Jeff Mingay: On Golf Architecture

Fantastic weather = start at Oakville.

2012-03-17T11:13:00.002-04:00

Working on a greenside bunker at #2, earlier this week.

Fortunately, I haven't had a lot of time to post here over the past week. Fantastic summer-like weather in the Toronto area (is it really still mid March?!) had me out working on golf courses.

Our bunker renovation project at The Oakville Golf Club began on Tuesday. By week's end, rough shaping of green surrounds at the par-three 2nd hole - which involved eliminating three bunkers; creating a swale along the back and right side of the green to improve drainage; and, (re-)shaping a single greenside bunker at front-right of the putting surface - was complete. Bunker work had started at the 1st hole, too.

Oakville's a neat project; it's a 9-hole private club course, originally designed by Canadian Golf Hall of Famer, George Cumming (1879-1950) - some 40 kms west of downtown Toronto. Mr. Cumming was head professional at The Toronto Golf Club for half a century, and a pioneer golf architect in Canada. For a time during the early 1920s (when he designed Oakville), Mr. Cumming was in partnership with a young Stanley Thompson and his eldest brother, Nicol, (head professional at Hamilton Golf and Country Club), designing and building golf courses throughout the province of Ontario.

The 'bones' of Mr. Cumming's layout at Oakville - a nice routing over a relatively subtle property bi-sected by a meandering stream - remain in place. But many changes have been made to the course over the years. As a result, there's currently a glaring lack of design continuity. Along with improving function, the jist of this project is to restore design continuity at Oakville by implementing a classic bunker style (and creating some other features) consistent with the course's heritage/early 1920s golf architecture. In the process of revising bunker schemes at all holes - with intent to add some 'teeth' to the course - the total number of sand hazards will be reduced from 40 to 29, without compromising challenge, playing interest or the course's overall aesthetic.

I was also at York Downs Golf and Country Club this week, where we're working on completing a Long-Range Golf Course Improvement Plan. Established in 1922 - with an 18-hole course designed by legendary British golf architect C.H. Alison (NLE) - York Downs is one of Canada's most historic golf clubs. It's current course (27-holes, in Unionville, north of downtown Toronto) was designed by Geoffrey Cornish, and his then partner, Bill Robinson. A very, very interesting concept for improvement of the course was agreed upon this week; in turn, I'm very, very excited about moving forward at York Downs as well.

*More details on both of these projects will follow as things continue to progress... so, stay tuned.

Gil Hanse wins Rio.

2012-03-08T10:32:00.004-05:00

Gil Hanse and Tom Doak at The Creek Club, 1989
- a 'classic' image too good not to borrow from Masa Nishijima's blog.

You know, we have worked really hard at this for a long period of time, and that means -- and don't get me wrong. I love what we do and we are very fortunate and very blessed, but sometimes when you're choking back dust and you've been on a bulldozer for 12 hours and it's 90 degrees and all you want is a beer, you know, sometimes you think, oh, man, this is a little bit hard. I think Jim and I can reflect back on a lot of those times. You know, this is a nice reward for that dedication and effort I think that we put into what we do.

- Gil Hanse, following yesterday's announcement that Hanse Golf Course Design has been awarded the job of creating the Olympic golf course at Rio de Janeiro, for the 2016 Summer Games.

I was anticipating the announcement of the winner of the design competition for the Olympic golf course at Rio with a lot of bias. I wanted Gil Hanse win. I've admired Gil, and his work for nearly two decades now.

Back when I was a teenager obsessed with golf architecture, it was all about what Tom Doak and Gil Hanse were up to; they worked together back then. I read all of Tom's writings, and made special trips to see their new golf course designs and restorative-based work on classic courses. Tom and Gil were up-and-comers then, but their philosophy on golf and approach to course architecture gave me a strong sense that things were changing for the better. It's taken awhile but yesterday's announcement confirms that sense I had, two decades ago.

I think many of us - particularly from my generation of golf architecture fanatics - looked at this incredibly important commission at Rio as a potential "game changer". As architecture critic Brad Klein puts it, the selection of Hanse as designer of the Olympic course "is a powerful step in the emergence of a more naturalistic, more traditionalist and ecologically sensitive approach to golf and golf course design".

One of the wonderful things about Gil's architecture is that it isn't so much about building individual holes and doling out penalty for errant shots. It's about creating - in some cases simply preserving - interesting, beautiful landscapes that fit with, and are senstive to the environment. In many ways, the golf then simply takes care of itself.

I first talked with Gil back in 1998 when I was a whippersnapper on my club's Green committee. We were looking for a golf architect to assist with restoring Donald Ross' original design at Essex Golf and Country Club, in Windsor, Ontario. In my mind, there were only two candidates - Tom Doak and Gil Hanse (who had set-up his own shop by then). Although both had done some very interesting work by that time, they were relatively unknown. We ended up hiring Doak, and his then-associate Bruce Hepner. But I stayed in touch with Gil; and, he's always been accommodating and very encouraging to me. More than being a very talented golf course designer and builder, Gil's a great person; so is his partner, Jim Wagner.

I met Jim once, on-site during construction of French Creek Golf Club, near their home base in Philadelphia. I watched as Jim shaped a bunker, using a 'chunking' technique he's perfected, which involves taking big, gnarly pieces of native sod and stacking them irregularly on the edge of a bunker to get a beautifully natural, eroded look. Gil and Jim have created some of the most attractive bunkers ever imagined.

Their most recent work is really, really sharp - Boston Golf Club and Castle Stuart, which garnered rave reviews from the world's best golfers during last year's Scottish Open. PGA Tour players have also raved about their renovation at TPC Boston - originally a comparatively mundane "Arnold Palmer design" that Hanse and Wagner have transformed into a course that, in Hanse's own words, "now looks like it belongs in New England". Plainfield and Ridgewood - where they've restored classic designs by Ross and A.W. Tillinghast - have also hosted PGA Tour events in recent years. But it's Los Angeles Country Club's North course that's, perhaps, their crowning achievement in the field of classic restoration. Working in collaboration with George Thomas' biographer and Los Angeles native, Geoff Shackelford, Hanse and Wagner restored what is arguably the most complex golf course design in history, at LACC - George Thomas' "courses within a course concept", and some of the most artistic bunkers ever made.

The powers that be at Rio have made a very wise decision. I'm absolutely thrilled for Gil and Jim, knowing that the Olympic golf course at Rio will be everything we expect it to be... including a catalyst that (should) positively effect people's understanding of golf and course architecture worldwide.

Amateur architecture.

2012-03-03T10:44:00.001-05:00

Geo. Thomas, Jr. -
perhaps the greatest amateur
golf architect of them all.

The Pritzker Architecture Prize is the most prestigious award in building architecture. It's presented annually to "honor a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision, and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture".

This year's Pritzker Laureate is Chinese architect, Wang Shu. Reading about Shu yesterday, I fell in love with the name of his Hangzhou-based studio. Establised in 1997 - with his wife and fellow architect, Lu Wenyu - Shu boldly calls his studio "Amateur Architecture". A curious name for the office of a man who's now recognized as being at the very top of his profession? Perhaps not.

An amateur is "a person who engages in a study, sport or other activity for pleasure rather than for financial benefit or professional reasons.” Shu often explains in lectures and interviews that “to me architecture is spontaneous for the simple reason that architecture is a matter of everyday life. When I say that I build a ‘house’ instead of a ‘building’, I am thinking of something that is closer to life, everyday life. When I named my studio ‘Amateur Architecture’, it was to emphasize the spontaneous and experimental aspects of my work, as opposed to being ‘official and monumental’."

I'm continually fascinated by the many parallels between building architecture and golf architecture; and, the name of Shu's studio - which is so smart in the way it speaks strongly of his love for his work, and methods - made me think of some of the great "amateur" golf architects of the past. Most notable are George Crump, Hugh Wilson, Henry and Bill Fownes, and George Thomas, Jr. - men who also engaged in a study, sport and activity (golf course architecture) for pleasure rather than for financial benefit or professional reasons. Despite the name of his studio, Shu actually gets paid. Crump, Wilson, the Fownes', and Thomas never made a dime for creating Pine Valley, Merion, Oakmont, and Riviera, respectively. An interesting tidbit in golf history, for sure.

Perhaps I should change MGCD to "Amateur Golf Architecture Studio"? Nah, Shu beat me to it.

You can read more about Wang Shu and the Pritzker Award, here.

"We're talking about a sport, something that's supposed to be fun..."

2012-02-29T10:23:00.000-05:00

#11 at Oakland Hills-South:
The anti-thesis of what Turner's talking about.

An architect should never lose sight of his responsibility as an educational factor in the game. Nothing will tend more surely to develop the right spirit of the game than an insistence upon the high ideals that should inspire sound golf architecture.

- Wm. Flynn (1891-1945).

Last night I listened to episode 4 of an interesting new series of podcasts called 'State of the Game'.

In this episode, host Rod Morri talks golf architecture with guests Mike Clayton and Greg Turner. Both Clayton and Turner are Tour pros turned architects. Clayton has done some great work recently in his native Australia, and now partners with fellow Aussie, Geoff Ogilvy, in the design business. Turner is also a golf pro turned architect, who's doing some interesting work with fellow Kiwi Scott Macpherson.

Geoff Shackelford has a link to this very interesting discussion, at his blog, here.

One of the most interesting bits of this 46 minute chat came from Turner, who says it's critical that golf architects play a role as educators. (I agree.) Some times it's not easy though. Turner adds: When working at clubs with means, architects are often dealing with people who are successful in their own walk of life and who, in turn, are some times disagreeable with views on golf and course architecture. Many of these people look at golf architecture simply as a way to penalize golfers for erring, he says. And, the more a golfer errs, the greater they think the penalty should be.

Turner recognizes that this is a rational, logical way to think about things, and a reasonable way to run a society. But, we're not talking about running a society, he says. "We're talking about a game. We're talking about a sport, something that's supposed to be fun and enjoyable."

Words of wisdom that more golfers need to consider.

I agree with Turner. A strictly penal approach to golf architecture results in making the game increasingly more miserable for those who are least able to deal with it. Sound golf architecture is not about penalizing poor shots. It's about making golf more interesting, fun and enjoyable.

Bernard Darwin on architecture.

2012-02-26T11:44:00.000-05:00

Bernard Darwin.

The greatest golf writer of them all is Bernard Darwin (1876-1961); and, his writings on 'golfing architecture' (Darwin's term) are essential reading for serious students of golf. Whenever I'm asked which books on golf course architecture are most important, I always include The Golf Courses of the British Isles, which Darwin published in 1910. There's also an excellent chapter in his 1944 book, Golf Between Two Wars, simply titled 'Architecture'.

In that particular chapter, 'Architecture', Darwin discusses the philosophies and works of some of the most influential thinkers and pioneers in the field, including John Low, Harry Colt, Herbert Fowler, Tom Simpson and J.F. Abercromby. To my mind, the following paragraph - written nearly 70 years ago - neatly sums up the what is, really, 'modern golf course architecture'. Darwin writes:

They have, I think, generally speaking eschewed the mere punishing of a bad shot directly and for its own sake have rather tried to contrive that it shall ultimately bring its punishment in the subsequent play of the hole. They have not come down like a hundred of bricks on the bad player, who will always have plenty of trouble of his own, but have insisted as far as may be that the strong player shall be set problems. They have held out baits, tempting him with great advantages if he will make a particularly bold and accurate shot and trapping him if it is not quite accurate enough. They have tried more and more to match their wits against the player. They have demanded that he shall do more than hit what he calls a good shot, just because it is hard and clean, and that he shall hit it to a particular place. In their own language they have discarded the penal for the strategic. Many examples might be given from many courses which have been made or greatly altered between wars, but if I had to choose one as embodying the spirit of modern architecture I think it should be the eighth on the New Course at Addington laid out by Mr. Abercromby. The hole, as many people know, is but the length of a drive and a pitch; it is 350 yards or so and the drive runs rather downhill. There is apparently most ample room into which to drive from the tee. The green is narrow, guarded in front by a pond and having one bunker eating its way into the right-hand side of the green and another guarding the left flank. The whole point of the hole is in the angle at which the green is placed. Only the player who holds his tee shot well to the left-hand side, almost skirting the rough, is ideally placed for his second, having the length of the green in which to pitch. He who goes straight down the middle or drives to the right is faced with a shot which it is intensely difficult to keep on the green. An apparently simple hole is in fact extremely subtle.

Unfortunately, the New course at The Addington (1933) no longer exists; but, you can read about, and see some of Abercromby's original 1912 design there - the Old course, which is located just 13 miles from the centre of London, England - here, at GolfClubAtlas.com.

And, for more on Bernard Darwin, click here.

The importance + appeal of diversity.

2012-02-24T09:49:00.002-05:00

The 18th green at Harbour Town Golf Links.

One of my favourite courses in the world, which really ignited my interest in golf architecture as a kid, is Pete Dye's Harbour Town Golf Links, at Hilton Head, South Carolina.

In his book, Bury Me in a Pot Bunker, Dye writes: "In an ironic way, my design concepts at Harbour Town were influenced by the architecture of Robert Trent Jones, in that I took Mr. Jones' ideas and headed in the opposite direction."

While Dye was building Harbour Town, Trent Jones was designing a course down the road, at Palmetto Dunes. Dye took his cue from Palmetto Dunes. In contrast to the long tees, huge bunkers and massive greens Trent Jones was laying out, Harbour Town features mutliple tee positions, tiny greens, waste areas (a term coined at Harbour Town) and abrupt little pot bunkers.

Harbour Town's scale is much tinier, and its profile significantly lower that Palmetto Dunes and so many other courses built during the 1960s; but it's chock full of character and originality. Whether you like Harbour Town or not, it's remarkably original; especially when you consider Dye's concept for the course in the proper context. Bucking every trend of the era, Harbour Town opened in 1969, long before imitators dampened its influence on golf architecture. Some say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but copycats actually diminish originality.

Like Harbour Town, the very best courses in the world are remarkably distinct. This is only common characteristic shared by the great courses of the world - originality. Take Shinnecock Hills and the National Golf Links of America for example. These two giant courses are literally side by side, out on the eastern tip of Long Island, New York, and couldn't be more different. This remarkable diversity is one of golf's greatest attractions.

As I say repeatedly, there are no standards in golf course architecture; yet we see too many courses seemingly designed to conform to perceived 'standards'. This isn't good for the game, or for any particular course interested in grabbing a larger share of a specific market. Think about it, you don't make a point to visit Paris because it's just like your hometown; and, you certainly don't make a special effort to play a course like Harbour Town because it's exactly the same as your local muni. You make an effort to get to courses like Harbour Town because they are distinctly attractive.

More courses need to be more original, like Harbour Town. In many ways, originality = sustainability.

