After narrowing down hundreds of designs sent in by you, we have our first look at the newest Design-a-Hole! The first-place winner is Desert Oasis, designed by Brian Bobula! Jim Z took Brian's drawing and brought it to life! We are also lucky enough to have had Jim Z answer some questions about why he chose this hole.

How the Design-a-Hole looks in 3DS Max as Jim Z works his magic

Why did this DAH stand out from the others?

I thought it was different. It was a par 3 hole with a drop shot over trees which I thought was a unique design. It was also a very simple concept that didn’t rely on anything complicated in its challenge. I also like the blind aspect and the fact that the pin is obstructed. My favorite course I’ve ever played is Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Prestwick was the location of the very first British Open back in 1860. Prestwick hole 5 (Himalayas) is a completely blind par 3. You hit uphill over a large wooden retaining wall. The wall has a target on it to know where the green is located. There is a map at the tee that shows the pin location for that day. When you’re finished with the hole you ring a large bell with a rope to let the next group know that they’re free to tee off. I’ve not seen a hole like it anywhere else. The blind aspect of this DAH submission reminded me of that Prestwick hole.

What do you like most about this DAH?

It’s unique and different but It isn’t too outrageous. This hole could actually exist in real life. Sometimes our submissions can get a little too crazy. Plausibility is important. Golden Tee stretches things a bit but we are not a fantasy golf game. Our philosophy has always been that if you stretch things too far, you alienate players who love the game of golf for what it is. Golf is one of the greatest games ever invented. It doesn’t need crazy elements or gimmicks to be fun.

How does this DAH fit into the course?

It’s actually kind of funny. I had completed all of the design layouts for this year’s course update and realized that I only had 17 holes designed for one particular course. I still had one more hole to design. So we decided to use the DAH to complete it. In our request for submissions, we put out the call for hole designs that were on either ocean-side locations or desert locations. When players see the course we placed this hole in they’ll understand why. We wanted to use the DAH in our Baja Ria course, which is a desert course on the shores of the Pacific Ocean in Mexico. We thought if every submission was either an ocean or a desert setting we would have more viable submissions to choose from. This hole with it’s desert oasis look, fit right in.

Where does this DAH rank compared to previous DAHs?

We won’t know that until our players chime in. For DAH we try to find and present holes that may be a little bit different than they would normally see in Golden Tee. This hole seemed different but still, it’s a very simple concept. I think it’s a fun and challenging design, but our players will make the final determination on how it ranks with the past DAH designs.