. I call it “mosaic” or retrospective, because every next hole should be designed with the consideration of the previous ones, locating the elements in such a way that other routings are possible. A design unit here would be not a single hole but, rather, a single element of the course – a tee box, a green, a fairway, an obstacle.
The design process starts with placing the first “elementary pair” – the tee and the green of the first hole. The second “elementary pair” is located so that both greens can be played in regulation from both tee boxes. Then, hole after hole a “backbone” of tees and greens is designed which enables the variety of Kaleidoscope routings. When the initial core is ready it is possible to place obstacles, shape the greens and fairways and ensure that there is more than one approach to certain greens.
For existing golf courses what one needs to do is to “erase” some excessive obstacles or change the elements that prevent continuous routings or create blind shots. For example, each green on a traditional golf course has only one approach and is protected by obstacles from all other sides. These obstacles can be modified or moved in the course of renovation so that other approaches are possible. Fairways and tee areas can be modified accordingly.
Our estimate is that the construction cost of a new Kaleidoscope golf course is comparable with that of a traditional course with only one routing. The cost of renovation for an existing golf course should not exceed 20% of a new construction.
8. How do you plan to convert your innovative idea into business project?
In 2017, we received a patent for the invention “Kaleidoscope golf course” in Russia. Immediately after that we filed an International Patent Application, subsequent to its publication we will apply for patents in certain countries. We’ve already made patent searches and conducted an expertise, and came to a conclusion that there are no similar inventions; hence the idea is perfectly patentable.
So, it will be possible to license the patent and receive royalty for its use.
Usually royalty is paid on turnover. International benchmarks in comparable industries, entertainment and sports, suggest that royalties amount up to 4% of turnover.
We’ve conducted our own research and found out, that for instance, in the USA turnover of a golf club after reconstruction and full redesign of the course grows on average 50-60% only at the account of the fact that golfers are more interested to play a renovated course. If the routine reconstruction involves Kaleidoscope, the interest will be even higher, and the turnover too, respectively. Interestingly, some golf clubs even do not increase the number of players or rounds played, they just raise membership fees or green fees. Thus, all extra turnover becomes extra profit.
I like the analogy with real estate which has direct access to a golf course: price premium for residences with outstanding views over golf courses could amount to up to 50% compared to similar quality neighboring houses with no views. Also, comparison with ski resorts suggests that hotels in vicinity of numerous ski lifts have higher prices than hotels with only one or two lifts nearby. No surprise – skiers need variety, they do not want to go down one and the same skiing trail every day.
Golfers need variety just the same, that is why the course that can offer several different routings will always be more popular than the course with only one routing. This is the reason why I am quite sure that Kaleidoscope will be in high demand, since the implementation of Kaleidoscope Golf concept may substantially improve financial results of a golf club.
In our assumptions, we take as a basic scenario an average of 50% turnover increase after the implementation of Kaleidoscope Golf concept, and this growth is driven by an increase in the number of players / rounds played, green fee adjustment, or combination of both of these factors. Royalty will amount to 2%-4% of the golf club’s turnover after renovation, but we will definitely be flexible in our pricing policy. In some cases royalty could be a lump sum, in some other it might be calculated as a percentage of the upside gained after the implementation of Kaleidoscope Golf. License prices may be also different in the developed and new golf markets.
9. Do you mean to license Kaleidoscope golf in Russia only? If not, what other markets do you consider for this project?
Russia for sure is the main market for us because golf in Russia is in fact just starting to expand. Now we have only 27 courses of various types mainly owned by the closed golf clubs which are virtually inaccessible for neophytes and wider public due to high membership fees. Back in 2008 the Russian Golf Association endorsed the program of golf development in Russia. The construction of public accessible golf courses was one of the major key success factors of this program (it stipulated building of 100 golf courses by 2014). The program actually failed, in the first place because of high investment costs of construction of any, even the most affordable, golf course.
Kaleidoscope Golf will be especially attractive for the regions of Russia which have neither financial resources, nor sufficient number of golfers to justify the construction of several golf courses. For the only golf course in a region or in a city Kaleidoscope will be the optimal solution because it will allow to create several different routings within this one course, starting from the very simple routings for neophytes to the more sophisticated and very sophisticated routings for the more experienced players, and, what is equally important, for foreign tourists. Thus, a developer would be able to appeal to all groups of golfers and to increase his return on construction investment. That said the developer’s investment expences won’t differ much from those for the standard single-routing golf course.