For more on this subject, read this: Preserving the World's Great Golf Courses.

Creating Sagebrush: #11.

2012-02-22T12:41:00.000-05:00

Whereas the 2nd hole was one of the simplest to create at Sagebrush (see previous post), the 11th was quite challenging to build. This 500-yard par 4 is a very important hole too. Along with the 8th (another long par 4 that also required a major construction effort), the 11th hole is key to the routing coming together; getting golfers to a beautiful spot at the back of the property (where the wonderfully short 12th and 13th holes are interrupted by 'The Hideout').

There's a lot of talk about 'minimalism' in golf course architecture these days; and, finding natural holes - like Sagebrush's 2nd - requires unique talent. But to be a great golf course designer, you must also possess extraordinary powers to visualize possibilities through construction work. Most holes at Sagebrush were quite easy to 'see' on the raw ground before construction of the course began; not the 8th and 11th though. In fact, when Rod Whitman first pitched what is now Sagebrush's 11th hole, most people involved with the project couldn't see it at all.

Below is a pre-construction view of the proposed green site (click on all images to enlarge). This photo was taken from the 11th hole side of a massive fairway area shared with the adjacent 14th hole, at right. This proposed green site for the 11th hole was a steep hillside; a beautiful spot, but not an ideal location to build a green, really.

Below is a similar view during construction. Work is being done to soften a steep slope in the fairway area, some 300 yards off the back tee. The beginnings of a green pad, created by gouging material out of the hillside there, can also be seen in the distance. It took quite a bit of time and material to create a site for this green that was large enough and flat enough to accommodate golf. In fact, a lot of work went into creating all of the greens at Sagebrush. Due to the extreme nature of the site, it was challenging to make these sites flat enough while at the same time creating interesting putting greens.

Finally, below is a view of the 11th green site complete (photo by Duncan Ridley). It's another of Sagebrush's many massive putting greens, featuring some neat 'waves' rolling across its surface from front to back. (Quite a climb is required to get to the short par 3 12th, which is well above the 11th green, playing across a tiny plateau in the shadow of that large rock face you see in the image below.)

Sagebrush's 11th hole is monument to extraordinary imagination in golf course design.

Creating Sagebrush: #2.

2012-02-19T12:03:00.001-05:00

News that Dick Zokol's no longer associated with Sagebrush Golf and Sporting Club has made me a bit nostalgic. Looking back, I feel very privileged to have been a part of creating such a distinct golf course in such a stunning setting. It was great fun.

When Rod Whitman first visited the property where Zokol wanted to build Sagebrush, he thought it was going to be impossible to play golf there - particularly in traditional fashion, as Dick envisioned it. There's over 300 feet of elevation change across the property. Rod's opinion changed as the routing came together though; and, it's Rod's routing that allows the course to work so well.

Holes like the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 8th (!), 11th, 13th and 16th required a lot of effort to put together. But there are also a number of very natural holes at Sagebrush, like the long-ish par 4 second for example. Following is an interesting sequence of photos illustrating the very 'minimalistic' development of this hole (click on all images to enlarge).

Before construction: The tee shot plays over a rise immediately in front of the tees that hides the fairway from view. Above is a look down toward the proposed green site - hovering above Nicola Lake, in the distance - from the top of that rise.

During construction: Vegetation and topsoil was delicately stripped from the fairway area, with effort to preserve existing terrain. Topsoil was then screened on-site and replaced after shaping and irrigation installation. As you'll see below, very little shaping work was required in the fairway area at the 2nd hole. In this photo, you can also see the green 'padded out' behind the pile of stripped topsoil. A small ridge that jutted out of the hillside, at left, in front of the green site was cut down. Material from this cut was used to create the green pad.

Finished and seeded, with the 'green' clearly seen in the distance: The greens are consistently massive at Sagebrush. This one, at 2nd, is only half the size of the 7th and 16th greens, but probably still measures 12,000 square feet or more. Most interesting is the distinct right to left angle of the green. My favourite holes are back-left. When the flagstick features over there, you're well-advised to drive down the right side of the fairway or face a very tricky approach from the left side. There's a neat rise in front of the green as well that makes front hole locations equally interesting.

Complete: The fairways at Sagebrush - which in most areas transition into native vegetation (there's very little rough) - were planted with fescue. Conditions are always firm as a result. The downslope in the foreground will propel tee shots way down the fairway at the 2nd, turning this 440-yard hole (which in a preliminary draft of the golf course plan was the first) into a drive-short iron some days. The bunkers cut into the natural knob right of the fairway were Zokol's idea; I remember being on-site by myself one weekend when I personally scratched 'em in. You can also see a small bunker right of the green in this photo; there are three more behind the green, principally designed to prevent balls from falling off a cliff there, and another left of the putting surface.

The 2nd at Sagebrush - an incredibly natural hole in an incomparable setting.

Dick Zokol and Sagebrush.

2012-02-17T15:13:00.002-05:00

With Zokol and Whitman, on-site, during the construction of Sagebrush.

I'm really disppointed to find out that my friend, Richard Zokol, has parted ways with Sagebrush Golf and Sporting Club. Not unlike Bobby Jones and Augusta National, there (was) Dick Zokol and Sagebrush. You can't speak of one without immediately thinking of the other.

Sagebrush was Dick's idea. And, along with his partner, Terry Donald (who's still involved with the club), he put a difficult deal together to realize his vision.

I spent more than three years working with Dick (Rod Whitman and Armen Suny) on the design and construction of the golf course at Sagebrush. We didn't always agree, but I got to know Dick well. I developed a healthy respect for him as a big thinker. His clear vision and determination are very rare. (No wonder he's one of very few Canadians who've successfully survived the PGA Tour for more than two decades.) Dick's tough, and he was always resolute with his vision for Sagebrush.

The place turned out pretty good. Named Best New Canadian course for 2009 by Golf Digest and SCOREGolf magazines, Sagebrush currently ranks #28 on the list of the top-100 courses in Canada. But it's more than that. All of the very best golf courses share a single common characteristic. That is, they're all distinct. Sagebrush is an extremely unique golf course. Its massive scale, which Zokol imagined from the get-go, is unparalleled. But, perhaps most important, it's a fun course to play. Dick always wanted it wider and bigger, mostly so everyone had enough room to play golf. This was, arguably, his most important contribution to the golf course design - playability. Dick was adamant that all golfers, Tour players and hacks alike, were simply going to enjoy Sagebrush.

Even though he's stepped down as chairman, I can't imagine the names Dick Zokol and Sagebrush won't be linked forever.

In his own words: Geo. Thomas on Riviera's 10th.

2012-02-17T09:11:00.000-05:00

An incredible photo of the Riviera's 10th, c. 1927, before three
additional bunkers were added to the hole a few years later.
(Irresistibly borrowed from http://www.geoffshackelford.com/;
click on image to enlarge.)

"The poorest of all holes are the short two shotters, where a missed first shot allows a recovery to the green that is only a mediocre shot. By reducing the size of the green, and by tilting it up from one side to the other, or back to front, so as to require a placement on the drive for a shot which can be played toward the higher part, and by making it narrow and long with the opening opposite the carrying trap, it is easy to insist on a fine first shot to make the second one reasonably possible. In other words, if the hole is 300 yards long, and a man misses his drive and goes only 125 yards, he should not be able to reach and hold the green.

This arrangement is most difficult to accomplish in short two shotters. The more exacting the test, the more skillful will be the golfers developed; but a really fine test for a long player is likely to make the second shot too penalizing for the short man, especially on short two shotters. A partial answer to this problem is found by the new 300 yard No. 10 at the Los Angeles Athletic Club course (Riviera), where the green is narrow, yet opens in the line of the short player, but is raised several feet above the adjacent fairway with no traps near it. This makes it very difficult for the short man to hold the putting surface unless his drive is an exceptionally long ball. This practice may be varied on holes of different lengths by the size and shape and facing angle of the green, and it does away with traps. However, it could only be used occasionally, and, therefore, is not a complete solution for the short two shotters."

- George Thomas, from Golf Architecture in America (1927).

The very finest 'made' golf course in the United States.

2012-02-15T11:48:00.002-05:00

Riviera's 6th hole, painted by Mike Miller, as
featured on the cover of The Captain, George C. Thomas, Jr.
and his Golf Architecture by Geoff Shackelford.
To see more of Miller's fine work, click here.

Pebble Beach last week, now Riviera on TV this weekend.

In his introduction to the golf course section of Geoff Shackelford's excellent club history, The Riviera Country Club, A Definitive History, Ben Crenshaw describes Riviera as 'the very finest made golf course in the United States'.

Riveria was built upon the relatively featureless floor of the Santa Monica Canyon, near Los Angeles, during the mid-1920s. Golf architect George Thomas and his construction foreman, Billy Bell, orchesrated a massive earthmoving operation at Riviera. Reportedly, a 27-foot fill was made to create the now famous 18th hole, with its amphitheatre green site. Greens at holes 1 and 11 were raised more than 10 feet above natural grade. And, creation of the wonderful, Redan-like par-3 fourth hole - which Ben Hogan called 'the greatest par 3 hole in America' - required 16 feet of fill material.

More amazing than the earthmoving operation undertaken to create Riviera is the shaping work. So many features of the course are designed to move water over the surface of the ground off of playing areas. Most holes feature a tilt toward a barranca that runs through the property - and also brilliantly factors into the design strategy of nearly half of the holes. Every slope, swale and valley designed to drain the course not only blend together to 'comply with nature', as Crenshaw puts it, but brilliantly assist with creating interesting golf as well. Despite the massive construction effort requried, Riviera is one of the most natural-looking golf courses in the world.

'It all looks as though it has been there forever,' adds Crenshaw. 'It is impossible to find where artifical work ended or began'

Then there are the holes themselves. In his landmark book, Golf Architecture in America (1927), Thomas wrote: 'When you play a course and remember each hole, it has individuality and change. If your mind cannot recall the exact sequence of the holes, that course lacks great assets of originality and diversity'. Riviera doesn't suffer this problem. The course features eighteen of the most distinct, memorable holes in golf; including the famed tenth. Played from a high tee, the 10th hole at Riviera is built over flat ground and yet, with its amazingly unique green design and bunker arrangement, is considered to be the very best short par 4 in golf. There's also the par 3 sixth, one in a collection of four incredible short holes, featuring a bunker in the centre of the putting surface. And the par 4 eighth, with its unique double fairway. This is to, unfortunately, say nothing about so many other fantastic holes at Riviera.

George Thomas also wrote that 'in golf construction, art and utility meet; both are absolutely vital; one is utterly ruined without the other'. Riviera is perhaps the greatest example of this extremely important architectural tenet. Perhaps no other golf course in the world exemplifies what is required of the golf course architect to create a world-class course; especially over a comparatively dull property.

Riviera is a textbook on golf course architecture, and a testament to the genius and artistic talents of George Thomas and Billy Bell. Enjoy it on TV this weekend.

Some unusual images from Monterey.

2012-02-12T12:26:00.001-05:00

Back in January 2009 I made a trip to San Francisco to visit my friend and colleague, George Waters.

George and I played the California Golf Club (with Tom Doak and Jim Urbina, nonetheless). George assisted Kyle Phillips and co. with a remarkable reworking of the Cal Club. (Click here to read Ran Morrissett's review of the Cal Club at GolfClubAtlas.com). I was also fortunate to walk the San Francisco Golf Club (incredible) and The Olympic Club's Lake course (not so much), which hosts the US Open later this year.

George and I then headed down to the Monterey Peninsula, which included a stop in Santa Cruz for a round at Alister Mackenzie's Pasatiempo (exceeded my already high expectations). No matter what anyone tells you, you have to visit the Monterey Peninsula to truly appreciate its unparalleled beauty. Then there's the golf: Cypress Point, Monterey Peninsula Country Club and, of course, Pebble Beach, where the final round of the AT&T Pro-Am takes place today.

For the fun of it, here are a few unusual images I captured in Monterey; in other words, views you don't typically see in the golf magazines. Click on all images to enlarge.

Looking toward the 17th green from the 4th fairway at Pebble Beach.

Alister Mackenzie originally had plans to build a suspension bridge to get over to a back tee built on this rocky island at Cypress Point's 18th hole.

The incredibly beautiful landscape on the back nine at Pacific Grove Muni.

The passing of a legend.

2012-02-11T09:51:00.002-05:00

The par-five 3rd hole on the South nine at York Downs.

Geoffrey St. John Cornish, designer of hundreds of golf courses - including New Ashburn and York Downs here, in Canada - died yesterday, age 97.

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Mr. Cornish ended up spending most of his life living and working from Amherst, Massachusetts, from where he also authored many important books on golf course design and its history.

Other than York Downs, north of Toronto - where I'm now consulting on golf course improvements - I'm not very familiar with Mr. Cornish's design work. But his books - including The Architects of Golf, Golf Course Design, and Classic Golf Hole Design - are prominently displayed on my bookshelf. And I was fortunate to meet the man.

Spending a few days with him at Cape Breton Highlands Links a number of years ago now was priceless. Mr. Cornish was already into his 90s then but, with martini in hand, he enthusiastically shared some remarkable stories about working on the construction of Highlands Links as an associate of Stanley Thompson's during the late 1930s; and, with my full attention, talked candidly about Mr. Thompson himself.

Following that visit to Cape Breton, I was fortunate to be the recipient of a number of Mr. Cornish's cherished type-written letters. These letters would usually arrive at my house after I'd published an article in a magazine on some aspect of golf course architecture. Mr. Cornish was a prolific letter writer, and always very complimentary and genuinely encouraging with his words. His letters were incredibly thoughtful gestures which speak to the man's character.

Geoff Cornish's selfless contributions to golf and course architecture, and his admirable personal nature will certainly never be forgotten.

Here's Lorne Rubenstein on Mr. Cornish from yesterday's Globe and Mail:
http://globeandmail.golfcanada.ca/professional-tours/golf-news/?articleId=2334226

More from Golf Course Architecture magazine, including a link to a recent interview with Mr. Cornish:
http://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/Article/Veteran-architect-Cornish-dies-at-97/2369/Default.aspx

And, the Royal Canadian Golf Association's Hall of Fame profile:
http://www.rcga.org/hall_of_famer.aspx?id=15&x=PRgE5ZkK1ko%3D

"Lollygaggers Need Not Apply", at Cybergolf.com.

2012-02-07T19:36:00.000-05:00

I'm very fortunate to be one of a number of subjects in Tony Dear's latest article at Cybergolf.com on 'some of the young, upcoming golf course designers working around the world today'. Click here to read the article, which features several very interesting stories about some of my most accomplished contemporaries whose passion for, and work in golf course architecture I respect very much.

