Tom Watson - The Architect

[Mike_Sweeney]

Watching this mornings highlights, it made me think of Tom Watson as an architect (also a person, a great person). Five British Opens and certainly partially responsible for awakening The World to Irish golf, I would think he would be a "Natural" similar to Ben Crenshaw. I have only played Spanish Bay once, which I liked more than many here have expressed, at least partially due to a perfect round of golf. My guess is that he was really only a consultant to the project.

What is Cassique @ Kiawah like, and are there any other Tom Watson courses? Does he have a design partner, and will we see more of him?

[Keith Williams]

Tom Watson is designing the centerpiece course for a residential community that my company is developing.  I have glanced over all of the plans he produced.  The plans actually call for a lot of grading and earth movement; also I honestly cringed when I saw the term "water feature" and a description of a recirculating artificial creek on the plans for the second hole of the course.  I am looking forward to eventually seeing the finished product, though.

Keith.

[Scott_Burroughs]

I believe he designed a pair of courses at a private club in the KC area, his hometown.  One was used for a Senior or Nationwide event on TGC recently.

[John_Conley]

9 holes of the Watson course at Reunion are playable.  The look off of the tee is great, making it a great driving course.  Played it in a sandstorm and need to go back, but it is very promising.

[Neil Regan]

Some of Tom Watson's most prominent work is at Ballybunion. He did a fine job repositioning bunkers on 4 and 5. He lowered slightly the top edge of Sahara on 18, giving an improved view of the green site. The 7th green, on the cliff above the beach, fell into the sea some 30 years ago, and has had several modifications since then. Tom Watson's current green there hasn't completely settled in yet, but it does fit well with the course. It is similar to the great 6th green, perhaps a little severe with its narrow front.
  The work at Ballybunion deserves this high praise, at least: the changes are not obvious, the work is self-restrained.

[Tim_Weiman]

Mike Sweeney:

I would second Neil Regan's comments about Tom Watson at Ballybunion. Watson was so self restrained that I doubt most people even notice any changes.

On his specific points, Neil is right on. The green complex at #7 fits the course quite nicely and the slight change to the Sahara bunker on #18 is an improvement without really changing the character of the hole.

I wonder how many clubs and architects have worked better together to preserve what is great about a golf course.

[Paul_Turner]

Those mounds at Cassique look worse than the same at Loxahatchee (just from pics).

[Forrest Richardson]

"I have glanced over all of the plans he produced...."

Keith,

Do you have any firsthand knowledge that Tom produced these plans? Or, do you mean he was a consultant to the process and that someone else actually created the plans? I'd like to know as I have a hobby of keeping track of the golf professionals who actually produce plans. Last count: about 4.

[Mike_Cirba]

Cassique, on the face of it, is the kind of course I love to hate.

GeoffreyC and I drove into the property by mistake the first time, looking for The River Club, and almost simultaneously vomited at the blaring artificiality.

Then, two days later, we played it.

It's a Tom Watson "design", but the course was actually built by a local fellow named Charlie Arrington.  It presents imaginative fun for hole after hole, and the interesting thing about it is how far the faux undulations and mounding was tied in or out, including creating many wild variations in the fairways.  There are a wide variety of holes, and many include hazards and choices within fairways themselves, and the greens are huge and imaginative and rolling like the links they try to emulate.  

I loved it...it's probably a Doak 7.

The lesson?  If you're going to create something fake, do it all the way.  If you have to move land, move it and get it right.  If you are going to create an illusion, then dazzle us.  

[johnnyjumpstart]

A couple years ago I played in a Met Pro-Am at Manhattan Woods, a private course about 20 minutes north of Manhattan. It was a kick ass course from the back tees and humbled amatures and most of the local pros. The scorecard listed Gary Player as designer however the people at the course said it had been layed out by Tom Watson and that Player was brought in to finish the project because what watson had wrought was considered too difficult. Whether this is all true I can't verify, but it's an interesting story. john

[BCrosby]

Mike -

I haven't played Cassique, but hope to this summer.

I was intrigued by your review. I was sent copies of some of Watson's drawings and field notes for the course. Remarkable attention to detail. Sightlines got a lot of emphasis. He appears to take his architectural work very seriously indeed. And yes, he moved a lot of dirt.

There have been several less than enthusiastic reviews of the course. I don't remember where I saw them. Most seemed to say that Cassique was ok but wasn't nearly as good as its neighbor, The River Course (Fazio).

Any thoughts that you or Geoffery might have on any of the foregoing? How do Cassique and River compare? I noticed that it gets a pretty high rating at GW.

Bob  

[A_Clay_Man]

I too have only Sb as my source but If Tom Watson was responsible for any of the greens at Sb then he sure has a great sense of humor and adventure. My favorite is table top # 11. I understand Arnie and the boys wanted it toned down, has it happened yet?

[Matt_Ward]

Mike C:

Cassique a 7 on the Doak scale -- really?

Help me to understand how artificial qualities at the renowned ShoreGate (NJ) are any different that what you find at Cassique? I don't doubt there are holes on Cassique that work quite well -- I enjoyed the split holes with the short par-4 and par-3 back-to-back on the front side but only wish the mounding there had been tempered. My main question is simple -- how does the couse work in concert with the motif of the Lowcountry?

When you have teepees (Mount Watson?) coming out of the ground like missile silos something's amiss.

I was hoping the ocurse would have featured more holes like #7 and #8 which really DO reflect the nature of where the course is situated. Other good holes include the par-5 14th with it's superb risk'n reward feature and the par-4 17th which is a delicious hole as it cuts across the marsh.

