It's Back!--Neil Crafter's Golf Architecture Volume 8

[Mike_Clayton]

Harley

It was a good shot but what was important was I could land it 10 yards short of the green,into the wind, and have it jump up and run over the slopes to the pin. So much more fun than a standard fly and splat 3 iron to 3 feet.
I played Stockton at Newcastle a few days ago and with Barnbougle type firmness on and around the greens it would be a lot better than just the 10th (about) best course in the country.
If it was in Perth,Adelaide,Sydney or Brisbane it would have a serious reputation.
Perhaps we ought to do a story on it for next years magazine.

[harley_kruse]

Ed

From what I last heard the insolvent Chinese owner of the Golden Bay course had become a monk for a while, divorced his wife who couldn’t stand his womanising ways any longer, and was last  headed to New Zealand with a girlfriend.  The  golf course on the beautiful sand dune land had been let go and those who were owed money had gone in some time ago and taken what they could in terms of irrigation heads and machinery. A sorry tale of a beautiful sand dune site on a beach. I heard that some new owners may be picking up the project so perhaps there may be people hitting a little ball there agin

Mike

Agree about Stockton. It was Ran Morrisett’s home club whilst he lived here in Sydney and he is big fan. I’m fairly sure Ran put this review together on GCA:

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/newcastle000110.html

Yes….It would be a great course to profile in the GA magazine

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Harley,
do you know what I like the most about this compliation?

It lets some of us pig-headed American's that think the golf architecture world revolves around the United States of America, realize that there is much more out there--stuff we have, have not, or maybe will never ever get to see.

It's simply great culture!

Now lets hope that the new owners of that duneland have the very same culture and grace when it comes to knowing what that land is good for!

[Neil_Crafter]

Just thought I'd let all those interested know that we mailed out yesterday all the subscription copies of Issue 8 - so the Australian subscribers will get those in a couple of days while those overseas will need to wait a little longer.

To Sean and his comments re the cost of the magazine. Firstly you must understand that out of the cost of A$18.95 for an overseas subscription for Issue 8, it costs us A$10.80 to post it to the US or UK, not including the cost of the envelope and handling. So I'd suggest the cost is fairly reasonable when you take this into account. Glad to see that you have ordered and I'm sure you'll enjoy the reading.

To Brad who suggested some sort of binder - our numbers are really not sufficient to warrant producing something like that. Nice thought though.

As a Society, we would love to have more GCA contributors as subscribers. My estimate is that there are probably around 40 or so of our subscribers who are GCAers - which is only a tiny percentage of all those who come on to this site and participate. Hopefully a few more of you can support our efforts.

Mike, we have considered an in-depth review of Newcastle GC in the past and the person who volunteered to do it pulled out. Think it is a worthy topic of review and would be a nice sequel to the Eric Apperly article in GA8. Can't think of a better person to write it than you Clayts - thanks for putting your hand up to write it for GA9!!

Tommy. Thanks for posting the cover image. We get some criticism in some quarters for not being Australian enough, but I think we achieve a pretty good balance of Australian and international articles that will interest readers wherever they come from.

[harley_kruse]

Neil

Of course nothing could be more Australian than putting an image of a magical piece of Tasmania on the front cover.  The thing I also like about this is that the course is a USA & Australian collaboration at all levels. i.e.
a) Richard Sattler the developer with Mike Kaiser's valuble input,
b)A desing collaboration between a SAGCA member Mike Clayton and Tom Doak
c) a construction collaboration with Tom's shaping team and Bruce Grant's construction team.

Issue 8 is a good balance of Australian and SAGCA members work ,along with very significant international pieces that make the magazine very relevant to a broad range of readers with GA interest.

cheers

[Tommy_Naccarato]

I like you Aussies.

[ed_getka]

WOW!!! Just received my Vol 8 and it is incredible.

Neil,
   Fantastic job, the best issue yet. You and Paul Daley keep up the great work down there with your respective publications. I look forward to meeting you guys when I come down next year.