GCA: "Mingay restores Macan's Victoria"

2012-02-03T17:51:00.000-05:00

It's always exciting to receive the latest issue of Golf Course Architecture magazine. It's a fantastic publication, out of the UK, edited by the esteemed, Adam Lawrence. If you're a golf course architecture fanatic and don't subscribe to Golf Course Architecture magazine, do it.

Flipping through the January 2012 issue today I was pleased to happen upon a nice blurb about our on-going work at the Victoria Golf Club featured in the 'Tee Box' (news) section.

Ever hear of High Pointe?

2012-01-31T15:03:00.002-05:00

High Pointe, from Doak's infamous book 'The Confidental
Guide to Golf Courses' (1996).

The educated taste admires simplicity of design and sound workmanship for their own sake, rather than over-decoration and the crowding of artifical hazards.

- Tom Simpson, 1927.

Three golf courses immediately come to mind when I think about those that really inspired me to pursue a career in golf course architecture at a relatively young age: Donald Ross' Essex, in Windsor, Ontario, where I grew up playing; Pete Dye's Harbour Town Golf Links, in South Carolina; and High Pointe.

Opened for play in 1989, High Pointe was Tom Doak's first solo design. After reading Doak's treatise, The Anatomy of a Golf Course, shortly after it was published in 1992, I excitedly rushed up to Traverse City, Michigan to see and play High Pointe. The course was a revelation. So much that's talked about, and now practiced by many in golf course architecture - working with the land, designing holes to give maximum advantage to imaginative shot-making, bringing a Scottish approach to maintenance and fescue grasses to North America - began, or was at least resurrected on this side of the Atlantic at High Pointe.

Doak has since risen to the top of our profession. The popularity of his subsequent design work at places like Pacific Dunes, Cape Kidnappers, Barnbougle Dunes, Ballyneal, Sebonack, The Renaissance Club, and Old Macdonald - compounded by the recent, and terribly unfortunate closure of High Pointe - has rendered his first course a fond memory for those of us who learned about, and experienced it early on.

I'm no fan of the term 'minimalism'. It's used too frequently and often incorrectly these days. In a modern context though, the now popular 'minimalist approach' to golf course architecture began at High Pointe. As he describes in his infamous book The Confidental Guide to Golf Courses, Doak opted for "the least possible disturbance, even in building the greens" at High Pointe. As a result, the course was an incredibly natural looking one, with every hole simply draped over the existing landscape. High Pointe was without contrivance.

Instead of over-decorating the course with bunkers, Doak smartly used natural slope and contour to present playing interest and challenge at High Pointe. His goal was to utilize "steeper undulations for the fairway landing areas and green sites, so that the golfer would be forced to consider the slopes in playing the hole(s)... and counteract and minimize the bounce of the ball." This idea was contrary to what was going on in golf course architecture pretty much everywhere else at the time. So many courses built during the 1980s and '90s involved flattening out borderline slopes in the interest of 'fairness' rather than using them to advantage. When a course is flattened out, golfers tend to approach every hole the same. Boring.

As a means to emphasize the importance of considering slopes and contour in playing the holes at High Pointe, Doak also elected to grass the entire course with fescue. At the time, many experts thought this idea was simply foolish. Now it seems every new course we hear about - from Sagebrush to Cabot Links - is being planted with fescue. Doak's aim was to promote a firm playing surface at High Pointe, but also to create a course that could be playable under less-than-perfect conditions so that, as he puts it, "the budget could be kept austere and the green fees affordable". This philosophy is even more applicable today than during the late 1980s, considering current economic conditions.

Doak's 'experiment' at High Pointe was gutsy, if not a complete success. I understand much of the fescue disappeared or was eventually eradicated over time, for example. But, looking back, his 'experiment' was a revelation, and inspiration to a generation of future golf course designers, including myself. High Pointe encouraged 'out of the box' thinking, illustrating some innovative and interesting possibilities for golf archtiecture and course maintenance moving forward.

Most important though, High Pointe was a fun course to play; and, its simple appearance yet complex challenges were an incredibly beautiful contradiction to what golfers had come to believe golf course architecture to be over the previous three decades and more, before High Pointe.

The difference between a hockey rink and a golf course.

2012-01-26T21:26:00.001-05:00

'Scheme for The Pine Valley Golf Course
as suggested by H.S. Colt.'

National Hockey League games must be played on a rink that must adhere to dimensions and specifications prescribed by the League.

The rink must be 200' long and 85' wide. The corners must be rounded in the arc of a circle with a radius of 28'. The rink must also be surrounded by a wall - known as 'boards' - not less than 40", but not more than 48" above the ice surface. Safety glass must be affixed to the boards as well, extending vertically 8' above the boards at each end of the rink, and not less than 5' feet along the sides. Spectator netting, hung in the ends of the arena, is required too.

NHL rules on the 'Playing Area' then continue to address dimensions and specifications related to lines, division of the ice surface, goal and referee creases, the goalkeeper's restricted area, face-off spots and circles, etc.

Imagine how golf would suffer with a similar set of rules on dimensions and specifications for golf courses (as some golfers and course architects seem to think exist). After all, one of golf's greatest attractions is the remarkable diversity of its playing fields. All of the world's most interesting, and attractive courses are incredibly diverse. Thankfully, there are no rules on dimensions and specifications for golf courses. As long as a golf course drains water effectively (which is, essentially, a 'rule' of sorts) anything can happen relative to length, green contour, bunker placement and style, etc.

In fact, most of the very best golf courses throughout the world break every 'rule' perceived to be by those contemporary golfers lacking the adventurous spirit of Harry Vardon, James Braid, Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Peter Thomson, and Tiger Woods.

Read more here: Preserving the World's Great Golf Courses.

Some of the 'other stuff'.

2012-01-26T09:56:00.002-05:00

Short grass area right of the 9th green, Overlake.

At most golf clubs, focus is on bunkers. It's remarkable how many golfers feel bunkers need to be improved, when in fact, they're hazards where you're not supposed to find an ideal lie and a simple shot.

Drainage is paramount, but most of those golfers who feel the bunkers 'suck' talk about playability and overall maintenance. As a result, bunker remodelling projects are very popular. But other stuff has equal, and some times more impact on actually improving an aged golf course.

I visited Overlake Golf and Country Club, in Seattle, earlier this week. Golf course superintendent, Scott Stambaugh, and I looked at some areas where he and I are recommending tree planting simultaneous with some tree removal throughout the course. Overlake is a classic example of a course where short-sighted, uneducated (I use this term with all due respect) tree planting over the past half century or so has created an unfortunate situation. Scott and I are simply recommending removal of non-native species + some other trees that are potentially hazardous, impede play, hamper course maintenace and negatively affect turf health. We've also recommended massive plantings of new trees - indigenous species in proper locations; 'proper locations' meaning areas where, when full grown, these new plantings will not hamper course maintenance, impede play or negatively affect turf conditions. Simple.

The goal of this long-range tree management plan at Overlake is to end up, decades from now, with a natural 'golf forest' that compliments the primary function of the property, which is to allow for a most enjoyable golfing experience, rather than detract from it. Some pretty cool-looking, functional bunkers have been built at Overlake recently, but for the long term, this tree management plan is most important to overall improvement of the golf course. Knowing the bunkers will have to be redone again and again over years to come, if we nail this tree management plan, there should be no tree cutting or new planting required for many, many years at Overlake.

Tree removal at the 2nd hole, Overlake.

Grass lines are very important too. Scott and I have also done some tweaking of fairway lines. Firstly, fairways should simply fit the scale of the 'picture' as seen from the tees. Too many courses feature fairways that are too narrow relative to the scale of the hole corridor, which also affects playability. Squiggly mow lines are also undesirable. Why should a rough line weave in here and out there, arbitrarily? This looks chintzy and negatively affects playability as well.

In most cases, wider fairways present more enjoyment for less skilled golfers without affecting the challenge presented to better players. And longer, flowing fairway lines are simply more attractive than those aforementioned squiggly patterns I see too often.

We've also introduced some short grass areas adjacent to greens at the 6th, 9th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 17th and 18th holes at Overlake. These short grass areas are somewhat reminiscent of green surrounds at Augusta National. Overlake's original designer, Vernon Macan, was a stauch advocate of the philosophy behind the original design of Augusta. (Click here to read more on this interesting subject.) So, it was entirely appropriate to 'restore' these features at Overlake, which can be a great 'equalizer'. In other words, less skilled golfers can simply putt onto the greens from short grass adjacent to a putting surface without thinking much about it. At the same time, tight lies tend to confound (some) low-handicap golfers attempting to recovery from a missed approach shot simply because they have a decision to make. As opposed to 2-3 inches of rough grass surrounding the green, hole after hole, short grass presents interesting shot options. This is a very interesting psychological element that adds greatly to the diversity and interest of recovery play.

We've also expanded/restored the green surfaces at Overlake, to great effect. Putting surfaces have a tendency to shrink over time. Consider, every time someone mows a green and tries not a scalp the collar, a putting surface loses a miniscule amount of surface area. Multiple this phenomenon by half a century and a green can loose a signifcant amount of surface area over decades. Not unlike most aged courses, this happened at Overlake (which opened for play in 1953). By taking the green surfaces back out to the edge of the fillpads, closer to surrounding hazards - fall-offs and bunkers, mostly - we've restored some very interesting (if you choose, read: challenging) hole locations.

I'm sure - no, absolutely positive - many golfers at your club, or home course despise the bunkers. Granted, bunkers do need to be remodelled to improve function, playability, overall maintenance and aesthetics, from time to time. But also consider how much impact some tree removal (and new plantings of appropriate species in proper locations) and simple adjustment to some grass lines can make, at about 1/10th the cost of a comprehensive bunker remodelling project.

Some influences.

2012-01-20T15:09:00.001-05:00

On-site at VGC, January 18.

It's been an interesting week at Victoria Golf Club. Over the past few years, we've had great success remodelling bunkers and making other improvements to the course during the winter months. Victoria is usually quite mild this time of year. Our luck ran out this week. A freak winter storm wreaked havoc over the past few days, shutting our job down.

I've been working on other things in the meantime, including the beginnings of a comprehensive tree plan for VGC. I also spent some time yesterday answering questions from a golf writer planning to pen an article on young golf architects, under the age of 40. One of the most interesting questions posed was: Which designers have influenced your philosophy and whose work, among your contemporaries, do you admire?

Inevitably, having worked along side him for a decade, Rod Whitman has greatly influenced my philosophy and understanding of golf course architecture. Rod has extraordinary talent for the two most important elements of golf course design - routing and contouring golf holes. From a construction standpoint, Rod taught me how to effectively implement design ideas on the ground, which is incredibly important. Ideas are one thing, knowing how to get those ideas on the ground is an entirely different proposition.

Philosophically, I’ve been greatly influenced by many of the same people as Rod. Studying the works and writings of men like Alister Mackenzie (author of Golf Architecture and The Spirit of St. Andrews), Robert Hunter (The Links), Tom Simpson (The Architectural Side of Golf), and (Victoria's own) Vernon Macan, who wrote prolifically and brilliantly on golf course architecture during his lifetime is a very important part of an education in golf in general, and course architecture in particular. It sounds a bit cliché these days, but I’m mostly, and unabashedly influenced by the greats of the so-called Golden Age of golf design, between the wars.

(As mentioned in a recent post here, I continue to be amazed that eighteen of the top-20 courses in the world, according to GOLF magazine, were built during the pre-World War II era. The others - Pacific Dunes and Sand Hills - were designed by Tom Doak and Bill Coore and his partner, Ben Crenshaw.)

Dave Axland, who’s been Coore and Crenshaw's main man for some 20 years now, has also been a big influence. Dave’s an old friend of Rod’s. He worked with us at Blackhawk Golf Club and Cabot Links. Dave is a super-talented golf archtiect in his own right. He and his partner, Dan Proctor, are designers of the great Wild Horse in Gothenburg, Nebraska. Both Dave and Dan have been integral contributors to creation of a number of outstanding courses designed by Coore and Crenshaw as well, at places like Sand Hills, Friar's Head, The Plantation course at Kapalua, Bandon Trails, and Chechessee Creek Club. Dave's helped me tremendously over the years, specifically with construction, costs and scheduling issues. In this regard, Dave's one of the most selfless people I know.

Among contemporary designers, I have to include Doak as well. Reading Tom's book, The Anatomy of a Golf Course, back when I was 18 (when it was first published, in 1992) provided a tonne of insight and inspiration. This is the first book anyone interested in golf course architecture should read. It's a wonderful summary of all of the classics by the likes of Mackenzie, Hunter and Simpson, discussed in a modern context. Tom was also very helpful when I was bold enough to contact him on several occasions as a young man seeking some advice on getting into the business. Gil Hanse, too. I have great admiration for Gil’s work. Coore and Crenshaw rightfully get a lot of praise for their attention to detail, but from what I’ve seen by Gil and his partner, Jim Wagner, they deserve equal praise. Visit Boston Golf Club, Castle Stuart, and their recent restoration of Los Angeles Country Club's North course (with Geoff Shackelford) to see what I mean.

Moreover, Gil is a very interesting, thoughtful, courteous, engaging, and impressive guy. Much like Bill Coore (and my friend, Ron Prichard, too). If I were to advise a young person interested in the business of golf course archtiecture to model themselves after any two people, it would be Gil and Bill.

"The game has changed."

2012-01-13T21:33:00.000-05:00

The par-five 12th hole at the Victoria Golf Club.

If I had a dollar for every time I've heard "the game has changed" after proposing restoration of a classic golf course, I'd have a few extra bucks in my pocket. This is a very common response from golfers who oppose the idea of putting an old golf course back together.

Sure, playing equipment technologies have improved greatly since the pre-World War II era, when so many of the best courses throughout the world were designed and constructed. Yes, the golf ball travels a lot further today; mostly for the best players... but, for the most part, has the game really changed that much?

Take a look at the world's top-20 courses, according to GOLF magazine's most recent biennial ranking, in 2011 (with annotation):

Pine Valley, 1918 (few major revisions)
Cypress Point, 1928 (few, if any major revisions)
Augusta National, 1933 (notable revisions; most pre-World War II)
St. Andrews-Old, 1400s (notable revisions, pre-World War II)
Royal County Down, 1889 (notable revisions, pre-World War II)
Shinnecock Hills, 1931 (few, if any major revisions)
Pebble Beach, 1919 (notable revisions, pre-World War II)
Oakmont, 1903 (notable revisions by original designers up to 1950s)
Muirfield, 1891 (notable revisions, pre-World War II)
Merion-East, 1912 (notable revisions, pre-World War II)
Sand Hills, 1994
National Golf Links of America, 1911 (notable revisions, pre-World War II)
Royal Melbourne-West, 1926 (few, if any major revisions)
Royal Portrush, 1929 (few, if any major revisions)
Pinehurst No. 2, 1907 (notable revisions by original designer, pre-World War II)
Royal Dornoch, 1886 (notable revisions, pre-World War II)
Ballybunion, 1893 (notable revisions, pre World War II)
Turnberry, 1909 (notable revisions, shortly after World War II; course was used by RAF)
Pacific Dunes, 2001
Crystal Downs, 1932 (few, if any major revisions)

Most of these courses have rightfully been lengthened over time. Perhaps a new bunker (or three +) has been added, here and there. But, otherwise, the integrity of the 'original, pre-World War II' design work remains unchanged. Exceptions are the two relative newcomers to the list (in bold). Sand Hills was designed by Bill Coore and his partner, Ben Crenshaw. Pacific Dunes by Tom Doak and co. Over the past 20 years and more, these men have unabashedly claimed to be strictly influenced by 'golden age' designers and courses. (The so-called 'golden age' of golf course design is generally recognized as the period between the two world wars.) Sand Hills and Pacific Dunes exude 'golden age' design principles per se.

