#3 - Clay Huestis
The Future of Golf Course Architecture
The game of golf has its back to the wall, and the only way out lies in examining the economic underpinnings of the game. Take a look at some of the factors facing golf. With the graying of the baby boom, the sport is fighting demographics. Those boomers who don’t already play are unlikely to take up the game now. The generation behind them, with jobs and children and families, can’t afford to spend 5 hours navigating the treacherous and penal courses built in the 70s and 80s. Equipment technology promises to cure the ills of the common player, but fails to do so while at the same time making most classic courses obsolete for the professionals. The shift to a power game that killed men’s tennis could have the same effect on golf. There is massive oversupply of courses in the United States. Green fees are being slashed and entry fees are tumbling at clubs all over America. For every new $15 million club that is built, there are several others caught in a bind, treading water against declining membership.
In the midst of all this gloom, there is hope. Golf course architecture finds itself in the midst of a Neo-Classical, Minimalist movement. The Neo-Classical part is not important. For the future of the game, the Minimalist part is.
To attract new players and gain more rounds out of existing players, the price of golf has to come down substantially. The future of the game lies in $20 green fees, $10,000 memberships and $60 resort courses. To achieve this, courses need to cost less to build and maintain. The Minimalist movement preaches letting nature dictate the course, moving minimal amounts of earth, avoiding artificial hazards and making courses interesting from the green complexes back. This is wholly compatible with the economic necessities facing golf. Additionally, the firm, fast conditions preferred by Minimalists lend themselves to cheaper upkeep. Maintenance costs could further be reigned in by judicious, parsimonious use of bunkers. Why dig and maintain 5 bunkers when one strategically placed one can do as good (or better) a job? What’s wrong with a course with only 14 really well placed bunkers?
Minimalism is here to stay. This is great news for purists, as it is in the spirit of the origins of the game. It is great news for all golfers in that it will keep the costs of the game in check. It will also help speed the pace of play, as needless hazards recede from the game. The architect will earn his keep by providing value for his clients. This can come from reduced construction and maintenance costs. It also comes from injecting strategic elements to his design. Strategy, such an elusive element in modern golf, costs nothing to build but requires a creative mind. The architect who can provide this key element, which makes even low budget projects interesting to a wide variety of golfers, will be providing the greatest value of all to his clients.