[GregRamsay]

I'd also like to endorse the sentiments of Ed Getka.  Besides GCA we all have too few opportunities to indulge our golf architectural interests, and the Golf Architecture Journal is one of the best productions that i just keep going back to.  In terms of being re-visited for further reference, on my bookshelf the full set of these Journals rank alongside Cornish&Whitten, the Spirit of St.Andrews, Hamilton's "Golf: Scotland's Game" and Paul Daley's works.  I'm not at all biased by the fact that this edition has a nice feature on a little golf course in my home state of Tasmania.

In terms of this latest edition, Tom MacWood's thesis on Tom Simpson reveals much on the man's contribution to golf architecture, and for the first time reviews his whole body of work.  (Tom, is the photo bottom right of page 43 the same hole as Simpson's sketch on 42, ie 17th green at New Zealand? i've seen a recent pic of this hole, and they haven't fiddled with the bunkering much) George Bahto & Gib Papazian's 2page spread on 'The Cape Hole' and different versions around the world (Aussies, would/could the 1st hole at The Lakes GC in Sydney very easily become a stunning CapeHole?). Historically, there are 2 v.important revelations from an Australian standpoint. John Scarth's article on early golf in Sydney includes diary notes about the laying out of a course, and play over it in 1839.  This is now the earliest reference to golf being played on mainland Australia.  I also enjoyed Robin Owen's piece on Laurie Auchterlonie's unheralded design of a course in southern New South Wales.

Probably the luckiest thing about the Golf Architecture journal, is that at least for a little bit longer, the full set of 7 back issues is still available too. see http://www.sagca.org.au/subscribe.asp

[RT]

Agree with Greg, should you like to express your architectual acumen and have a go at the creative writing side then Neil is pretty open for contributions to this fantastic magazine.

RT

[Tommy_Naccarato]

ATTENTION!!ATTENTION!!ATTENTION!!
We have a Tasmanian Devil Sighting!
ATTENTION!!ATTENTION!!ATTENTION!!

Where the hell have you been? (Greg)

[Tom_Doak]

Neil:

I received our copies of the annual in the mail this weekend, and thanks for sending them ... I'll take the other two to Brian Schneider and to Chad Grave and George Waters when I see them later this week, since all three put a lot of sweat equity into Barnbougle.

Come to think of it, if you can send an extra copy, I will give one of these to Jack Nicklaus next week and see if I can convince him to write something with me about Sebonack for the next edition.  Now that would be a scoop!

[Lou_Duran]

Neil,

Just got mine this weekend and read a couple articles while watching the Texas Rangers beat up on the hapless Cleveland Indians at the Ballpark yesterday.  It looks like another outstanding issue.

Regarding the MacKenzie piece and the list of articles he penned, are these gathered and available in their entirety for copying or printing any place?  Do the courses he designed or advised on in Australia reflect what he preaches (his 13 or so principles)?

Tom Doak,

Can you ask Jack Nicklaus to do a general comparison and contrast of the top Australian courses to their U.S. counterparts, and how and why he may prefer one to the other?  I haven't been to OZ (Mark Ferguson has me scared to step foot on the island continent), but the pictures of the top courses I've seen appear to show a much more rugged, natural approach in conditioning as well as design.  Come to think of it, Jack's Muirfield Village (which I have played and really like) seems to be the antithesis of Royal Melbourne (one of the top two or three in my list that I long to play).

Come to think of it, why don't you also have Mr. Nicklaus fill you in on what you missed during your brief tour of the Scarlet course?

[Tom_Doak]

Lou:

It would be great if Jack agrees to co-write an article with me, but I don't want to give him homework.  Anyway, I'm not sure that he has played very many courses in Australia or at least in the Sand Belt.

I'll make a point to tag along to see what he's doing to the Scarlet course if I'm invited.  Last I heard, it sounded like they were going to do a lot to it, so maybe his opinion of it is not far different from my first impression (back when I was twenty years old).

[peter_p]

I think Jack played the Australian Open for about 15 years, with multiple wins. I remember seeing a plaque honoring his win at Royal Hobart. I'd guess it moved about the country in that period instead of focusing on Sydney and Melbourne.