So then, does GOLF magazine's ranking of the world's top courses speak to the fact that the game really hasn't changed that much? I could write a book on this subject. But this is a blog. So, for now, I'll sum it up like this:

In the early 1950s, Robert Trent Jones thought "the game had changed". Beginning with his redesign of Donald Ross' South course at Oakland Hills Country Club, in suburban Detroit, RTJ began designing golf courses differently than his predecessors. His first original design on GOLF's ranking appears at #88: Valderama, in Spain. Then came Pete Dye, who resurrected old-time concepts and 'golden age' principles (big time), following a trip through the British Isles during the early 1960s. Dye's first course on GOLF's ranking appears at #44: Whistling Straits, in Wisconsin.

Then, again, there's Coore and Crenshaw + Tom Doak - the only post-World War II era golf course designers to crack the world's top-20 courses, with Sand Hills and Pacific Dunes. Coincidence? Or has the game actually not changed that much at all?

Austrian pines versus Mt. Baker.

2012-01-11T21:14:00.000-05:00

I'm back in British Columbia this week, working on holes 3-6 at Victoria Golf Club; and, there was a remarkable development yesterday, illustrated below.

Pictured above is the green site at the 6th hole early yesterday morning. One tree, just right of the flagstick, had been felled at this point in the day. If you click on this image (to enlarge), you'll see Mount Baker's summit just above the clouds in the distance. As you can see too, until yesterday, the 6th green site at VGC had been encased by Austrian pine trees for decades. VGC's assistant golf course superintendent, Derek Sheffield, nailed it when he said: "If you bought a house on this site, would you plant a wall of pine trees to block this view?!" Behind this green are beautiful, rocky islands in the Strait of Juan de Fuca (read: the Pacific Ocean) then, beyond, the Cascade Mountains of Washington state and majestic Mount Baker; not to mention all of the wonderful sailboats that gracefully pass by each day.

Flash to this morning... with just three trees removed behind the 6th green, there was Mount Baker - as if it knew we needed it this morning, to truly showcase a controversial recommendation that had been carried out at VGC. You can click on this image to enlarge as well, but unfortunately it doesn't do this incredible scene justice. I can't describe the breathtaking view of Mount Baker from this vantage point accurately in words, other than to say it honestly looks like one of the greatest paintings you'll see in your life, in the sky. It's an incredible sight, restoring one of the most dramatic elements at one of the most uniquely beautiful seaside golf holes in Canada.

Another 3-4 trees, and some underbrush right of the 6th green were removed as well, creating an equally stunning view down the 7th hole (at right) - and out to sea, where impressively massive container ships travel with regularity. This view will undoubtedly become a bit of a wonderful distraction for golfers waiting for playing partners to putt out at VGC's 6th.

As at all golf clubs (and I mean, all), trees are a very controversial subject at VGC. My hat's off to the powers-that-be at the club for approving this recommendation, knowing that any controversy will pass with time and that club members and their guests will again enjoy this incredibly unique scene at the Victoria Golf Club.

Reader comments.

2012-01-07T17:47:00.003-05:00

I've received a few inquiries about commenting on posts at this blog. I consciously de-activated 'reader comments' when we re-launched back in October 2011. I've changed my mind. After all, one of the interesting things about a blog is interaction with readers. So, the 'reader comment' option is back on.

I look forward to hearing from you, hopeful that this will be an interesting avenue to expand on topics posted.

Thanks for your continued interest,

In retrospect: 2011, and onward.

2012-01-05T16:38:00.000-05:00

With some luck, this'll be a golf hole some day.

I'm always looking forward, but am happy to look back on an interesting 2011. It was a good year. A lot of excellent progress was made with existing clients, including our continuing restorative-based work at Victoria Golf Club, in British Columbia. It's a joy to work at VGC - great people, at one of the world's most uniquely beautiful places for golf.

We also got through approval of a very exciting plan to renovate The Derrick Club, in Edmonton, Alberta, in 2011. I look forward to presenting this plan to the club's membership this year then, hopefully, getting to work implementing it in the very near future. The Derrick is a very well-established and respected club right in the middle of one of Canada's most prosperous cities. Its course simply needs a refresh to match all of the other fine amenities at the club.

I was disappointed that more work wasn't carried out at Overlake Golf and Country Club, in Seattle, in 2011. But I'm very pleased to report that I did establish a new relationship with York Downs Golf and Country Club. York Downs is one of Canada's most historic golf clubs. Established in 1922, its original 18-hole course was laid-out by the great Englishman, Charles Hugh Alison. That course has since become the City of Toronto's Earl Bales Park, though. The current York Downs, which features 27-holes, was designed by Geoffrey Cornish and his then partner, Bill Robinson, during the late 1960s. There are some very interesting opportunities at York Downs as well. I'll spend time in 2012 working on a plan for golf course improvement there, up in Unionville, north of Toronto.

I was also involved with three potential golf course developments in 2011. I completed two preliminary layouts for new courses in Saskatchewan, over pieces of ground that most Canadians - actually, anyone who knows anything about Saskatchewan - wouldn't believe exist in that province. Beautiful sites for golf, both. With nothing to gain from making such a bold statement, one of these properties could easily be home to one of Canada's best courses. The other is nearly as good. The third project is on the other side of the country, in the Maritimes. Unfortunately, this one's been a victim of the times (so far). With financing hard to come by at the moment, we've had numerous 'false hope' commitments but nothing secured just yet.

I'm off to Victoria and Seattle next week then back to Ontario to prepare for the beginning of our work at The Oakville Golf Club, which is scheduled to start as soon as the weather breaks. There will also be a stop in Edmonton in spring, where we're continuing with refreshing bunkers at Blackhawk Golf Club. This reminds me, I'm also in discussions to write a book on the making of Blackhawk this year. The book is planned to celebrate the club's 10th anniversary, in 2013. I look forward to revisiting the creation of what has become one of Canada's best courses, and most successsful clubs. As the first big golf course project I worked on with Rod Whitman a decade ago now, my affection for Blackhawk never wanes.

What's in a name?

2011-12-31T12:13:00.001-05:00

Rymill's early 1920s plan for Kooyonga.

A good golf course trumps a bad name. But a simple, original, and sensible name is icing on the cake.

Without exception, the world's top-10 golf courses (according to GOLF magazine) have great names that all make sense based on geography, history, etc.: Pine Valley, Cypress Point, Augusta National, The Old Course at St. Andrews, Royal County Down, Shinnecock Hills, Pebble Beach, Oakmont, Muirfield and Merion. How about Loch Ness Links, to cite just one bizarre example of a ridiculous name here, in Canada? Not so much.

Here are a few of my favourite names:

Kooyonga Golf Club
Adelaide, Australia

Australian golf course designer Cargie Rymill named his beachfront home 'Kooyonga' under a misunderstanding that it was an aboriginal word meaning 'plenty sand, plenty water'. Erroneously again, Rymill felt the same word described the site of his first, and most famous golf course design.

Winged Foot Golf Club
Mamaroneck, New York

Winged Foot Golf Club was established by a group of men who were members of the New York Athletic Club. These two historic clubs have never been affiliated, but Winged Foot's founders borrowed the NYAC logo - a winged foot belonging to the Roman god, Mercury - for their golf club.

Friar's Head
Baiting Hollow, New York

Laid-out amongst treed dunes on the north shore of Long Island, New York, Friar's Head is named for a particular dune with a 'bald' top that looks like a friar's head (and has been used by mariners as a navigational point for many, many years). Interesting too, it's not Friar's Head Golf Club or Friar's Head Country Club, but simply Friar's Head.

Devil's Paintbrush
Caledon, Ontario

One of two courses that make up the Devil's Pulpit Golf Association, this 'faux links' on the outskirts of Toronto is named for a unique wildflower that exists on the property - a simple name that makes sense, and is unforgettably original.

Redtail Golf Course
St. Thomas, Ontario

I can think of two other courses where the word 'Redtail' is used in a name, but this one is unique because, similar to Friar's Head, it's not Redtail Golf Club or Redtail Country Club. Even though Redtail is the ultra-exclusive domain of its owners, its official tag is Redtail Golf Course. I like that, too.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Traps versus bunkers.

2011-12-27T15:54:00.005-05:00

Bunker short of the green at Essex' 388-yard 16th hole.

Robert Trent Jones' affect on (too) many golfers' understanding of course architecture endures.

It was Jones, beginning with his infamous redesign of Donald Ross' South course at Oakland Hills Country Club, in preparation for the 1951 US Open, who introduced the concept of purely penal bunker schemes. That is, placing bunkers specifically to penalize marginal misses by low-handicap golfers.

Significant advances in playing equipment technologies were occurring at the time. The world's best golfers were driving the ball longer and straighter than ever before. So, Jones - a progressive thinker - felt that golf architecture had to change with the times.

At Oakland Hills-South, he strictly used stats rather than artistry to re-bunker Ross' original 1917 design, which featured a seemingly (but not really) random bunker scheme. On Ross' South course, there might be a bunker right of the fairway some 200 yards off the tee at one hole then, at the next, a sand hazard 270 yards out on the left. Ross tightly bunker some greens while others feature bunkers 20-30 yards short of the putting surface. Jones changed this. Hole after hole at Oakland Hills-South, he placed bunkers at calculated distances off the tees, left and right of the fairways, in the perceived "landing zone" where the best golfers were presumed to drive the ball and made the greens "targets" surrounded by "traps".

The problem with this design philosophy, which Jones continued to employ worldwide for more than four decades following his redesign of Oakland Hills-South, is that no golfer - not even Tiger Woods in his prime - plays the game like a robot. Using Oakland Hills-South as an example, there's a sameness about the tee shots when every hole features bunkers left and right of the fairway at calculated distance off the tees. Less skilled golfers are never presented with a driving challenge, either, because they usually can't hit it far enough to have to worry about those bunkers. And, playing the ball along the ground onto tightly bunkered greens isn't an option, which makes golf very difficult for high-handicap players, women, juniors, seniors and beginners.

But, because of the extensive coverage Jones' "modern philosophy" received as he developed into, arguably, the most famous golf course designer of all-time between the 1950s and '80s, too many golfers these days still think that bunkers should be placed simply to penalize marginal misses by the best golfers. This is not a direct criticsm of Jones' architecture, but more so recognition of the remarkable psychological affect his design philosophy has had on so many golfers understanding of course architecture. It's amazing how often, when recommending restoration of a bunker 200 yards off the back tee or 20-30 yards short of a green, I hear: "what for... that bunker's not in play?". Listen, I've played a lot of golf, with many different players of varying abilities and I'm yet to see a golf course feature that's "not in play".

Take the beautiful cross bunker some 30 yards short of the green at my home club, Essex Golf and Country Club's 16th hole for example. (Mr. Ross designed Essex too.) Sure, when good players drive long and straight at this 388-yard par-four, this bunker might "not be in play". But if, the next day, the same golfer skies his tee shot or drives left or right into the rough or trees, suddenly this bunker becomes a major factor on the next shot. Moreover, it beautifully decorates the scene there, at Essex' sixteenth. Take a look at the accompanying photo (click to enlarge) and imagine this hole without this bunker. The look toward the green, from the tee and the fairway, would be much less attractive.

Golf course architecture is very subjective. As long as the course drains water effectively, everything else is a matter of conjucture. But, from my perspective, when bunkers are placed in calculated fashion, as at Oakland Hills-South, monotony develops for all classes of players and golf holes are comparatively less attractive.

Merry Christmas from OGC.

2011-12-25T14:25:00.000-05:00

Historic photo of the 10th hole at The Toronto Golf Club.

There was only one gift I really, really wanted for Christmas this year, and I got it - approval to start our work at The Oakville Golf Club in spring 2012.

Established in 1921, OGC is a private golf club, about 40 kilometers west of downtown Toronto, featuring a neat 9-hole course atop the bluff at the edge of Sixteen Mile Creek. The club's course was originally designed by George Cumming. Who, you ask? The name George Cumming might not attract the same attention as Stanley Thompson here, in Canada, these days, but Mr. Cumming was a fine golf course designer and a pioneer in the field. In fact, he was instrumental in starting Stanley Thompson's now legendary career.

Cumming and Stanley Thompson's eldest brother, Nicol, were two of the most famous golf professionals in Canada during the pre-World War II era. Mr. Cumming was head professional at The Toronto Golf Club for half a century, beginning in 1900. Nicol Thompson held the same position at Hamilton Golf and Country Club for some 50 years. Both the Toronto and Hamilton courses, designed by the Englishman, Harry Colt, revolutionized golf course architecture in Canada when completed in 1912 and '14, respectively. Messrs. Cumming and Thompson had some involvement with the creation of each of those remarkable courses. Shortly thereafter, with Mr. Colt back in England, they formed a new golf course design and construction firm dubbed Thompson, Cumming and Thompson, which included Nicol Thompson's younger brother, Stanley. OGC is one of many pioneering golf course designs throughout the province of Ontario attributed to Mr. Cumming and/or the Thompson brothers.

A lot has changed at OGC since Mr. Cumming's days, but the fine structure of his original design is still intact. With a 1934 aerial photograph of the course in hand, our plan is to restore a look, feel and playability reminiscent of early 1920s era golf architecture at OGC. We've been studying historic photos of Mr. Colt's Toronto and Hamilton courses, too. Toronto, in particular, but presumably Hamilton as well, undoubtedly influenced Mr. Cumming's own design philosophy and style.

Having started work on this plan for OGC back in 2009, this is a project we're very, very excited about. First though, it's back to VGC (Victoria Golf Club) in early January to continue with our work there.

Happy holidays, everyone.

Photo visualization.

2011-12-14T10:49:00.000-05:00

While we continue to deliver traditional two-dimensional overview plans to our club clients, we're frequently creating three-dimensional photo visualizations as well, which more effectively convey our ideas for restoration and redesign of existing courses. Below is an interesting example of how a photo visualization comes together. Click on all images to enlarge.

