Can a prototypical process involving literature reviews, interviews, questionnaires, design charrettes, and advanced computer visualization tools, be applied to create golf facilities valid to the subjects involved in the process? The research attempts to create a prototypical process by exploring and applying various research schemes that attempts to solve a selected design issue.

Thus, the issue selected: How can the golf course be designed to attract, accommodate, and educate today's youth? Children should be introduced to activities at an early age to build character and self worth. The golf course acts as a place for today's youth to build relationships, test and enhance their character, and expand their education. This research is a result of these ideals. It focused on creating a prototypical process to create a junior golf facility, using data collection methods inclusive to: literature reviews, interviews, questionnaires, and design charrettes. As an addendum to this prototypical process, these methods of data collection were validated through computer visualization. These preceding methods, along with the basic ideals of youths in golf, were the main focus in researching golf course design catered to the youth.

The First Tee junior golf program was the model used to compare the conceptual golf facility prototype, because it is the leader in making golf accessible to the youth. The First Tee Program, established in 1997 by the World Golf Foundation, teaches kids of all backgrounds the game of golf, including fundamentals, etiquette, and sportsmanship: elements that are of value to our society. It also educates them on how to become a valuable member of his/her community. The goals of The First Tee are in two phases: to create one hundred golf facilities by the year 2000, and to reach 500,000 youths by the year 2005. While the First Tee program is successful, this research attempts to improve upon junior golf facility development by addressing the youths' interest in a customized, conceptual golf facility built upon the principles of a state-of-the-art facility created by programs like The First Tee. The results of this research could potentially serve as an addendum to junior golf development, and also act as a resource for future designers, by assisting to acquire user needs and demands for buildings, interiors, landscapes, and products.

The conceptual golf facility was created from two major resources. Students in Montgomery County, Virginia, were the subject resources, while the available literature, designers, and superintendents were the professional resources. A research strategy was created to serve as a guide for better organization. As a result, the Conceptual Research Diagram was implemented to serve as the prototypical process of the research. The subjects were Montgomery County students of various ages, skills, physical dependents, and also of various cultural backgrounds. Although the subjects were randomly selected, it was necessary to have an adequate amount of subjects to each subject group for a well-formed response to the research. The subjects were given a questionnaire, asked to participate in a design charrette, and given the option to participate in the C.A.V.E. (Cave Automated Virtual Environments) experiment. The CAVE is a three-wall cell, each wall with a dimension of 10x10x9 feet in diameter, which uses a Silicon Graphics Machine, plus projection devices, to project three-dimensional computer images onto its walls and floor. As a result, life size, three-dimensional computer models are created for an experience in virtual reality. All of the data was complied to obtain requests and demands to create a custom golf facility in virtual reality. The youth input and site location was limited to the town of Blacksburg, Virginia, with an attempt of creating a prototypical process that can possibly be applied to any town or city around the world.