There are other appealing markets where Kaleidoscope Golf concept could be in high demand. First, this is the largest golf market in the world, the USA. There are about 15 thousand golf courses in the USA, almost 50% of the world’s golf courses supply. From the end of 19080-es till the beginning of 2000-s golf construction over there was truly booming. Currently the reverse process is eventually in place, up to 100-200 courses are being closed every year, just because of oversupply. The majority of survivors endure severe competition and are in necessity of inventing different means of gaining competitive advantage in order to retain clients.
A similar situation is at the other traditional golf markets, such as Canada, Great Britain, Australia. Japan is a big and promising market also.
There is one additional but very important aspect that we hope will speak well for Kaleidoscope in developed markets, and that is environmental safety. Along with high competition and saturated demand in traditional markets there is also shortage of free land and water to go on with the extensive development of golf industry. Local authorities are unwilling to grant permissions for new golf construction and often even deny such permissions. As an illustration, look at the Bandon Dunes resort’s years long fight for expansion which recently ended in failure. Kaleidoscope Golf will largely help to diffuse this issue: while implementing Kaleidoscope the amount of fertilizers and pesticides used as well as water consumption for irrigation purposes are comparable to those for the standard single-routing golf course.
When prioritizing markets, we also paid attention to the level of intellectual rights protection. There is no sense in receiving patents and selling licenses in a country where legislation and intellectual property protection practices are not developed enough. That is why we are looking at the IPRI index as well to establish our strategic priorities.
We plan to use all possible channels of promotion in the foreign markets: golf designers, construction companies, various associations, professional tour organizers – all who have authority, influence and extensive connections in the world of golf.
10. How do you mean to protect your intellectual property rights and respond to their infringement? There are indeed dozens of thousands of golf courses in the world!
I would like to emphasize that golf is not an ordinary sport. It’s a special culture with the huge number of rules, traditions, and legends. It’s a living heritage, etiquette, and certain aesthetics. First of all, it’s a game of gentlemen and does not tolerate cheating. The culture of gentleman’s honor is equally inherent to golf clubs; that is why we view popularization and expansion of Kaleidoscope Golf as our first priority, rather than its legal protection.
Furthermore, the amount of royalty is not that high compared to financial upside of Kaleidoscope Golf implementation. That makes infringement of patent rights practically pointless.
However, for emergency cases there are certain means to monitor infringements and to protect the intellectual property.
You can’t prevent anybody from playing cross country golf at any golf course. It is also highly unlikely that we will be able to reveal all cases of implementation of the Kaleidoscope principle while constructing or renovating golf courses.
Nevertheless, golf is not only a nice walk, it’s a sport with its own rules and standards. The handicap system that allows players of different abilities to compete on equal terms is a unique feature of golf as a sport. An amateur golfer who has a handicap index is able to play on the same course and even in the same tournament with the best golfers, and theoretically can even win because of the fixed odds.
In order to participate in the handicap system, a golf course should be certified by a national golf association, receive course and slope ratings, and each hole – its own stroke index. Any Kaleidoscope routing will have to be officially rated to maintain players’ handicaps. We would be reasonably able to monitor with the help of the national golf associations if two or more score cards are registered from the same golf course.
In addition, the word of mouth works very well in the world of golf, therefore we will surely hear pretty fast from golf professionals if Kaleidoscope golf is being played somewhere.
To check the information and make sure that our patent rights are really infringed (and that the second score card does not refer to a non-Kaleidoscope route) the most simple and effective way would be to visit a golf club in question. We can also use aerial images which would show cleared approaches to the greens and additional fairways as compared to the archive shots.
I do not exclude that at some point at the stage of massive expansion of Kaleidoscope Golf we may need to involve a strategic partner, well positioned in the golf industry and having reputation, contacts and influence in golf associations in order to monitor infringements.
And of course, to ensure adequate intellectual property protection a proper legal support in priority markets will be necessary. We have been cooperating with an international legal firm King&Spalding which is well represented at all the markets of interest for us for many years now. Currently the lawyers are working on patent issues, but we account on their assistance also in the case of future infringement of our patent rights.
