Looking back at the future

Ron Whitten, Golf Digest czar of architecture, came out with this list ranking the 25 most in demand architects of the time... 1998

Shall we analyze the list from 12 years ago.

1. Mike Stranz - Good choice. If you haven't played a Mike Stranz course you are missing out on a golf experience you are guaranteed to remember. Mike's career was cut very short, losing a battle to cancer. Aside from a remodel in Monterey, CA, all his work is in the mid-atlantic/south east US.

2. Art Hills - Has made a very successful career in golf course design. I have never played any of his work, but if you made this list today,

3. Pete Dye - I'm a little surprised Mr. Dye isn't higher. Dye has plenty of top 10 courses, let alone top 100's on the GD list. Sawgrass, Kiawah, and Hilton Head had all be around for years.

4. Jack - Certainly one of the most sought after architects, Jack has more courses and has made more money in this business than anyone.

5. Fazio - A household name of golf course design. Tom Fazio is the best of the big earth movers around. Consults for Pine Valley and Augusta National.

12. Doak - Would appear at either #1 or #2 if this list was made today.

13. RTJ jf - Figured he would be higher.

16. Rick Smith - Swing coach for Phil Mickleson.. very hard to believe he belongs on this list.

17. Coore and Crenshaw - Holders of the #1 modern golf course in the US. Would appear at either #1 or #2 on this list today.

Never heard of: #19, 24, and 25

The Golfmeisters todays top 5:

1-2. Doak and Coore/Crenshaw - Leaders of minimalism, both learned under Pete Dye.

3. Gil Hanse

4. Jack

5. Rees - Mostly because of the acclaim from his renovation projects as "Open Dr"

This list was taken from Geoffry Cornish's book "18 Stakes on a Sunday Afternoon" in which he compiles many quotes from people involved in golf course architecture.

Photo Essay - Kiawah Island: The Ocean Course

Architect: Pete Dye
Host 2012 PGA Championship, 1991 Ryder Cup "The War by the Shore"

clubhouse

#2

#3

#4

#10

#12

#13

#15

#17

#18

The best sayings in golf

Sophia Loren - Looked good for a long time.

Son in Law - Not quite what you expected but you will take it.

Whipped Cream on Shit.

AFB - Another F*ing Bogey.

The Dreaded Straight Ball.

All Lip, No Hole

The Power Fade

Golfing Your Ball

An Interesting Quote

"The best work is always a synergy between architect, construction crew, and property."

-Tom Doak 2002. www.golfclubatlas.com

While some might think minimalism when they read this quote, I think business model. What allows some of the elite design companies in the world to be so successful is not just their architecture, but their process, and they way they sell their product.

The top minimalists in the world: Renaissance Golf (Doak) and Coore & Crenshaw, both operate as architects and contractors. Hanse, Pete Dye and a few others are the same way. (side note: Doak, Coore and Hanse all can trace their architecture roots to the Dye branch of the gca tree)

As someone who currently in golf course construction business with hopes of entering the design field in the future, I think that in order to create both the best product and highest profit margins, operating as both lead contractor and architect is the best method.

Architecture, building, landscape or golf course, is all about creative problem solving. To do that, you have to be there and you have to understand all the variables. As lead shaper and architect (my ideal business plan) not can you be more creative, but you have the ability to make changes on the fly, have less discrepancies in design and become more intimate with the land, which is what it takes to build special golf courses.

Although one architect clearly cannot take on as many projects with this method, I would be more than willing to give that up in order to have more fun as lead shaper, and you would definitely increase you fee due to the extra time in the field shaping.

Picture: Riverfront Golf Club, Renaissance Golf

While Doak, Coore, and Dye don't act as lead shapers, their design companies do operate as contractors. Gil Hanse, Rod Whitman and others do.

A Broken Cape Hole

The Cape Hole, one of the most common holes in all of golf, was made famous by the trio of Charles Blair Macdonald, Seth Raynor, and Charles Banks. Deemed as one of the ideal holes, Macdonald brought it back from the UK and added it to his collection of template holes. Throughout the career of the 3, no matter which of their names was attached to the course, you can almost always find a version of the cape.

Basic Cape Hole: Either a 2 or 3 shot hole. Dogleg either left or right. Fairly harsh hazard along the inside corner of the dogleg. To gain advantage from the tee, player must carry the hazard. The more they chose to cut off, the better the angle into the green, and shorter distance to play from... A fairly simple design concept, the cape also offers opportunity for exciting play.

