Spreading the Word GCA Style

[A_Clay_Man]

Saturday, I was privledged to go back to Black Mesa to meet up with one of own sometimes poster. Studying for his Masters in Landscape Architecture, Daryn Soldan, was a delight to meet and watch strike the ball.

As we walked and talked he made it a point of pointing out that currrent Ivory towers cite the 1980's as the model to emulate, for GCA.

My reaction was sadness at that statement and how perfectly miserable we'd all be if Ran hadn't come along.

To his own credit, Daryn has tried to get fellow students to tune into this DG, with the intention of illustrating to them, a different perspective.

One of my favorite movie lines came out of the film "The Abyss". When Mastriantonio said to Harris, "You need to see with better eyes than that".

Isn't this the case with GCA?

People who accept mediocrity are bound to repeat it, and worst of all TRY to defend it.

[SPDB]

Adam - I'm not too sure what you are trying to say in the second paragraph of your post. Could you clarify for me?

[Tom Dunne]

The '80s? That's fascinating*. Not to lean on lists or anything, but I do have the current Golf magazine World Top 100 list close at hand, and I count exactly three (3) courses from that decade.

Sawgrass. Shadow Creek. Wade Hampton.

I'm sure there are other very good to great courses that were built in that decade, but at leas on the surface this, in my humble opinion, does not constitute a Golden Age.  

 *"Fascinating" should read as "crazy talk".

[A_Clay_Man]

Sean, I think Tom understood what I wrote but if you are serious, I will try to elaborate.

My impression was that in a general sense, the world of academia in landscape architecture, directs students to the 1980's  as an era to study-up on how to do things right involving golf course design.

Implying that Daryn understands, (for a couple of reasons one being he grew up near Prarie Dunes) that there is a world of artistes who have led the field in GCA, and few good ideas came from the 80's. I think he actually cited a situation where he designed a hole for a project and the instructor critcized him for NOT using containment mounding behind the greens to capture balls hit poorly.  

Capice?

[Tim MacEachern]

As we walked and talked he made it a point of pointing out that currrent Ivory towers site the 1980's as the model to emulate, for GCA.

Do you mean "cite" here?  Or is the location of the school the model?  And was his shirt tucked in

[RJ_Daley]

This is truly amazing.  It would be good if some recent grads of GCA specific or LA programs would come on here and give us an overview of their recent educations in terms of curriculum and texts and models used to teach.  After all these years on GCA.com, I don't think a good and in depth discussion of specific curriculum and intructional materials has been explained or critiqued.  

For instance, is Hurdzan's book, "Golf Architecture", generally an introductory 101 level class used as a text in the variety of schools?  Who are these professors?  I'm not aware of any professors of LA or GCA specific classes participating her, ever.  Would that be an example of arrogance, ignorance, or education out of step with the real world?

[A_Clay_Man]

Tim, Im just a dyslexic fazoole. Better that than a real didrule.

Yes, cite is more correcto

Dick, A better idea for a thread, than that idea of yours, is rarely seen.

[SPDB]

Adam -
Before I rouse the left coast beast, I promise I was being serious, not critical.

For some reason, coming from a Landscape Architecture program this doesn't surprise me. As courses became more sculpted and orderly, and less random (as they did in during this period), it would seem that the style would be more appealing vis-a-vis landscape architecture.

I profess that I know very little of landscape architecture, but I've often thought that, at times, GCA and LA are at odds with one another.

[RJ_Daley]

Adam, at the risk of opening another can of whupass ethnic indignation, we are going to have to send you to goomba [sic] (compadri) school for your deslexia.  It is fazullo [sic] for fagiolo, and cedrullo [sic] for cetriolo.  They often drop the 'lo' at the end of the words. Roughly translated into your lot's lingo as Fazullo(fazul) = schlameil, shmoe, klutz or nudje like character, and cedrullo(chetrul) = something like a putz character, given the similar shapes of the objects inspiring the term.

I rarely remember my own ideas for threads... probably making me a bit of a nudnik.

[paul cowley]

Adam....from the many LA's whose paths I have had the pleasure to;

A] cross

B] hire

C] marry

D] all of the above

....I have found that except for the special cases, most of what is taught concerning GCA is about how it relates to site and master planning.....references to the 80's doesn't surprise me as that is when the 'new' planning era probably started as it relates to design today....and its also the period when many of todays academians were in school.

[BTW, D is the correct answer]



 

[Nathan Cashwell]

Having graduated with a MLA in May 2004 I was the only person in the program interested in golf course architecture.  Though there were a few other students and professors who played golf nobody in the program really understood much about golf course design prior to the 80's, and still not a whole lot about it other than they though lots of unnatural looking symmetrical mounds where cool and make for a good golf course.  Like most golfers they didn't know much about designers, eras, styles, or even the different "schools" of golf design.  Since Landscape Architecture is a design discipline the main focus in the curriculum was learning how to design (i.e. scale, proportion, spacial analysis, topography, color, contrast, etc.)  Essentially anyone going into an LA program who is interested in golf course design has to take it upon themselves to read, study, analyze, etc. publications on golf for themselves.  Then when you do your final project you can use the design skills you have learned and your budding understanding and opinions on golf design to show what you have learned and design a golf course (or whatever).  But don't expect to be able to discuss too much in depth most of the topics that are discussed on this site or by those who have more appreciation and understanding of golf course design.  When I did my final project it blew everyone out of the water, and the only discussion was on things other than the golf course.  My project also won me a few awards and educated dozens of anti golf course/ environmental nuts and even changed some minds.  You should also be prepared to come up against many people who are not educated about golf course design/ construction who think they are the most evil things in the world.  I loved nothing more than dropping some knowledge on those people and watching them squirm.
On the whole LA programs are just a means to an end, I had a blast, but learned more in one month on a construction crew than I did in 3 years in a graduate LA department at a highly respected design school.  That's just my opinions and experiences.

[Bill_McBride]

Nathan, that is interesting that you blew some minds with your golf design project.  Is there anyway you could post some, I'll bet your GCA buddies here would love to take a look!