Photo of a short par-four as it exists today, from the start of the fairway area. The flag that can be seen is actually on a temporary green. The real green for this hole (if you can believe it) is atop the hill in the distance. Better golfers drive to the bottom of this hill with nothing more than a mid-iron then play a blind pitch straight up the steep grass bank seen in the distance. This hole is impossible for some weaker golfers who can't flight the ball high enough to carry this hill on approach to the green. I've learned that some people play this course and actually skip this hole - not an ideal situation. As the great Harry Colt once said, there's nothing worse in golf than a "frontal assault on a hill". And, a hole that's dull for low-handicap players and impossible for some others doesn't not meet my criteria. This hill is extremely steep, too, presenting potential danger for golfers and course maintenance staff.

Mock-up of our proposed solution following a site visit last fall, which is to abandon the green atop the hill and create a new par-three. Curiously, this idea came to me prior to seeing the temporary flag shown in the first photo, above. Seeing the flag in its temporary position at the bottom of the hill only confirmed that I wasn't the only one to instinctually determine the most appropriate green site for this hole. As is typical with such a dramatic change, creating this new par-three (which would be the 2nd hole) complicates getting to the current 3rd tee, which is behind the existing green atop the hill. So, we've also proposed to change the current 11th to the 3rd hole; the current 3rd becomes the 12th hole. Getting to the 11th tee from this new green site involves a much simpler walk across a gentle side slope, through a beautiful native forest at left.

The completed photo visualization, by my talented associate Keith Cutten, illustrates our proposed redesign. Some readers may notice a Stanley Thompson bunker style. If so, good observation. Mr. Thompson did some redesign work at this vintage layout during the early 1930s. While we don't have his original plans or many historic photos of the course, the club is proud of this link to Canadian golf history, so our long-range golf course improvement plan aims to create a look, feel and playability throughout the course consistent with Mr. Thompson's architecture during this era, at courses like Cataraqui, St. George's, Kawartha Lakes and Capilano.

Shorter, not longer.

2011-12-13T15:10:00.000-05:00

The short par-four 10th at Blackhawk.

It's no secret the game's governing bodies lost control of regulating playing equipment many years ago now. As a result, the best golfers are driving the ball way too far these days.

The search for new back tees at existing courses is rampant. And, the "7,000 yards standard" is quickly becoming 8,000 yards. Pete Dye just opened a new course at French Lick Resort, in Indiana, that measures an astonishing 8,100 yards from the back markers!

But, is blatant length always the correct response to the threat of 400-yard drives? I don't think so.

The biggest issue with building 8,000-yard courses are the associated costs. The longer the course, the wider it needs to be. So developers have to purchase more land and spend more money to construct longer courses that are also appropriately wide. A bigger course costs more to maintain, too. This all translates into higher green fees and club dues, which is no good for the future of golf.

Moreover, length doesn't really present challenge to top-notch players. If we look at recent professional events at Royal Melbourne, TPC Boston and Plainfield for example, it's the short holes that have been most interesting.

During the Presidents Cup, many players couldn't resist trying to drive the greens at Royal Melbourne's fantastic short par-four holes. This frequently brought them more trouble than if they had played a more conservative tee shot. At TPC Boston, an annual stop on the PGA Tour, Gil Hanse has taken hundreds of yards off a course originally designed by Arnold Palmer's design company, including creation of the wonderful 298-yard par-four 4th hole. Hanse also recommended shortening Plainfield's finishing hole from a ho-hum driver/wedge affair to sub-300 yards during the Barclay's, which provided great theatre at one of the season-ending FedEx Cup events earlier this year.

It's not all about the pros, either. My younger brother, who's won three club championships at Essex Golf and Country Club in recent years, confirms that the par-four 2nd hole at our home course can be much more challenging, and certainly more interesting for the club's best golfers when the tee markers are at 296 instead of 326 yards. The temptation to try for the green when the tee markers are up enhances the psychological challenge of the hole and brings more trouble around the green into play off the tee.

The 305-yard 10th hole at Blackhawk Golf Club (pictured) is similar. I've seen more 6s made by guys driving into the tiny pot bunker in front of the green than by those who've laid back in the fairway off the tee. If this hole was 30 yards longer, the urge to drive the green would be non-existent. Instead, it would be a comparatively dull 3-wood/wedge every time out.

Variety is key. We need short holes, long holes and all of those that fall in the middle of this spectrum. And we certainly need to ensure that the concept of a long par-four remains part of golf - that is, presenting the challenge of approaching a green from the fairway with a long club. But lengthening every hole possible in response to ever-improving ball and club technologies is not advisable; at least in part because so few excellent short par-fours have been built recently. Why? It's not easy to have the scorecard read 7,527 yards with a 298-yarder out there.

Golf architecture in wintertime.

2011-12-09T20:21:00.000-05:00

I'm often asked, what does a Canadian golf course designer do during the wintertime? Work, of course. The following photos prove it! Click on all images to enlarge.

December 9, 2011: The past two days I was at York Downs Golf and Country Club, in suburban Toronto, working on a long-range plan for golf course improvement. This involved trudging through some snow this morning, which is actually ideal. It's much less distracting - for myself and club members - to do this work without golf being played. Pictured is the 3rd hole on the South nine, at York Downs, from an obscure but interesting angle.

Winter 2007: This is an interesting shot of what is now the 17th hole at Sagebrush Golf and Sporting Club. Rod Whitman and I were on-site periodically that winter and the snow patches outlined in this photo, on this day, provided inspiration for two bunkers. See the photo posted with my November 22 blog which shows the "snow patch bunker" outlined at left, built. The other snow patch outlined on the image above is now a small bunker immediately behind the forward tee. This bunker does a good job at hiding the forward tee from view from the back tees and decorates the foreground nicely.

Winter 2007: The same winter, Rod and I were also working on a long-range golf course improvement plan for Wascana Country Club, in Regina, Saskatchewan. Walking around a golf course covered with several feet of snow in -20C temperature isn't the most pleasant experience, physically. But this particular visit to Wascana was productive, and fun. Above, Rod marks out a new green site at the par-five 12th hole. The snow helped with visualizing this idea!

February 2011: One of the many great things about working at Victoria Golf Club is that the moderate climate on the southern tip of Vancouver Island allows us to do a majority of our work during the winter months. Above is a look toward the green at the par-four 11th hole only a few days after we'd finished remodeling bunkers there, earlier this year. This was a freak snowstorm in Victoria that blanketed the course for just a day or so, and made for a great photo.

Perceived standards.

2011-12-05T10:39:00.002-05:00

The 15th at Cypress Point (courtesy of Geo. Waters).

It continues to amaze me how many golfers think that a total par of 72 is some kind of standard. The same people find it very odd when I say that, as golf course designers, we rarely think about par. We simply try to create the most interesting holes. However the scorecard adds up in the end, so be it.

Many of the world's best courses play to par 71. Most championship layouts are par 70 these days. Two of my favourite courses - the National Golf Links of America and Garden City, on Long Island, New York - are par 73. And, Harry Colt's sublime 1910 layout at Swinley Forest near London, England, is par 69.

Over the past year alone, I've recommended changing the par of individual holes at three clubs where I consult - so-called par 5s, which measure less than 500 yards, to par 4s. At another club where we're planning to completely redesign an existing layout, our scheme results in three par 3s on the front nine and just one short hole on the back. Total par would be 34-36--70. In each case, recommending simple adjustment to the scorecard has resulted in more questions and concerns than physical alterations to the course.

It's not obligatory to have two par 3s and two par 5s per nine. Cypress Point, which ranks 2nd on GOLF magazine's list of the top-100 courses in the world, not only features those world famous oceanside par 3s at holes 15 and 16 but back-to-back par 5s at the 5th and 6th holes, too. Total par at Cypress Point is 35-37--72. At Stanley Thompson's Cape Breton Highlands Links (ranked 6th best course in Canada by SCOREGolf magazine), golfers encounter consecutive par 5s at the 6th and 7th holes then again at 15 and 16. More recently, Tom Doak incorporated back-to-back par 3s into his design of Pacific Dunes, at Bandon, Oregon, which at #19 is the highest ranked course built in the modern era, according to GOLF magazine.

Cypress Point, Highlands Links and Pacific Dunes don't return to the clubhouse after nines holes, either. Come to think of it, neither do National Golf Links, Garden City and Swinley Forest. Hmmm... so much for perceived standards it seems. Clearly, there are no standards in golf course architecture. In an ideal world, where preconception is not forced upon a golf architect, the goal is to simply create the most interesting holes possible, no matter how the scorecard math figures... or where the course returns to the clubhouse.

The Olympic design competition.

2011-12-03T17:01:00.001-05:00

Olympic gold medalist, George S. Lyon.

By the time the 2016 Olympic golf competition tees off in Brazil, it'll have been 112 years since the Royal and Ancient game was part of the program at the Summer Games. Back in 1904, at Echo Glen Country Club in St. Louis, Missouri, Canadian George Lyon took the gold medal.

The biggest obstacle to having golf at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 is a course. I understand there are a handful of courses in and around Rio, but apparently not a single one of Olympic quality. So, in conjunction with the International Golf Federation (IGF), Rio 2016 organizers are holding a competition to determine who will design a new course specifically for Olympic golf.

I took a quick look at the initial Request for Proposal, which contained a few oddities. Get this one, a mandate that the successful bidder have an office in Rio de Janeiro? Golf architects don't usually open offices in every city where they work. The timelines on submissions and review were incredibly tight, too.

Regardless, over a mere few weeks between mid-October and now, the selection committee has revealed a short-list of eight who remain in the running for what may be the most talked about, and anticipated golf course design commission in recent history.

The Olympic course commission is so sought-after, in fact, that Jack Nicklaus has teamed up with Annika Sorenstam on a bid. Greg Norman has done the same with Lorena Ochoa. Both Jack and Shark are short-listed, too, along with Robert Trent Jones, Jr.; Martin Hawtree; Peter Thomson and his partner, Ross Perrett; Gary Player; Gil Hanse; and, Tom Doak.

It's a good thing I'm not on the selection panel. It'd be difficult for me to be impartial. I sincerely believe there are but a select few golf course designers who can provide Rio with exactly what it needs; and, that's not a course that simply tests the world's best golfers in Olympic competition for a single week. As the IGF and Rio 2016 organizers have made clear, this is a huge legacy opportunity. The Olympic course not only has potential to promote interest in golf worldwide, but create a beacon in South America's largest country and a city of more than 6 million people where the game is largely unknown. And, as my Australian friend and fellow golf course designer Paul Mogford points out in a response to this blog at Facebook, "an educative example of the right approach to golf course architecture, worldwide".

Rio doesn't need what's become typical. That is, too much money spent on course construction; too many tees to accommodate 8,000 yards; too many bunkers and water hazards; narrow fairways bordered by thick rough... you get the picture. All of this translates into high green fees (or bust); six hour rounds; too many lost balls; and, too many people who become so frustrated with golf they don't stay with it. No, Rio needs a course that, first, can somehow be accessible and affordable for the masses following the Olympics and that epitomizes all of those wonderful characteristics we saw at Royal Melbourne a few weeks ago, during the Presidents Cup, for example. An absence of artificial water hazards; a conservative number of attractive bunkers in the right spots; plenty of width and short grass; and, influential contouring that presents interest and challenge in lieu of extreme yardage.

It's going to be interesting to see how this competition plays out. But, in my biased opinion, there are only two guys on the short-list who are capable of appropriately delivering in this circumstance. With no disrespect intended, I'll give you a hint... their names aren't Jack, Greg, Bobby, Martin, Peter, or Gary.

Narrow entrances to the greens = wrong.

2011-11-30T11:56:00.001-05:00

An ultra-wide entrance to the green at Overlake's 12th hole, restored.

I visited a fairly well-known golf club recently and was shocked by the narrowness of the entrances to the greens at almost every hole. Even where there's an absence of greenside bunkers, arbitrary mow lines pinch the entrances to these greens, creating skinny necks of fairway leading into the putting surfaces.

There are several problems with narrow entrances. First, they aggravate weaker golfers who tend to play shots along the ground and, in turn, benefit from a legitimate chance to bounce the ball onto the greens. Low handicappers play golf more through the air than ever these days. They're unaffected by narrow entrances. This set-up contradicts the ideal in golf architecture, which is to present adequate challenge to better golfers while at the same time allowing less skilled players to enjoy the game.

Another issue with narrow entrances is purely aesthetic. Where there are no reasons for the fairway to become arbitrarily narrow leading into the greens (ie greenside bunkers), so many holes simply look chintzy because the scale of the fairway cut is wrong. (You don't see skinny necks of fairway leading into the greens at St. Andrews, Royal Melbourne, Cypress Point, Augusta National and all of those other great courses long recognized as the world's best.)

At Overlake Golf and Country Club's 12th hole, we quadrupled the width of the entrance to the green. Before we arrived in Seattle, this 200-yard + par-three featured a ridiculously skinny neck of fairway running into the putting surface. By increasing the width of the entrance, the look of the green site from the tees now matches its setting. Most important, the hole is now more accommodating to higher handicap golfers without having compromised the interest and challenge presented to better players.

In fact, I could argue Overlake's 12th is a bit more challenging in some ways since we made this adjustment...

We also filled in a bunker right of the green and replaced it with short grass. Most golfers don't think of it this way, but short grass surrounding greens can be a much more effective and interesting hazard than rough and sand. Mown slopes take balls further from the hole, and present golfers with a decision on what type of shot to play. The right side of the green at Overlake's 12th probably looks like the "best miss", but the ground in this area tilts right to left. Getting up and down from a fairway lie right of the green can actually be more challenging than a bunker shot from the left side some days.

What's interesting, too, is: Higher handicap golfers tend to simply putt from short grass areas around greens - a fairly easy way to at least get the ball onto the putting surface. Better players, on the other hand, tend to be more challenged by the dilemma of deciding whether to chip, pitch or putt from a tight lie - whether right, left or short of the green. When not entirely confident in the option chosen, poor execution often results.

As a general rule of thumb, fairway entrances to the greens should be mown to match the width of the putting surface. Those skinny necks of fairway that arbitraily become narrow leading into the greens look silly and make the game more frustrating for the wrong players.

News on our work at Victoria Golf Club.

2011-11-28T09:34:00.000-05:00

Golf Course Architecture magazine's posted a short news story on our work at Victoria Golf Club. Click here to read.

Interview with Jeff Mingay at BuffaloGolfer.com.

2011-11-26T21:02:00.000-05:00

Ron Montesano posts an interview with yours truly at BuffaloGolfer.com. Click here to check it out.

The clubhouse, and other details.

2011-11-24T17:56:00.000-05:00

The clubhouse at Chechessee Creek Club, from the home green.