11. A little bit about yourself. What does golf mean to you?
I started playing golf about 15 years ago, on a vacation trip in Belek, Turkey. I fell for golf over there, and when back to Moscow joined the Moscow City Golf Club. The choice of golf clubs in Russia was not extensive then, so at first I played at the Moscow City and Nahabino. And of course, I’ve been travelling and watching the amazingly fast development of new golf courses in Turkey and Dubai with great interest and excitement. One by one new golf projects of the highest level emerged in Russia as well, starting with Pestovo and then Tseleevo and Skolkovo, which introduced us to the works of the great golf designer Jack Nicklaus.
The game of golf has become an inherent part of my life. I traveled extensively, played at the famous and legendary, and also at just very good courses, socialized with professional golfers, and step by step I started perceiving golf not only as a beautiful game, but also as a business driver, an anchor of the real estate development. A bit later I experimented with incorporating golf courses into my own development projects in the Moscow region. Couple attempts failed for various reasons. Once we’ve even done all the working documentation, and spent about one and a half million dollars! I am really sorry that very project, “The Ilyinskoye Meadow”, did not go beyond the design phase… on the other hand I’ve gained invaluable experience which proved extremely useful while designing and constructing the Mill Creek golf course near St Petersburg.
Now I value a club atmosphere and gentleman code very much, and I’ve had a chance to test out: lots of deals are really made on golf courses! My friends and the friends of their friends – all started playing golf!
Shortly, golf for me is business, sport, social life, all together.
Since about 2012 when I started to define the Kaleidoscope principle for myself I have been looking at all golf courses mainly from the standpoint of whether or not Kaleidoscope could be applied there! In some sense Kaleidoscope Golf for me is a personal fulfillment and a lifetime project.
12. What are the specifics of setting up and managing a golf club with a Kaleidoscope course?
Kaleidoscope routings undoubtedly have their own specifics compared to traditional golf courses, and any club which decides to apply the concept shall take this specifics into account.
Kaleidoscope Golf creates a variety of full-scale comprehensive routes within one course. To avoid “butting heads” and interfering with other flights only one route ought to be played simultaneously. So, first of all a golf club will need to make a decision on how often and when the routings will be changed. Theoretically, each day of the week could have a different routing if that is of interest to the members and guests of the club. In my opinion, it is more than enough to play Kaleidoscope routings once or twice a week so that regular players may feel themselves “at a different course”. Basic routing must still remain the main one, all the more so it also changes all the time, - with the flag changing its pin position, with the weather, light conditions, etc.
The task of the managers is to find proper balance between variety and profit making! Many of Kaleidoscope routings will allow less players to be present on the course simultaneously compared to the basic routing. At the same time green fee on the day of Kaleidoscope could be possibly higher than on the basic day, especially if it is not played frequently.
Moreover, Kaleidoscope’s variety makes it perfectly possible to play short routings during peak hours, for instance in the morning or/and evening, while switching to longer routings during idle hours.
Kaleidoscope routings generally will have crossing holes which require some special attention to the players’ safety while on the course. For each of the routings it is necessary to define strict right of way rules. On the Mill Creek course, for example, safety of the players is insured by the team of forecaddies. It is mandatory that forecaddies walk in front of each flight of golfers watching for keeping the right of way rules and time of playing each hole, and also prompting for direction of strokes on the current routing.
13. Can we call reverse course a particular case of Kaleidoscope route?
Reverse golf courses which allow to play a golf course backwards, or in the reverse order, exist for a long while. Suffice to say, the “Home of golf”, the famous Old Course at St. Andrew, Scotland, is still being played in reverse, although this does not happen often.
Reverse courses may be said to become trendy again. A recent reverse course The Loop designed by Tom Doak at Forest Dunes golf resort in Michigan generated lots of buzz.
Reverse course is similar to the special case of Kaleidoscope: depending on the routing, either basic or reverse, golfer can play from each tee to two different greens, and all the greens and tee-boxes are designed accordingly. In fact, reverse course incorporates two independent golf courses in one.
However, they differ substantially. A reverse routing, as well as a basic one, is strictly determined, i.e. pre-defined during the design phase. A golfer successively plays the holes backwards, from the last hole to the first one. Unlike Kaleidoscope which allows to create new holes and a universe of different routings respectively, among which a reverse routing could be perfectly possible.