But explain to me the garrish 9th hole? I like the false front concept but must the green concept look like a swollen knee? Also, how does one explain the mounding at the 10th -- it's a fine hole but is all that puffery in the driving zone really needed?

Best of all GolfWeek has the course rated, if memory serves, just ahead of The Kingsley Club -- say it ain't so.

[Mike_Cirba]

Matt;

Alright, fair question.

Admittedly, my grade of "7" on the Doak Scale is probably better voiced as a "7" on the "Golfweek" modern scale.  I'd still argue it's a Doak Scale 6.

I will answer your question with a couple of words, since I'm trying to get out of here to actually "play golf" today!  

I thought the attention to details was superb.  Although much of the earthmoving was for effect, much of it "ties in" to fairways, greens, and other playing areas in a way that is both intriguing and challenging.

I thought the course was "daring"!  Holes like the 9th with the hyper-extended false front are original in concept and execution.  I understand that when Tom Watson played the course on opening day, he hit his 160 yard approach with a 2-iron, running the ball all the way up that slope and stopping within 20 feet!

You mentioned several other holes that impressed you, so it can't be all that bad.

In comparison to Shoregate, the artificial features compounded to add to the excessive penality of that course.  At Cassique, they may distract the eye, but also more often are used to create fun and interesting shot values.

Bob Crosby;

The River Club is a good Tom Fazio course.  I liked Cassique a half to full point better, however, due to its daring distinctiveness and interesting shaping.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

I dug this up by accident. Has Watson done anything in the design field? Years ago - mid 90s - he sent me a hand-written note in appreciation of a book I had written from 'Tom Watson Design'. Apart from Links at Spanish Bay I'm not aware of any of his efforts. Have I been missing something?

[Matt Bosela]

If you search the archives, you'll find a couple threads about the Conservatory Course at Hammock Beach, a Watson design that will be hosting the Ginn event on the PGA Tour in the autumn.

It's not everyone's cup of tea but I had a lot of fun playing it earlier this year and still plan to do a writeup (with accompanying pictorial) of the course.  Lots of earth was moved here, no expense spared. 

Minimalism, it ain't!   But it was still fun to play.

[Ed Oden]

The Cassique course at Kiawah.

[PCCraig]

I agree with the previous post. While driving into the Cassique club you can't help but go "uh-oh" but I loved the course!! It was very fun to play and I enjoyed it more the second time I played it.

While I thought the River Course was good and maybe a better course, I had more fun playing the Cassique. However the two both pale in comparision to the Ocean Course.

[Garland Bayley]

From Wikipedia
    * Ballybunion Golf Club – County Kerry, Ireland (1995 redesign)
    * Cassique Golf Course, Kiawah Island, South Carolina
    * National Golf Club of Kansas City, Parkville, Missouri (Route 45 which passes the course is called the “Tom Watson Parkway”)
    * Independence Course at Reunion Resort & Club, Orlando, Florida
    * Phoenix Resort, Miyazaki, Japan
    * The Links at Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach, California (with Sandy Tatum and Robert Trent Jones, Jr.)
    * Shadow Glen the Golf Club, Olathe, Kansas (with Jay Morrish and Tom Weiskopf)

[Richard Boult]

Interestingly, Tom Watson and RTJ Jr. were both at Monarch Dunes this week to check out the property planned for their 3rd course.  The 2nd, The Challenge 12-hole par 3 course opens this Friday!  My guess is that the 3rd (a 18-hole resort course) is likely years away. Greg Norman has also visited to evaluate the property. Not sure who the owner will be hiring, but he's bringing out some big names.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

He also did one of the two courses at Ginn's Tesoro Club in Port St. Lucie, FL

[Andy Troeger]

If you search the archives, you'll find a couple threads about the Conservatory Course at Hammock Beach, a Watson design that will be hosting the Ginn event on the PGA Tour in the autumn.

It's not everyone's cup of tea but I had a lot of fun playing it earlier this year and still plan to do a writeup (with accompanying pictorial) of the course.  Lots of earth was moved here, no expense spared. 

Minimalism, it ain't!   But it was still fun to play.

I'm one of those who started one of the previous threads and I think my biggest complaint was that it wasn't that fun to play and was just too dang hard for most golfers. Its one of those courses where the back tees are 7700 yards, then the next was still 7200, and even the third set where we played was 6800 at sea level. With significant water and lots of bunkers, its a resort course with some teeth! It will test any of the pros that play it, but I'm not sure how well it works for the rest of us.

[Joel Zuckerman]

The River Club is a good Tom Fazio course.  I liked Cassique a half to full point better, however, due to its daring distinctiveness and interesting shaping.

I agree with Mike's assessment--Cassique is one of the best golf experiences in greater Charleston.  I've spent plnety of time up there--it was the subject of a previous book of mine titled "Golf Charms of Charleston."  I would rate the best courses in the area in this order:

Yeamans Hall
Ocean Course
Cassique

Then a gap, before adding courses like River Course, CC of Chas. (though I haven't seen the restoration there) Bulls Bay, Ralston Creek, etc.

[Paul Jones]

Watson just built a course in Alpharetta, GA called The Manor.  It is a very high-end subdivision.

[Tom_Doak]

Tom Watson's career as an architect is the most interesting to me of any of the Tour pros.

I tend to think that those with the best short games (Seve aside) make for the most interesting architects.  However, Watson hasn't built much which would prove me correct.  He seems to want to really do the design himself, to the point of deliberately NOT aligning himself with a very talented associate, but instead choosing someone who is willing to stay in the background, so that none of us know who is helping him.

If he called me tomorrow and said he would like to do a course with us I would jump at it.

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