I love building architecture nearly as much as golf architecture. On my bookshelf, right next to all of the golf classics, are On Architecture, a wonderful collection of Ada Louise Huxtable's essays on building architecture; Preserving the World's Great Cities by Anthony M. Tung; and, of course, a number of books on the life and works of Frank Lloyd Wright.

As I mentioned more than a month ago now, in the first post at this blog, the overall brilliance of The Toronto Golf Club stems from more than its revolutionary Harry Colt-designed course. There's also the entrance drive, which elegantly winds through the course, providing golfers with a glimpse of what they've come to enjoy; and the wonderful clubhouse architecture, which adds tremendously to what would be one of Canada's great courses anyway.

Great golf course archtiecture is most important, of course. But it's many of the other important details, including the overall land plan of a golf development, the clubhouse architecture and course accessories that create truly distinct, unforgettable golfing experiences. Take those classic clubhouse designs at places like Toronto, Winged Foot, and Shinnecock Hills for example. Incredible. There's also stuff like those green pails filled with water on the tees at Roaring Gap, in lieu of the modern ball washer. Tee markers made from indigenous materials, like the drift wood markers at Victoria Golf Club, too. And, of course, Merion's famous wicker baskets atop traditional flagsticks.

Which reminds me of the locker room showers at Merion. Fantastic. Those showers have been maintained but, presumably, not replaced since the famous East course there was opened for play in 1912. At Merion, you still pull a chain hanging from the shower stall ceiling then watch it rise until the water stops falling. Unforgettable.

Many of the great golf clubs throughout the world simply don't fix what ain't broke. They leave well enough alone. At Pine Valley, which perenially ranks as the world's #1 course, members' lockers haven't changed since the early days of the club, established during the pre-World War I era. Lockers there, at Pine Valley, still feature doors made of simple wood frames covered with chicken wire. At the world's #1 course? Yep. If interested, you can see the contents of every one of those lockers, including the Pine Valley member listed as "007" on the club's roster - Sean Connery.

Only a handful of golf clubs developed in the modern era exude comparable charm, and present similarly unforgettable golfing experiences (unfortunately). Chechessee Creek Club, with its wonderfully understated course, designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, is one. If you didn't know better, you'd think this South Carolina low country golf institution was vintage. As a result, Chechessse Creek Club is an incredibly unforgettable place.

More golf clubs - old and new - should strive to make golfing experiences more different, more distinct, more unique, and less the same as so many others. Otherwise, what's the attraction? Golfers will play anywhere if it's all the same.

Strategy.

2011-11-22T19:56:00.006-05:00

The 17th hole at Sagebrush, with 18 in the background.

Golf holes are played tee to green, but many of the best holes on this planet were designed in reverse. In other words, the design of the putting greens and their surrounds dictate playing strategies and, in turn, the placement of fairway hazards.

Take the 17th hole at Sagebrush for example. A high tee at this hole presents golfers with full view of the green at the end of an ultra-wide fairway featuring bunkers left and right. From this high tee, golfers can clearly identify the location of the flagstick. Sagebrush's penultimate hole features a rather large green built upon what is basically inherent topography. Very little earthwork was required to create this green, but a few significant tweaks were made during the shaping process to create enhanced strategy off the tee.

A sand bunker guards the green at front right, where there's a shelf of putting surface that falls off sharply behind. A pronounced knob, which existed prior to golf course construction and is now mown at fairway height, similarly protects the left side of the green. When holes are cut on the extreme right and left portions of the 17th green at Sagebrush, the smart play off the tee is to drive down the opposite margin of the fairway. Down the middle is safe, as usual, but not ideal. Because of the contour, slope and orientation of the putting surface and surrounding hazards, approaching a right pin from the right side of the fairway is comparatively awkward; and vice versa. And, because the right and left margins of this fairway are often the ideal place to be off the tee at this hole, sand hazards were installed along the fairway margins.

This type of green design is, simply, golf course architecture 101; not brain surgery. Again, the design of the green site - putting surface and surrounds - dictates playing strategies, which, in turn, dictate the placement of fairway hazards.

I've been working on a number of plans to improve existing courses, with aim to enhance playing interest. But at a few such courses we're not rebuilding existing greens. More often than not, unfortunately, the design of many of these existing greens don't make much strategic sense relative to the placement of fairway hazards. In other words, no matter where the hole is cut on these surfaces, approaching these greens from anywhere in the fairway at the holes in question is a relatively similar proposition. Fairway bunkers and other hazards can be placed anywhere in such cases; in a purely penal sense. But, if we're trying to think about golf architecture in a more intelligent fashion, and improve these courses in a comparatively sophisticated, strategic manner, a very, very important question begs: If the design of the green surface doesn't dictate playing strategies, where should the fairway hazards be located?

And, of course, what can be done to the green surrounds - without alteration of the putting surface - to enhance playing strategies and make sense of fairway hazard placement?

The top of my to-see list, at the moment.

2011-11-19T12:12:00.003-05:00

St. George's, New York (couresty of Geo. Waters)

As mentioned in a previous post here, traveling to see and play the world's best courses is a must for every aspiring, and working golf architect. I'm very fortunate; of the top-10 courses in the world (according to GOLF magazine), I'm only missing visits to Royal County Down and Royal Melbourne.

Gaining understanding of how the world's best courses look, play and feel, and how those layouts relate to their surroundings (etc.) is invaluable; and often inspiring.

Here are three seemingly fascinating courses I plan to visit soon, with hope to gain inspiration for specific upcoming projects:

St. George's Golf and Country Club

Setauket, New York

Not the famed Stanley Thompson layout in Toronto, but Devereux Emmet's intimate 1917 design on Long Island. Emmet was a pioneer golf architect who laid-out many revolutionary courses during the pre-1920s era. Today most Emmet courses have either been redesigned or are often considered too short and quirky for "modern standards". Emmet's original design appears to be very well-preserved at St. George's; and, the engineered look of many features is distinctly attractive. Moreover, plenty of open space presents stunning long views across a property beautifully decorated by swaths of lovely native grasses.

Boston Golf Club

Hingham, Massachusetts

The artistry of Gil Hanse (and his partner Jim Wagner) is consistently remarkable. Rustic Canyon and Castle Stuart have been talked about quite a bit in recent years. Lesser known Hanse designs, like French Creek and South Fork Country Club, look pretty cool too. Boston Golf Club, which opened for play in 2005, is one of Hanse's latest creations. I've heard pictures are worth a thousand words, so check out photos of the course at the club's web site, here. Boston Golf Club appears to be a stunningly beautiful celebration of the New England landscape.

Essex County Club

Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts

Essex County Club was established in 1893, but its current course is dated 1917. Its design is attributed to Donald Ross, who went on to layout some 400 courses across North America. Ross cut his teeth at designing and building golf courses at Essex Co. While serving as the club's golf professional and greenkeeper between 1909 to '13, he apparently tinkered with the course incessantly. Like Boston Golf Club, Essex Co. celebrates the beautiful nature of New England brilliantly. And, like Emmet's work at St. George's, the "built look" of many features at Essex Co. is uniquely appealing.

Ran Morrissett's posted an excellent profile of Essex Co. Club, here, at Golf Club Atlas.

"The course Augusta wants to be..."

2011-11-16T13:39:00.008-05:00

Alister Mackenzie.

It's a bit depressing for me to admit that I've yet to visit Australia's Royal Melbourne Golf Club, which hosts the Presidents Cup this weekend. I've studied the genius of Alister Mackenzie's 1926 design - in great detail - from afar though.

There are actually two courses at Royal Melbourne, the West and East. The design of the West is attributed to Mackenzie, with assistance from Australian Alex Russell and greenkeeper Mick Morcom, who handled the construction. Russell and Morcom built the East course following Mackenzie's departure. This week, during the Presidents Cup, a Composite course, compromising 12 holes from the West and six from the East, will be used.

The terrain at Royal Melbourne is said to be ideal for golf - rolling and bumpy but not too hilly, with sandy, well-drained soils and beautiful native vegetation decorating holes without interfering with play. Mackenzie's and Russell's layouts make the most of the property's incredible natural attributes. The Composite course isn't long by 2011 standards. And there are no features at Royal Melbourne that instigate controversy. Yet its design is so complex.

In his infamous book, The Confidential Guide to Golf Courses, Tom Doak writes: "Royal Melbourne, I think, is the course Augusta wants to be: wide enough for anybody, but brilliantly routed to make use of the topography and bunkered to reward bold play and bold decisions."

Mackenzie designed Royal Melbourne more than five years prior to arriving at Augusta to layout Bobby Jones' dream course. But he applied the same principles to both properties. Whereas Augusta has been significantly altered since Mackenzie's time, Royal Melbourne's basically stayed the same. The course's blatant width (there's nearly an absence of rough) caters to golfers of all abilities and, at the same time, subtle complexities created by contour, angles, well-placed bunkers, and a notoriously firm, fast-running playing surface adequately challenge the world's best players. This is the ideal in golf course architecture.

I'll be more than 16,000 kilometers from Melbourne, Australia this weekend, but I'll be tuned into the Presidents Cup. Not because I care much about the competition, it's just not too often that we get to look at Royal Melbourne for four days straight.

***Update: Who designed Royal Melbourne's West course?

After reading this blog post, Lorne Rubenstein was thoughtful enough to send me the following segment of an article on Alex Russell written by contemporary Australian golf architect, Neil Crafter:

Russell was asked by his club in 1924 to provide a plan for a remodelled 18 holes at Royal Melbourne and this indicates that the Club must have been well aware of his interest in golf course design. What is clear, is that he copied the approach used by Colt of first drawing a contour plan and then producing a three dimensional model of the planned course in plasticine, skills he would have learnt as a civil engineer and a Major in the Royal Garrison Artillery. This model was on display at the Club for some time and his modelling work commented upon by the press of the day as being “distinctly brainy. The one he constructed for his proposed lay-out for the new Royal Melbourne course was very well done, and received unstinting praise from Dr. Mackenzie.”

Therefore, the perception that prior to Dr. Mackenzie's visit, Alex Russell was an "empty vessel" as far as golf course design was concerned and that he learnt all his skills from MacKenzie, is contrary to recorded opinion of the time. While there is no doubt that Russell would have learnt a great deal from the Doctor, there is abundant evidence that Russell was widely read and educated in the principles of golf course design prior to MacKenzie's arrival. He had studied the great links and inland courses of the British Isles and his amateur career had led him to play all the leading courses throughout Australia. It should also be remembered that at the time of Mackenzie’s 1926 visit, Russell was only 34 years of age.

The Doctor’s visit, along with the publishing that year of Hunter’s book “The Links”, stimulated an awakening of interest in golf design in Australia, as this account from the Melbourne “Herald” newspaper of November 3rd 1926 explains under the heading of “Pants for Pine Valley”:

“These days, with Dr. Mackenzie here, practically all our prominent golfers are discussing golf courses, golf holes and golf architecture generally. Everywhere one goes, someone is sketching what he considers an ideal hole, and explaining just what the Doctor does to bring about his golfing transformations. Robert Hunter’s great book, with its exquisite illustrations of greens and holes and bunkers and such like, has been bought up so ravenously that it is now impossible to procure a copy, and groups poring over it may be seen in every club house. Alex Russell, the former open champion, has been so intrigued by some of the illustrations, particularly some showing views of Pine Valley course in the U.S.A., that he will not now be happy until he plays over some of the courses.”

Russell’s design for Royal Melbourne was highly praised by Mackenzie in his letter of recommendation of Russell:

"He has made a study of Golf Course Architecture for some years, and on my arrival here I was most favourably impressed with his suggested design for the new Royal Melb. Golf Course as it showed far more originality and ability than the design of any other golf course I have seen since my arrival."

In that same letter of November 1926, Mackenzie announced that he had taken in Alex Russell as a partner to carry on his works after he left Australia. Further, he emphasises that Russell:

“…has been continually associated with me while I have been advising golf clubs, and he has not only drawn a number of my plans but has made many valuable suggestions.”

Very interesting, indeed.

Crafter seems to prove that a routing plan for the West course, by Russell, was complete by the time Mackenzie arrived in Melbourne; and that Mackenzie praised his plan. Question is, did the Good Doctor subsequently tweak Russell's layout significantly enough for the West course to be accurately considered a Mackenzie-design? Or was Mackenzie's input limited to contouring, bunker placement, etc.?

(This is not intended to diminish Mackenzie's significant influence on golf in Australia and course architecture in that country, but) if so, Russell is in fact the principal designer of both the West and East courses at Royal Melbourne.

Golf snob (and the new frontier).

2011-11-13T17:08:00.004-05:00

The 13th hole at Blackhawk.

Visiting those golf courses considered to be the world's best is a very important part of studying to be a golf course architect.

Over the past decade and more, I'm fortunate to have visited eight of the world's top-10 courses (according to GOLF magazine) and 12 of the top-20; not to mention many other fantastic layouts around the world which reside not very far outside the world's top-20.

Not many "other" courses live up to this standard, by which I tend to judge others. I don't really enjoy when people ask me what I think of this course or that course as a result. It's difficult for me to be very positive about the run-of-the-mill. If this makes me a golf snob, so be it! If I'm not constantly thinking about the very best, my work will suffer for it.

My work has taken me to a lot of interesting places, for which I am grateful. In Canada, I've set foot in every province except Newfoundland. And, every time I've visited a major Canadian city I've planned in advance to visit its best courses. For example, when I started consulting at Victoria Golf Club, I couldn't wait to get over to Royal Colwood - Vernon Macan's revolutionary 1913 design just outside British Columbia's capital city. And, of course, while building Cabot Links over recent years, any excuse to get up to Stanley Thompson's mammoth Cape Breton Highlands Links was used.

There have been more disappointing forays, too. A decade ago, when we started building Blackhawk Golf Club in Edmonton, I rushed over to The Mayfair (now Royal Mayfair). Without a doubt, The Mayfair occupies one of the most interesting sites for a golf club anywhere in Canada. The course is literally downtown, on the opposite bank of the North Saskatchewan River from the city centre. But you'd never know that Stanley Thompson had a hand in its original design today; and not a single golf architecture aficionado would go out of their way to see The Mayfair following significant alteration to the course over the years since Mr. Thompson was there.

Other than what-was The Mayfair (and now Blackhawk, of course), there's not much for the serious connoisseur of golf course design to see in Edmonton, unfortunately. Which reminds me of Regina.

Rod Whitman and I have done some work at Wascana Country Club, there, in Saskatchewan's capital. But unlike most other Canadian cities, there isn't a single course that I'd go out of my way to see in Regina. With some luck, this is likely to change. Saskatchewan's economy is arguably the most robust in North America. No surprise, the province is growing significantly at the moment. And, the golfing situation in Regina reminds me very much of that in Edmonton when we started building Blackhawk = a growing city, with a thriving economy without a truly good golf course. Not an ideal situation for people who enjoy golf and have the means and time to enjoy the game properly.

