Out of 19,990 topics ...

[George Pazin]

I'll third the MacWood bunker quiz on Ross, and sixth or whatever John Kirk's thread.

Some other great threads:

- Jeremy Glenn's Reverse Old Course series, now an opinion piece;

- There was a thread a loooooooooooong time ago (little hat tip there to Matt ) about water on the golf course, as it pertains to drainage and irrigation - had to be back in 2000 or so, it was very enlightening;

- Someone started a thread recently about what a novice would screw up;

- Any of the various threads where people show their passion for their home course or another course, such as Noel and Deal, Rich and Dornoch, etc.;

- Tom M's Alison in Japan piece and accompanying thread;

- Anything with Barnbougle info and photos, even the infamous spiders and snakes thread ;

- And, really, who didn't learn to most from the Who Are You Guys thread?

[Jason Topp]

From immediate memory:

Golf in Australia by Matthew Cohn and all of the wonderful debates about Australian courses.

All of the technology discussions have greatly improved my understanding of that critical aspect of the game (although I am sick of them by now).

Dunlop White's tree removal information.

Huntingdon Valley Maintenence information

Jeff Brauer's discussions of his Minnesota courses and the link to his website regarding the construction process.

Book recommendations

[Pete Lavallee]

My  vote is for any thread that Don Mahaffey posts on. Without a doubt the inputs from the numerous superintendents who frequent this board are extremely valuable and enlightening. Don seems to get to the heart of any issue in terms that even us laymen can easily comprehend.

Specifically, his explaination of the continual soggy conditions here in the southwest, is attributed to the high salt content of Colorado River irrigation water and the need to keep those salts in suspension by over irrigating.

[Ian Andrew]

"May I redirect the question ... back to you and the other architects here present?

What (beyond the fact that a bunch of whacko’s care about the work you do) have you learned here at the Discussion Group?"

Dan,

I’ve been here from nearly the beginning; I came on in spring of 1999.

In Order – what I take from the site.

1. The historical information and research throughout this site and keeps me coming back. I miss people like Tom MacWood and Geoff Childs when the whacko’s chase them away. The information available is immense, but often all you have to do is ask to start to unearth it.

2. The debates about lineage, credit, relevance and accuracy are very good for me on a personal level. The philosophical end of restoration is extremely complicated, discussing it is helpful to dealing with the multitude of scenarios you are forced to face as an architect.

3. What other architects are doing and what I need to see is very important. This lead to my visits of High Pointe, Pacific Dunes, Friar’s Head, French Creek, Sebonic, Rustic Canyon, etc, etc. to find out what my peers are doing. This helped broaden my ideas and improve on my abilities to delve in to better detailed work. It also made me realize I had to leave Doug to build something on their level.

4. That many people don't come to the site to learn anything new. What a waste.

[Peter Pallotta]

My two cents for Tom MacWood, and for his "Arts and Crafts" essay and related thread. The fact that here was a subject, golf course architecture, with such a rich history and such great writing associated with it, and that could be dealt with so seriously -- well, that in itself was an eye opener for me, and of course an education.

Peter
Thanks as well to the many of you who know a heck of a lot, and who share it so freely; and to Jeff Brauer for his generosity; and to John Kavanaugh for his outlandishly divisive threads/thread titles that almost always polarize opinion and produce dogmatic lecturing from both sides -- seriously, there's no better way to learn than from angry dogmatists!

[John Foley]

The best learning info I remeber was one from Dave Wilbur years ago that gave a tremendous amount of info regarding how grass is grown & maintained.

He's one I wish would return to post more often.

[Michael Dugger]

I've learned the story behind George Crump, and that was an awesome read.

I've learned that some people do not like scruffy bunkers, and in that same vein, do not think a lot of aesthetics on golf courses, which still boggles my mind.

I've learned that golf course design is very polarizing subject matter.

I've learned that "restraints," for lack of a better term, can really affect the outcome of a project.  It makes me think back to some of the great quotes of Mackenzie and Thomas regarding building a course for the wrong reasons or on land wholly unsuitable for golf.  Enough TPC's of Valencia, please!

I've learned that an amateur architect will never be fully prepared for the task until having done a project or two.

     

[Michael Dugger]

It just dawned on me.....did Mr. Doak really mean to ask of 19,990 POSTS, what has Tom Paul learned on gca.com???

[Tom Huckaby]

He would have, but that would have gipped TEP about 2200 posts.  Check the stats.

 

[Michael Dugger]

And that is before he began another account!  So, it's probably more like 30,000 posts!!!

[Kenny Lee Puckett]

The NLE's -

Also, It was fun to read a post about a certain course where the profile is now NLE.  

I am getting too old to get into any Star Wars bar fights here.  Now where did I put my glasses?

JWK

[RJ_Daley]

Mike Dugger, that is very perceptive of you.  Of course after 19990 posts, it has to be directed at the only guy with that sort of  writers-typers cramps.  And, since Doak posted this 3 days ago, and TEP is up to 22250 or so now, that is about the right rate of growth.