Career In Construction Vs. Design

[ddeschle]

Hello,

        This is a follow up and an inquiry to my last posting which asked about routes into the field of golf course architecture.  I recently was asked by Mid-America Golf to work on their crew on a Jeff Brauer design called "The Wilderness" in Lake Jackson, Texas.  I gladly accepted, knowing that a few years of construction would do well towards my future as a designer.  I have a BLA from the U of Illinois, interned for Robert Trent Jones II previously, and had a pretty strong career as an amatuer tournament player.   My path into the field of golf course architecture looked almost inevitable.

       Now that I'm here in Texas, working outside every day in the perfect weather, helping to create, with my own physical effort, something as grand and visually spectacular as "The Wilderness" is shaping up to be, I am wondering if I will ever want to be a designer.  Is there anything better than knowing that you're own blood and sweat were born into a piece of land that will eventually become a place where dreams are harboured, lives are changed, and happiness is found?  

       Do I want to be in an office?  Do designers feel the same satisfaction as I will when their project is finally conceived?  Will I ever become out of shape, unhappy, or frustrated with everyday obstacles or problems as long as I am here.  I doubt it.  Maybe some day when I am old and crippled I will design full time, but until then, I will be out where the action is and where the comraderie is thick.  I'm having a blast, but I'm tired now and I have to go.  I worked eleven hours today, and my head is getting heavy.   Surprisingly, the vertebrae I fractured when I was sixteen feels better than ever.  Amazing.

Derek Deschler  

[Dirty Fingernails]

The true sculptor doesn't stop at just sketching out his/her idea. He/she actually molds the clay and carves the stone.

[Tye Webb]

Just be the ball, be the ball, be the ball.

You're not being the ball Derek.

[A_Clay_Man]

I think what Mitch Cumstain's college roommate is trying to convey is that life is series of writings on the wall. At the moment you are on solid ground being happy with what you are doing. To many that is success. Should the time come when a new wall decides to advertise in your path, be the ball.

Good luck and be aware.

[cary lichtenstein]

Consider what you are doing to be a gift. Rarely do people ever get to do something that makes them that happy.

Sometimes, when you get to the next stage, you're like the lion tamer at the circus, with a whip and a gun and 10 lions cirlcing around you.

Enjoy what you have. You are truly smelling the roses of life.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Derek,

Sorry I missed you yesterday.  As you probably know, I spent the day in meetings at city hall, coordinating the various contractors who must all use the narrow entrance to the site.  We will hook up soon.

Enlighten me, which project are you working on with perfect weather?  The Wilderness has had 90 of its 50 inches of average annual rainfall since Mid AM has been on site in July!

Great news on your back.  Desk type designers do tend to have bad backs, and I am an example, but do find that regular excercise of the back is the only thing that helps.  Darn!

As to your design versus field question, I can tell you there is a designers personality.  I have taken two of those personality tests over the years.  The kind where they ask some seemingly nosy and unrelated questions and then score you.  I came back with a very strong design personality, missing the top point total by only one.  The administrator figured I didn't understand that other question!

But, I didn't need a test to tell me I had a designers personality.  As a kid, I drew and doodled every chance I got.  If I hadn't fallen in love with golf, I would have been a building or landscape architect, and almost as happy.  Most of the successful designers I know exhibit similar stories and traits.  

I think if you look inside, you will know if you have a similar designers (or construction) tendency, and then you should follow what your heart tells you.

Cheers.

[Tom Doak]

Derek:

It is possible to have the best of both worlds ... I'm not a doodler, but I love to study topo maps, and I found that I love to be in the field working with the shapers (or actually doing it myself).

The main thing is, as I've told everyone who's written me a letter for the last two years, there are too many people who want to be designers and not enough who want to be great at construction -- and it takes a lot more of the latter than the former to build each golf course.  If you like golf construction, you shouldn't ever suffer for work.  And you may find out as time goes by that it is the best possible practice to be an architect on your own.

Everybody has design ideas; not very many know how to get them on the ground.

[Brian Phillips]

Tom,

Would you not agree that Jim Urbina is a man who has worked hard and now has a bit of both worlds?  He has worked his way through to shaping and is now one of your important right hand men.

Does he not have a lot of design input as well as still being in 'the thick of it' on site.

Jeremy always reminds that I have the fun part as I love being on site all day as well as doodling in the evenings or sketching for the shapers during the day.  Whereas he does most of our travelling much like yourself getting contracts as well as being stuck in client meetings full of consultants prolonging the work or meetings themselves.

If you can put up with the life away from home and like getting stuck in and being under pressure as well as being part of a tight knit community of guys on site then I would recommend construction to most.

Brian.

[Derek Deschler]

Tye,

       It's really hard to be the ball when you keep talking.    But I'll keep trying.  Whatever happened to your night-putting friend anyway?  

Mr. Brauer,

       Yeah, I'm sorry I missed you out there too.  I must have been having too much fun playing in the mud.  We finished up with the last of the water pumping today, and I did quite a bit of grading on the back nine.  Many of the holes have acquired some really amazing character already.  This will be one of the finest municipal courses that I have ever known.  Peace brotha.

Derek

[Derek Deschler]

Mr. Brauer,

To answer your weather question:

Yes, the weather was pretty bad when I arrived at the end of November, it has been awesome out there since I got back from our holiday break.  Sunny and about 65-70 every day.  I hope that it stays this way for as long as possible.  Not only is it nice to work in, but the sun is really helping to dry out the mud once it is pushed around a bit.  Most of the operators weren't used to these conditions, but are really getting the hang of it now.

d