After another magnificent year, the 2016 Design-a-Hole Contest has officially come to an end.

What began with more than 150 submissions has been narrowed down to one. This "one" will soon go from concept to playable hole in Golden Tee 2016.

It was not easy getting to this point—something the DAH judges want to make perfectly clear. Your efforts throughout were magnificent, and those of you who contributed feedback on the Golden Tee social media pages and the stories themselves were incredibly helpful. This was a difficult decision no matter how you look at it, so thank you to everyone for delivering again. The contest has never been better.

Let’s not waste any more time; we know why you’re here. The winner of the 2016 Design-a-Hole Contest is Countryside Lake by Eric Manfredi.

“The moment I saw this design, I loved the thought and game knowledge that was put in. It had all the bases covered, the distances were accurate, and it just had the look of a fun but challenging Golden Tee hole,” course designer Jim Zielinski said. “I can’t wait to start building. I really don’t think I have to change much of anything. Eric’s design was executed brilliantly.”

For those just catching up, here is Countryside Lake. It’s a par-5 that has multiple paths for eagle. With the reward comes the risk, and each path comes with just that if you’re hoping to come away with a three.

This par 5 outlines a small body of water with plenty of trees surrounding the lake.  Off the tee you will find yourself with several different options, each requiring its own shot type.  There will be some strategy involved as wind and pin location will definitely factor into your decision.

The first option is all about power and accuracy as you will be forced to carry your ball 365yds to a thin landing area on the second fairway.  Placement on that landing area is important as you will have to navigate your ball between 2 trees in order to find the green.  The next option is taking your ball onto the island landing area.  From there you will have a shorter shot towards the green but tree trouble will make it difficult to find the right side of the green.  The last option available to you off the tee is making a slight bend to the left onto the landing strip.  Although there is more risk going this route, the payoff is being able to work with the entirety of the green.  Getting further down the strip will be beneficial as you will improve your angle and distance with the chance to give yourself a straight shot into the green.

The runner-up in this year’s contest was none other than the magnificently captured, rebuilt and renamed Purgatory Resurrected by Dave Rhoades. Dave will win a Callaway Driver and a $100 Golden Tee Golf Gift Card.

Patrick Loecker’s fabulous Albatross Landing rounded out the podium. Patrick will take home a $250 Golden Tee Gift Card. Congrats to both on fantastic work.

All other finalists will win a $50 Golden Tee Gift Card along with a t-shirt and a box of golf balls.

As for our winner, Eric Manfredi will soon be playing his own design on his very own game. Countryside Lake will be designed and placed into Golden Tee 2016. On top of that, Eric will win his own Golden Tee 2016 Home Edition and a year of online play.

Congratulations, and welcome to a prestigious club.

Although the contest has ended, our work has just begun. We will be speaking with our winner soon enough and have images of Countryside Lake in its new virtual home not long after.

Once again, thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s contest. We cannot possibly say this enough.

You make this contest special, and we can’t wait to do it again next year.