Blackhawk truly epitomizes the "build it and they will come" theory. What started out as a pay-as-you-play facility, some 20-30 minutes drive from 'town, has become an incredibly successful private golf club.

I think Regina's ready for the same. Recently, I've been provided opportunity to layout two new golf courses over (no exaggeration) wonderful properties near Regina. Most Canadians believe southern Saskatchewan to be ridiculously flat, and devoid of any interesting vegetation. Not true, at all. The potential for golf at these two particular properties - where soils are perfectly fit for golf, and the wind blows - is absolutely remarkable. If these two courses are ever built, we might actually provide golf architecture buffs with a reason to visit Regina, too.

Willie Park, Jr. and Huntercombe.

2011-11-09T16:18:00.000-05:00

Huntercombe, from GolfClubAtlas.com.

Willie Park, Jr. is one of the most fascinating characters in the history of golf. Amongst other amazing feats, including two wins at the Open championship prior to 1900, Park is arguably the father of modern golf course architecture.

In 1901, he changed everyone's thoughts on building quality golf courses away from the sea with the debut of Sunningdale-Old, Notts and Huntercombe, in England. My ol' buddy Ran Morrissett has posted a fascinating profile of Huntercombe, featuring some excellent photos, at his infamous Golf Club Atlas site. Click here to go there.

During the 1920s, Park ventured to North America where he laid-out many other equally fascinating courses, including Chicago's Olympia Fields and Maidstone on Long Island, New York. He's also noted as the original designer of Calgary Golf and Country Club, Weston, Toronto Hunt and Ottawa Hunt in Ontario, plus Beaconsfield, Islesmere, Laval-sur-la-Lac, and the ultra-private (and, perhaps, best preserved Park design here, in Canada) Mount Bruno, in Montreal.

Morrissett's profile of Huntercombe has me captivated, and makes me think: Why, more than a century later, have so few subsequent golf course designs matched the classy standard set by Willie Park, Jr. at Sunningdale, Notts and Huntercombe?

You can read more about Park here, courtesy of his great nephew, Mungo Park, and Golf Course Architecture magazine.

Overlake.

2011-11-08T11:56:00.005-05:00

Bunker short-right of the 12th green at Overlake.

I just got off the phone with the esteemed Scott Stambaugh, golf course superintendent at Overlake Golf and Country Club... which prompts this post.

We've developed a very exciting golf course improvement plan for Overlake. Located on the east bank of Lake Washington, in the Seattle suburb of Medina, Overlake was originally designed by Irish-Canadian golf architect Vernon Macan during the early 1950s. (Again, you can read more about Mr. Macan here.)

The original Overlake course, built during the late 1920s, was abandoned not long after it opened for play. The club then re-established during the early 1950s when Mr. Macan was brought down from Victoria, British Columbia (his home base) to design a new course over the same property.

While historic materials indicate Macan's Overlake was likely built on a shoe-string budget, his routing (intact) and the greens (not sure exactly how many are originals, by Macan) provide an excellent foundation upon which to improve the current course. There are few historic images of Overlake available, either; and, old aerials don't show much. So this can't be a genuine restoration of Mr. Macan's original design. However, there's a lot of value in the course's heritage.

While designing courses between 1913 and his death in 1964, Mr. Macan wrote prolifically. A plehtora of historic articles on golf and course architecture provide detailed insight into his thinking. And historic photos of other Macan-designed courses have been useful. Our plan for Overlake is definitely inspired by Mr. Macan's architectural styings and philosophies. In fact, a bunker remodeled last fall, short-right of the green at the par-three 12th hole (click on photo to enlarge), was inspired by a historic photo of a Macan-designed bunker at nearby Inglewood Golf Club.

With my colleague George Waters handling the shaping, and Stambaugh coordinating the project, the 12th was redone to provide Overlake members with a good look at, and feel for what's planned for the rest of the course. As I understand, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Club officials are now pondering the next move. However we end up tackling the rest of the project, I'm very excited about the potential at Overlake. So, stay tuned...

Invisible hazards.

2011-11-07T17:24:00.003-05:00

The 12th hole at the Old Course at St. Andrews.

I was playing golf in Georgia earlier this year and saw one of the silliest design features: Two obnoxious-looking mounds that screen view of a small pond along the right side of the fairway, some 230 yards off the middle tee, at a par-four hole. Imagine, an invisible water hazard in the exact location where a majority of golfers are going to miss their tee shots. It was at the 2nd hole too; prime time for a right-hander's slice.

Invisible water hazards are really goofy. But what about bunkers that can't be seen from the tees? We've worked hard over the years - particularly on new golf course projects - to make bunkers visible; dishing out areas in front of these hazards and even making large cuts many yards back toward the tees to ensure good visibility of bunkers. Not only so golfers are aware of their presence but also to enhance the visual appeal of the course in question. With renovation projects we're some times handcuffed in this regard. Limiting areas of disturbance simply limits cutting well in front of certain bunkers to improve visibility.

I've struggled with this recently on renovation projects. My instinct wants to make said cut; which, again, in many instances is simply not doable. Then my mind goes to St. Andrews, Scotland; the Old Course to be exact, which is the highest standard in golf course architecture, and where so many bunkers are invisible from the tees. Not only because you're often hitting over contour and vegetation, so many bunkers at the Old Course are literally holes in the ground. You can hit what you think is a perfect tee shot at St. Andrews-Old then find your ball in a nearly unplayable lie in a bunker that you didn't even know was there. (Unless, of course, you've played the course more than once; a blind hazard, remember, is only blind once.) This, for whatever reasons, has almost become an unacceptable situation in North American golf; when, in fact, it's long been a part of the adventure on the classic links throughout the British Isles.

A friend of mine laughs at an answer I some times give when people ask me what I do for a living. I say that I put stuff (contour, bunkers, etc.) in the way of golfers. Now, does all of that stuff, including bunkers, need to be visible from the tees at every hole? As long as it's not a pond, I guess I can defer - yet again - to the Old Course at St. Andrews.

Fall projects, 2011: Part deux.

2011-11-06T09:42:00.000-05:00

Restored bunker at VGC's 9th hole, by MGCD.

Blackhawk Golf Club: Renovation of the greenside bunkers on the front nine is complete. With great weather throughout, the start of this bunker refresh program, which involved reshaping cavaties, checking and fixing drainage, some edging then replacing sand, was a great success.

After I left Edmonton on October 16th - shaping and edging work complete - golf course superintendent Duane Sharpe lead his crew at finishing up with drainage repairs and additions, and filling Blackhawk's decade old bunkers with new sand.

In spring next year, we'll tackle the greenside bunkers on the back nine followed by all of the fairway bunkers beginning in fall 2012. (Interesting stat that I've always loved: The back nine at Blackhawk features almost two times as many sand hazards as the front; and, prior to installing bunkers off the tees at the 1st and 4th holes, post-opening, golfers didn't confront a fairway bunker at Blackhawk until the 11th hole.)

Victoria Golf Club: Work continues at holes 1, 13 and 17 at VGC. With the design and shaping work complete, bunkers at the 1st and 17th are being drained, lined and grassed by VGC's maintenance/construction crew, under the direction of golf course superintendent Paul Robertson and his assistant, Derek Sheffield. At the 13th hole, a new teeing area is being finished. Without bias, the new back tee at #13 - which is right of, and signficantly lower than the previous tee - changes a comparatively mundane par-three into one of the most interesting looking, and exciting holes at VGC.

Victoria, British Columbia is one of the few places in Canada where we can shape and build golf during the winter months. Right after the New Year, in early January, we move on to the next phase of our continuing restorative-based work at VGC, seaside holes 3-6. The focus of our work to-date has been the green sites - bunkers, putting surface expansions, etc. Fifteen green sites will be complete by spring 2012. Holes 10, 15 and 16 remain; then fairway bunkers and other details.

Anonymous Golf Club: In my previous post on fall projects, I also mentioned a very, very challenged course in southwestern Ontario. Work is in progress at this course, which shall continue to remain nameless (at least for the time being), as well. Frankly, this project isn't as exciting as VGC, and a number of others I have on the go, but we've made really good progress at simply beginning to make this course more playable (tree removal, eliminating bunkers, re-shaping fairway areas and green surrounds, etc.). Improving drainage is the other main focus. This property is extremely flat with some of the worst clay material I've ever seen. Worse than Wascana Country Club in Regina, Saskatchewan, which I didn't think was possible.

Significant cuts and fills have been made in two fairways this fall. These fairways have been contoured to surface drain effectively, and a lot of drain tile is going into the ground. Although a few unfortunate things, which were out of my control, have occured during this project, I'm quite happy with the significant improvement made to playability and drainage - two very, very important elements in golf course design.

Road hole bunker.

2011-11-04T18:42:00.000-04:00

Road hole bunker, circa 1924.

I was just searching for pictures in my overloaded "golf photos" file and came across this image (at left) of the infamous Road hole bunker at the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland, circa 1924.

New Zealand's Scott Macpherson, who designs golf courses in collaboration with touring professional and fellow Kiwi, Greg Turner, has written an excellent book on the evolution of the Old Course. Looking at photos of the Road hole bunker over the years since 1924 makes me think it's evolution, alone, could be worthy of a book, too.

All golf courses are in a constant state of evolution. Needless to say, all of the bunkers at St. Andrews-Old, where golf has been played for some 600 years, have evolved. All, including the Road bunker, are now revetted (read: stacked sod walls); which is not my favourite bunker style. This 1924 version of Road hole bunker, with sand splashed on a grass face is much more appealing to me than the current stacked sod wall version (click here to visit Stephanie Wei's web site, where she's posted a relatively recent photo of Ryan Moore playing a shot from the same hazard, for comparison).

There are a number of reasons why so many links courses have gone to revetted bunkers. But, I'm not so sure those reasons are legit when we look at places like Bandon and Barnbougle Dunes, Cabot Links, and even Sagebrush, where courses are played in equally windy conditions that play havoc with bunkers, and the sand hazards look more like the Road bunker circa 1924 than the stacked sod wall bunkers which feature at a majority of the great links throughout the British Isles these days.

Maybe I'm wrong, though. Perhaps some 550 years from now it will be decided that the bunkers at Bandon and Barnbougle, Cabot, and Sagebrush should be revetted too. I hope not.

Genesis: Essex.

2011-11-02T22:32:00.001-04:00

The home hole at Essex.

It was a beautiful fall day for golf in southwestern Ontario; and, I was fortunate to enjoy what will likely be my last round for 2011 (at least in Canada) at Essex Golf and Country Club, in Windsor, Ontario, today.

I'm also fortunate to have learned golf, and developed a love for course architecture at Essex. I grew up around the club. I'm still a member, but not around to enjoy the place as much as I'd like to these days. Perhaps biasedly (but I think not), I consider Essex to be one of Canada's truly great golf courses.

Opened for play in 1929, Donald Ross' original design essentially remains intact; and, it's one of the best examples, worldwide, of how to create interesting and enduring golf over a flat site. I doubt there's more than 2-3 feet of elevation change over Essex' 130 or so acres. Remarkably, Ross' design didn't mandate much earthmoving and artificial shaping, aside from at the green sites, either.

Yesterday, I toured Paul Jansen, from (Nick) Faldo Design around Essex. He was as impressed with the design and shaping of the putting surfaces and surrounds as I've been over the past 27 years since I joined the club as a junior member.

The greens were typically slick in these beautiful fall conditions today, too. The speed of the greens really showed off all of the subtle slope and contour Mr. Ross devised. Essex' greens are beautifully shaped, but not necessarily visually intimidating from most angles. The design and shaping is very, very classy; which is not easy to achieve. It's much easier to create big contour and abrupt tiers - typical of too many over-cooked modern designs - than it is to replicate the classy style of Mr. Ross' greens at Essex.

While pointing out some of the subtlties in the greens at Essex to Paul Jansen yesterday, I frankly said: I don't believe many modern golf course designers would have the guts to stamp their approval on greens which appear as seemingly benign as a few at Essex (even though this is actually not the case, in fact). Of course there are a few exceptions.

We need more Essex'. Courses where the greens are beautifully classy-looking and adequately challenging, but not outrageous. Where tees are immediately adjacent to greens. And where a round of golf can be played with a single ball over 6,700 yards (max.) in less than four hours.

Too many modern creations are the antithesis of this formula, unfortunately.

They all can't be Cypress Point...

2011-10-29T20:10:00.000-04:00

The par-four 17th hole at Cypress Point.

... but, improving any - and all - golf courses is important.

I've been very lucky the past three years, flying coast to coast, working simultaneously at building Cabot Links (Atlantic) and restoring Victoria Golf Club (Pacific). Along with my mentor, Rod Whitman, I've also been fortunate to be involved with creation of Blackhawk Golf Club (ranked 25th on SCOREGolf magazine's list of the top-100 courses in Canada) and Sagebrush Golf and Sporting Club (ranked 18th). These are four top-notch Canadian golf courses.

I also have plans for significant golf course improvement in the works at excellent clubs like Overlake Golf and Country Club (Seattle), The Derrick Club (Edmonton), The Oakville Golf Club and York Downs Golf and Country Club (Toronto). This past summer, I laid-out what could become another of Canada's great courses, at a stunning location in Saskatchewan, if it's ever built (fingers crossed). And, there's another promising site in the Maritimes where a new MGCD course could, possibly, be built soon. Then there's other work:

I'm currently consulting on improvement to a very, very challenged golf course in Ontario - fundamental routing, playability, and drainage problems abound. There's basically no architecture here to speak of, at all. This particular course - which shall remain nameless for the time being - was picked up out of bankruptcy earlier this year by a family with good intentions. But so much needs to be done to make something of this property, I'm not sure we'll ever get there. In the short term, we're working at simply making the 1st and 2nd holes more playable. A number of trees and a few extraneous bunkers have been removed to give golfers more room to play; and, relatively significant cuts and fills in these fairway areas are underway to improve drainage. (Both greens at these holes were recently reshaped as well, without my involvement.)

Frankly, when I was initially offered this project, I questioned whether or not to take it. An integrity thing kicks in for those of us trying to build a top-notch reputation, with aim to consistently create courses which compare to the world's best. But, again, doesn't every golf course owner and/or club deserve some good, honest advice realtive to improving their courses, even if the work is carried out piecemeal with no definite end in sight? I'm thinking so.

Time.

2011-10-27T19:51:00.001-04:00

VGC: Restored bunker right of the green at #11.

Someone once asked Ben Crenshaw to identify the most important element in golf course architecture. Mr. Crenshaw simply answered, "Time".

That's right, time. Time to think. Time to shape and build. Time to look. Time to ponder. And, of course, time to adjust.