So, now we have a broken cape hole, with a simple fix: tree removal. This cape hole no longer allows the player to drive the ball over the pair of deep bunkers on the left because of tree growth and tee placement. If you cut back 5 or 6 of the trees before the cart path, the hole would not only play as it was intended to, but decrease lost balls, as players line of play has shifted about 7% to the left, thus speeding up play as well.



A picturesque cape par-5. Kingsbarns 12

Consistency v Variety

Building golf great courses is all about finding a balance, in the right places, between consistency and variety.

In golf course design, variety rules. Nobody likes a golf course with fairway bunkers on both sides and greens guarded on the right and left as well. What makes a golf course good is variety. Players enjoy being able to hit all sorts of different shots. Long carries, bump and runs, front to back greens, drivable par 4's, and the Tiny Tim's of the world, the short par 3's all have their place at certain times on the golf course. As the old saying goes, variety is the spice of life, and its no different in golf course architecture.

Golf course construction, on the other hand, is the opposite. Consistency rules. For example, every bunker that is constructed (not naturally existing) should have exactly the same about of sand. It simply isn't fun for the player when one bunker has 2 inches of sand on one hole, and 6 on the next. Nor is it right, to have 8 inches on the bottom of the bunker and 2 inches on the face. The game is hard enough as it is, you have the at least give the golfer a chance to calculate his plan of attack. Another example would be something like drainage heads. One hole shouldn't have 8 inch metal grates and another 4 inch plastic when the same style drain is being used. Things like a uniform drainage head can save a lot of money and trouble over time for the golf course by allowing them to keep proper stock on spare parts, because everything inevitably breaks.

Photo: Bunkers under construction at the much anticipated Dormie Club, NC

An Over-rated Golf Course: WCC

Westchester Country Club

West Course, 1922

Arch: Walter Travis

Rye, New York

Earlier this week I played Westchester Country Club for the first time. Going into it I didn't know much about the course itself, other than it was a Walter Travis (Garden City Mens and Hollywood), it hosted the Westchester Classic for years, it was ranked #100 on one of the 2 big lists, you can't pay Tiger enough money to play there, and they flip flop the 9's for the tourney. Also, I didn't have the camera.. turns out, I'm not that upset about it after.

First, the place was in awful condition. While sometimes, poor conditioning can be over looked due to weather/season/budget issues, WCC had more than enough $$, plenty of man-power and absolute ideal conditions for this time of year. I have been to 6 different golf courses over the last 5 weeks, and not one of them has been in this poor shape. The practice green was running somewhere around 11-12. You couldn't leave a downhill putt short if you tried, but the championship course was the worst I have seen. The caddy said it had been like this for a while, since they lost the greens last year.

After that, I just find it hard to believe that there are only 99 pre-modern golf courses better than this one. I can think of a bunch that aren't included on "the list" that I would rather play.

The entire club is set on very sever and rocky property. A less than ideal start. The routing is simply a product of the environment. Like in life, to much of one thing is never good, and having to add/subtract distance on every shot, adjusting for extreme lie's every shot is not a characteristic of the ideal golf course to me. Sometimes you have to give one to the golfer, the game is about enjoyment, and everyone likes to make a par.

Note how the routing doubles back around the outside

of the property for the back nine

The front 9 (tourney back9) I didn't consider to be very strong. #1 is a solid starting hole, but #3 the par-5 and #4 the short par-4 work poorly back to back. In both cases you are hitting to extremely elevated green sites to, and just don't offer excitement. The short par-3 #5 plays from an elevated point to another elevated point. Even though this hole offers lots of variety, which is usually something I love, if you are a bogey golfer and dont hit every green, you are freaking tired already. The next few holes travel some of the more uninteresting property before you get to the famous #9 (or 18) which is a much less climactic than the real 18. In fact the reason they switch the 9's is because it makes a better tv shot on 18, the other is to steep for spectators.

The strategy for the par-5 #9 revolves around the trees inside the dogleg

The golf course finally gets good at #13 with a dramatic tee shot over a ridge. On the closing stretch, you see water, play a better short hole and finally wind around the terrain, instead of over it, untill 18 that is. Only fitting #18 is uphill all the way, but a good fit to end the day.

Shotlines illustrating why Tiger Woods hates playing WCC. Its hard to picture anyone who calls themselves a traditionalist (not me) liking the use of the trees

Would I turn down another round here?.. no way. but there are definitely better options in the area.

The thing that sums it up best to me, is to compare it to Ridgewood, the other home of the pga tournament that used to be called the westchester classic. To me, its not even close. If you gave me 10 rounds, I would probably play 8 at Ridgewood, but is subject to change due to conditioning.