Forrest:
Delighted to read that the book made it safely to Phoenix. I've never been there, but like so many many US cities immortalised in song, you feel as though you have.
I still pitch for Glen Campbell's rendition of ... By the time I get to Phoenix as the best.
Congratulations on your ground-breaking essay that debunks the traditional method - and shortfall - of assessing holes and individual golf shots as: penal; heroic; and strategic.
Without giving the game away too much, Forrest has re-defined what these terms mean, plus added a couple of new terms, that might just become part of everyday golfing lexicon.
Good luck with your book on Routing the Course.
Brian:
Hope you're enjoying your four week break. Both Jeffs - Brauer and Mingay produced essays they can be proud of.
JB chose to write about the options/variations that architects have up their sleeves to entice, titilate, confuse, disorientate golfers when standing on the tee. Jeff has assigned catchy titles to each option: battlefield tee shot; the dictator tee-shot; the we're surrounded tee-shot; the position paradox tee-shot; the democratic tee-shot; the diminishing returns tee-shot; and so on.
Jeff Mingay has drawn upon the architectural lessons that the Old Course has provided us - if we can only stop long enough to observe and incorporate into modern designs. He plummets for the value of providing liberal fairway widths, fast-running conditions to best test players, and signals the death-knell of slow moving, narrow, corridor widths. By way of comparison to the example of TOC, JM cites Oakland Hills South Course as being devoid of options and strategy, due to its overly penalising nature.
JM has written about the influence of fairway watering and how this has hugely - and adversely - affected courses around the globe.
Paul:
Carol has organised eveything: should be there in one week!
Geoff:
I am humbled by your most generous praise of the book. The printing was done in China by Everbest Company, and I agree it has done a very good job. I tried out the relatively new technology of computer-to-plate, instead of the traditional film-to-plate.
Glad you liked the artwork of local artist, Barry King, who has only recently completed 40 fantastic water-colours to accompany volume two essays. I love his work, and living only two minutes away is a great bonus.
I agree with your assessment of David Scaletti's photography in our Sandbelt book: his "snapping" is hard to beat. There is a regular edition, plus a leather-bound Limited Edition (100 copies only) of which there are around 40 left. It is named The Mackenzie Edition, in honour of the visit by the great man in 1926 to our shores, and subsequent influence over the quality of Melbourne/Australian architecture.
Matthew:
Great to hear from you, and I do appreciate your words. You've taken the trouble to mention the glorious pics of Pacific Dunes in Oregon. All praise to US photographer, Wood Sabold, whose work in capturing Pacific and Bandon Dunes verges on the quality of Mr Scaletti. Looking forward to our twilight hit next Friday at Huntingdale. So soon after the tournament, it should be in great nick.