I happen to agree with Mr. Crenshaw. Time is very important. But, when renovating existing golf courses, time usually works against us. Golfers rightfully want those holes under repair back in play as soon as possible. So work must be completed as quickly as possible. This type of schedule more often than not prevents all of that time we'd prefer to have to think, look, shape and build, ponder, and adjust.

Which reminds me of a great story I was told by Dick Youngscap. Mr. Youngscap is most famous for developing Sand Hills Golf Club (designed by Mr. Crenshaw, and his partner, Bill Coore), in Nebraska. He is also the brains behind Firethorn Golf Club in Nebraska's state capital, Lincoln. Pete Dye designed the original 18-holes at Firethorn. During construction of the course, Pete was using time to his advantage, constantly changing this and that, tinkering with all of the details. Finally - however many months into it - Mr. Youngscap finally had it. I'm paraphasing, but I recall he frankly told Pete, "Alright, you're done." Grass it.

I'll be honest, golf course designers - including myself - need that kinda push (at least some times). Sticking to the schedule at VGC for this fall, I'm on an airplane tomorrow morning... even though I could have easily stayed to continue to think, look, ponder and, of course, adjust.

I'm lucky though. The remaining work at VGC is left in the capable hands of a fine crew, under the leadership of Paul Robertson and Derek Sheffield, who've been making me look good for almost three years now.

VGC: golf course archaeology.

2011-10-25T22:11:00.002-04:00

VGC's par-three 2nd hole, post-restoration.

It's interesting working on a golf course that's been around since 1893. It's like archeaology some times. You find some interesting things when bunkers and other pieces of ground are opened up.

While restoring a bunker between the 1st and 17th holes, at Victoria Golf Club, today - one that hasn't been in existence since the 1970s or earlier - we ran into the main line of an old irrigation system installed in 1986. In other spots, we've run into even older irrigation pipe, clay drain tile (likely from the 1920s), etc. It's amazing what's underground at VGC... while people play golf over top.

Perhaps most interesting, though, is the amount of sand built-up atop the original elevations of most greenside bunkers. At the par-three 2nd hole, for example - which was the first hole we restored at VGC, back in January 2009 - about three to four feet of blasted and wind-blown sand created very dramatic, high shoulder features on bunkers flanking the putting surface. Originally, the top elevation of these bunkers were nearly level with the green surface. Along with club officials, we determined this evolution - which was imperceptible, over time - had actually improved the hole.

Even though we're "restoring" the golf course per se, removing these elevations would have actually made the 2nd less dramatic, both visually and from a playing perspective. So, the evolved bunker elevations were retained. We've continued to do the same as we continue with bunker work at VGC,

Years prior to encountering this situation at Victoria, I knew that Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw ran into a very similar issue at famed Riviera Country Club, near Los Angeles, where they were working at restoring the brilliant work of legendary golf course architect, George Thomas. At Riviera, Coore and Crenshaw also decided to retain the top elevation of bunkers built-up by blasted and wind-blown sand. And, Riviera's bunkers are some of the most attractive hazards in golf.

There are always gray areas in (so-called) golf course restoration. Genuinely restore? Or leave well-enough alone? These are continual questions. Learned, intelligent judgement is required when assessing whether or not this type of evolution has actually made a golf course better, or worse.

And, then again, golf course architecture is entirely subjective... as long the course drains.

I wish it was my idea: restoration.

2011-10-22T18:02:00.004-04:00

VGC: Historic aerial photo, circa early 1950s.

There's a bit of a theme to the work we're currently carrying out at Victoria Golf Club's 1st and 17th holes - restoring multiple greenside bunkers where single, larger hazards had been created about the time of the advent of the riding bunker rake.

VGC's 1st hole had a single bunker on each side of the green when we arrived. We've restored two bunkers left and three right. And, at the 17th, a single bunker left of the green has been restored as two. This work doesn't change the design of these holes fundamentally, but restoration of multiple bunkers is a very dramatic visual improvement.

The other day, one of the kids on the course maintenance crew remarked, "Wow, that looks cool. What a great idea." I responded honestly: "I wish it was my idea." It's not, really.

Much of the restorative-based work we're doing at VGC is inspired by a historic aerial photo taken during the early 1950s. I believe the course was at its architectural peak about this time. Vernon Macan (click here to read more) had been tinkering with the course design for almost three decades by this point in its long history, and most of the work he did prior to his death, in 1964, was complete - aside from signifcant changes to the 12th and 13th holes, which are documented elsewhere. Shortly thereafter, things began to change for the worse, in my opinion - multiple bunkers became single bunkers, other hazards were removed, many trees were planted, etc.

In a nutshell, we're simply trying to restore VGC - one of Canada's most interesting and historically important golf courses - to its architectural peak; a priviledged opportunity, to say the least.

Par for the course.

2011-10-21T21:30:00.002-04:00

The restored par-four 11th hole at Victoria Golf Club.

There was a bit of controversy this week over my recommendation to fill in a section of bunker protecting the front right corner of the 445-yard 17th hole at Victoria Golf Club. This portion of this greenside bunker was added during the 1980s - relatively recently, considering golf's been played at VGC since 1893.

The main issue relative to recommending this part of the bunker be removed is drainage. The green was surface draining water directly into this section of the bunker. Sand would wash down the bunker face during frequent rain events in the Pacific Northwest, and was constantly wet. So, form follows function. A fix is in order, right?

The controversy stems from the fact that some think VGC's 17th will be too easy if this sand hazard is removed. A 445-yard hole too easy? Well, yes, when it's labeled a par-five. I've learned that this bunker was extended to front the right half of the 17th green about the same time the club decided to convert this hole from par-four to par-five. (During a 1968 Shell's Wonderful World of Golf match, between Al Geiberger and George Knudsen, at VGC, #17 played as a par-four.)

There's a simple way to make the 17th hole more challenging, I suggest. That's simply restoring the hole to a par-four on the scorecard. However, then the issue becomes par for the course. VGC would become par 69 if #17 was labeled a par-four. But, is this really an issue? There are a number of great courses throughout the world that play to a total par of 69, including Swinley Forest (84th on GOLF magazine's ranking of the top-100 courses in the world) and Donald Ross' Wannamoisett, in Rhode Island, which annually hosts the prestigious Northeast Amateur championship.

Scratch golfers have always been the measure of par. And, scratch golfers have long played 445-yard holes as "two shot holes" (par-fours), not par-fives. In fact, there's not a great course in the world (though Capilano, in Vancouver - #10 - now comes to mind) featuring a 445-yard par-five hole.

While this is a somewhat interesting conversation piece (for golf minds), it's not a big deal. I say, label holes however you wish. Whether a par-two or a par-six, every golfer is simply trying to make the lowest score possible. Par is actually irrelevant. And, it's never been a factor in judging the ultimate quality of a course. Quality is about great (read: interesting and attractive) holes, which VGC has in abundance.

Our ambition, as golf architects, is simply to create the very best holes possible over any given property, no matter what the math (or rightfully varying opinions) may suggest total par should be.

Back at VGC.

2011-10-17T22:21:00.001-04:00

Restored tee shot angle at the par-three 13th hole.

Following nearly a week in Edmonton, I'm back at Victoria Golf Club, where we've slowly been chipping away at restorative-based improvements to one of Canada's most historic golf courses (est. 1893).

Our work at VGC began in January 2009. To date, we've completed work at nine greens sites - bunkers, green surface expansion, adjustments to fairway mowing patterns, etc. This time around we're working on holes 1 and 17, and restoring the tee shot angle at the par-three 13th hole (click on image to enlarge).

When I arrived at VGC early this morning, I was anxious to see the results of our last project and couldn't be more impressed with the look of holes 11, 12 and 18. Fantastic - thanks to golf course superintendent Paul Robertson, his assistant Derek Sheffield, and their crew. We design and build golf, but then leave things to guys like Paul and Derek who subsequently make us look really, really good. I'm very grateful for their efforts and passion.

I intend to post more photos of works in progress and completed, at VGC, over the coming week and more. So, stay tuned.

Cabot: "Grand slam home run".

2011-10-16T20:36:00.002-04:00

Cabot Links, shortly after construction began.

I received an interesting email a couple days ago from a friend, and recognized authority on golf course architecture who'd just finished playing all eighteen holes at Cabot Links. If you haven't heard of Cabot Links, you're not paying attention to golf news. The development of this new seaside course at Inverness, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia has received a lot of attention over recent years.

Anyway, my friend's email simply reads: "Just played all eighteen at Cabot - your pal hit a grand slam home run!" My pal is Rod Whitman - Cabot's designer - who I've worked with over the past decade at Blackhawk, Sagebrush, Cabot Links, and elsewhere. Although this friend of mine, fortunate to play all eighteen at Cabot (which has not officially opened eighteen holes for play) shall remain nameless, this is indeed very high praise.

I can't recall the exact date, but it's been some six or seven years since Ben Cowan-Dewar - the driving force behind Cabot Links - and I first visited Inverness on a cold January day (update: I was just reminded it was a chilly, but very nice day in December 2004). We had both heard about the potential for seaside golf there, over a reclaimed coal mine site on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Ben called to ask if I was interested in making a trip to Inverness to simply take a look at this property. Of course. So we went. I remember calling Rod shortly after Ben and I walked the site, very excited. I'm sure I said, "Rod... if they can put this deal together there's something really, really special here".

Ben put the deal together. Construction of the course is now complete. And high praise from those fortunate enough to have played at least a few holes is starting to role in. Big time. Ben deserves much credit for making this happen. And, not surprisingly, Rod Whitman (and co.) has seemingly - based on early reviews - delivered with the golf.

My annual sojourn at Blackhawk.

2011-10-13T23:51:00.001-04:00

"Dave's Bunker", greenside left at Blackhawk's 7th hole.

It's always great to return to Blackhawk Golf Club. I could easily be accused of (severe) bias but truly believe Blackhawk has developed into one of Canada's most unique, and attractive golf clubs.

Amazingly, it's been more than 10 years since I first showed up in Edmonton, Alberta to assist Rod Whitman with the design and construction of the course. Since, it seems I've made an annual visit to tweak this and that. Mostly minor adjustments: a couple new bunkers, a few new back tees, revisiting mowing lines. Stuff like that.

Blackhawk's founder and managing partner, Al Prokop - along with golf course superintendent, Duane Sharpe - is uniquely committed to ensuring the golf course is consistently the very best it can be. So, having Rod and I back to take a look at things frequently has become a given I'm thankful for. This fall, a bunker refurbishment program begins. Sand replacement and drainage improvements in the greenside bunkers on the front nine is the start; which presents opportunity to tweak some bunker cavities and do some edging work.

Not surprisingly, one bunker we will not need to touch is "Dave's Bunker". Left of the green at the par-five 7th hole, this bunker is informally named for Dave Axland (Coore and Crenshaw/Bunker Hill), the artist responsible for this creation - Blackhawk's most attractive bunker, in my humble opinion. I wish I had the capacity and time, at the moment, to name everyone involved with creation of Blackhawk Golf Club. It was a very memorable crew. For now, I can say that this type of collection of talented, committed and hard-working individuals is the key to creating golf courses of true distinction and quality.

The flag of revolution.

2011-10-11T11:15:00.000-04:00

Some golfers are very suspicious about golf course improvement plans. Usually without having heard the detailed rationale behind such plans, these golfers immediately have it out for the consulting architect. "Alright," they seem to be thinking, "who's this guy who's going to ruin our golf course."

While preparing for two upcoming presentations at clubs where I consult this past week, I happened to also be revisiting Bernard Darwin's classic tome, Golf Between Two Wars, originally published in 1944. Darwin includes an excellent chapter titled Architecture, in which he writes:

There is another difficulty in the way of the architects. The attitude of the general body of golfers towards them sometimes strikes me as like that of the public towards the police. Men know that they cannot get on without police and are in theory full of gratitude and admiration for them, but at the same time they are always on the watch to catch them out, and become on very slight provocation decidedly hostile. So the golfers are always ready to catch the architect tripping. They will not stand at his hands ingenuity that goes beyond a certain point. If he designs a hole with, as they think, too small a margin of safety; if the hole has too indistinct and baffling skyline; if it calls for too exact an achievement; if it debars them from doing what they want to do and makes them do something that they don't want, they shout in chorus "Away with it!", and that hole, sometimes rightly no doubt but sometimes wrongly, has to go. The average golfer does not appreciate subtlety and if he thinks he is being "got at" he raises the flag of revolution.

I guess we, golf architects, can take some solace from the fact that, apparently, things haven't changed much in the past 67 years (and more, I'm sure).

Fall projects, 2011.

2011-10-09T09:47:00.002-04:00

The restored par-three 8th hole at Victoria Golf Club

A busy fall schedule begins Tuesday. Seventeen days on the road, with stops at:

The Oakville Golf Club, Oakville, Ontario: We've been working on plans for golf course improvement at Oakville since 2009. Tuesday evening, our plan will be presented to the club's membership, hopefully in prelude of starting some some work on this charming old, 1921 George Cumming-designed course, near Toronto, in spring 2012.

Blackhawk Golf Club, Edmonton, Alberta: Since assisting Rod Whitman with the design and construction of Blackhawk (currently ranked 25th on SCOREGolf magazine's list of the top-100 courses in Canada), I've maintained a wonderful 10-year relationship with the club, returning to Edmonton annually to assist with keeping the course top-notch. Working with golf course superintendent, Duane Sharpe, we'll be cleaning out some bunkers this fall, making a few minor tweaks.

Victoria Golf Club, Victoria, British Columbia: Our on-going work at historic Victoria Golf Club (est. 1893) also continues this fall. Over the coming weeks, golf course superintendent, Paul Robertson, and I will be orchestrating restorative-based improvements at holes 1, 13 and 17. That'll be eleven green sites restored, since January 2009. This project is scheduled to continue beginning early in 2012. More detail, from Victoria, shortly.

+ MGCD has another new project - redo of an existing golf course - in southwestern Ontario beginning this fall. More detail on this project soon, too. Stay tuned.

MGCD returns to the blogosphere.

2011-10-08T14:19:00.004-04:00

A recent scene at The Toronto Golf Club.

With a number of exciting projects on the go and in the works, it seems the time is right to (re-) enter the blogosphere. Please visit regularly as we showcase and discuss our work. We'll anecdotally explain our approach to golf course design and construction in the process, and talk about some of our influences, too.

Take The Toronto Golf Club for example. A recent visit re-confirmed its greatness. Not only TGC's revolutionary Harry Colt-designed golf course, either. The overall plan for the entire property, devised during the pre-World War I era, is brilliant. The long entrance drive winding through parts of the course presents a remarkable introduction. And the century old clubhouse is one of the most beautifully charming, and well-preserved buildings in golf.