[Mike_Clayton]

Jack has played a lot of courses in Australia.
One of the last times he played was in The Masters at Huntingdale and the range was next door at Metropolitan - where he had played the 1968 PGA.
I asked him if he remembered any of the course - because I have grown up there with members telling me 'Jack hit it here off this tee' - and he told me he had almost no memory of it.
He would have played in tournaments at:
Lake Karrinyup
Kooyonga
Metropolitan
Huntingdale
Victoria
Royal Melbourne
The Lakes - the old course, now gone
The Australian
NSW (not in a tournament)
Royal Hobart
Shepparton - a small country course 2 hours out of Melbourne where he played an exhibition with Bruce Devlin.
He played a few skins games in Queensland in the late eighties

Lou
A local historian,Hedley Ham, has done all the MacKenzie research down here and has every article he wrote for the newspapers when he was here in 1926 as well as the reports he wrote for the clubs. It's a lot of information.

[Eric Apperly]

Just received my issue of Golf Architecture V8 courtesy of Neil.

The article on my grandfather, Eric Apperly, was a real tribute to him as both an Architect and a gentleman. A couple of the pictures of old Eric I had never seen.

I'm looking at the 1920 Australian Amateur Championship trophy (pictured on P61) as I type this message.

Thanks again Neil.


Richard Apperly

[PThomas]

thanks for the online link info Greg...I just placed my order

[brad_miller]

Help please, just recieved my first issue, number 8. This is an outstanding publication!!!! Had ordered all back issues also but my email messages confirming such have bounced back. Would be great to know if they are on the way or if I need to reorder. Thank you.

cbradmiller@hotmail.com

Any way to be keep informed to order future issues?

[George_Bahto]

Neil - YOU AND YOUR MAGAZINE ARE ALEGEND IN YOUR OWN TIME.

[George_Bahto]

 .............  oops, cut myself off.

Neil, Gib and I both thank you so much for letting us be a small part of your publications.

These volumes are truly treasures.

Keep it going, man - this is the best.

George and Gib

[T_MacWood]

I agree with George it is an honor to be associated with this great magazine.

[Tyler Kearns]

I just received my issue of GA8, and once again, it is extremely impressive. Neil and Paul have done a tremendous job, and continue to set the standard by which any golf publication should be judged. For those of you who log on to GCA with any frequency, this magazine is definitely worth the investment, and I encourage you to subscribe - and while you at it, the back issues are all still available. I was forunate to pen a small contribution to this issue, and like Tom & George stated, I consider it an honour.

Already looking forward to GA9

TK

[Neil_Crafter]

Brad
We are now instituting an email reply to each emailed order we receive that will confirm that the order has been placed, following a few similar requests to yours. You should receive your copies soon.
We will also use email to advise people when their subscription has expired and they need to renew.

Clayts
I can tell you that Big Jack played an exhibition in 1965 or 66 (my memory is fading as I get older) to mark the opening of Flagstaff Hill in Adelaide. Accompanying him were Gary Player, Arnold Palmer and Bruce Devlin. As my Dad was the first pro there, I got front row seats as a 9 year old and got the day off school to boot! Met them all, got autographs and signed balls. Hooker Rex were the developers of the course and the estate it was in, and I believed they paid for the exhibition. Thanks Mr Hooker!!

Tom M, George, Tyler and all our contrubutors
Appreciate all your contributions guys, and the honour is ours for having you give up your time to write for us.

Tom D
Would be wonderful if you and Jack co-wrote a piece on Sebonac and I've pencilled in a slot in GA9 if you can pull it off - good luck!

[Mike_Clayton]

Neil

I went there once and have memories of a picture on the wall of an incredible group of golfers opening the course.
I couldn't remember who they were.
Amazing.
Imagine how much it would cost to get Tiger,Vijay,Ernie and Appleby  open a course in Australia now.

More chance of putting them all on the moon.

[Mike_DeVries]

Neil,

Got my issue just before going on a trip.  What a wonderful read to have on the plane -- had several questions from adjoining seatmates who obviously noticed it was purely golf architecture oriented and not the standard commercial magazine.

Many thanks for including me in the last two issues --truly an honor to be asked to contribute!

Keep up the GREAT work!

Mike