I was doing a bunker redo the other day with Louis, my trusted golf shaper. On a 10 hour day we spoke about 27 words-he knows his stuff and I know it. I started thinking about all the shapers I have worked with and the different procedures and methods they use to create the final draft of a golf course project. My perfect shaper would have the following characteristics:
1. The ability to listen without interruptions. You shouldn’t spend more than 1 hour a day talking with a shaper because they can’t absorb all the information. Let them express any feedback to your comments with a piece of machinery.
2. Limited amounts of GES (Golf Ego Syndrome), you know the type-they want a big bucks monthly stipend and they show up with a pressed shirt from a Bali tailor and shiny shoes made from a Croc they filleted with a bulldozer. They go on to tell you how they built the bunkers at Darfur National much better than the way you want them to be.
3. The ability to stay away from the project Owner and especially his oldest son who thinks he has the ability to build a better golf course.
Think of all the unsung hero’s of the golf industry, those dusty warriors who take “field sketches” and hot air and convert it to those striking golf features that we relish every day. What makes a good golf shaper?