New piece on Jim Engh and the line of charm

[Jay Flemma]

I hope those of you that like Engh will enjoy the long piece I wrote about hm on my website.  please remember this is sort of "Jim Engh 101" - for people who are not as familiar as you are with his work, but it has lots of "soft news" tidbits as wellthat show his human side.  Things like two tanks of scuba, then mai tais by the pool with monie in Hawaii, his ill-fated first ride in a golf cart, his trips to Ireland, and moshing with his 11 year old son during his first rock concert, playing in long drive contests and building Sanctuary club.

I'm having trouble with the pix, but will have them up  by tonight.  I've been working really hard on this, and other chapters of my book, so that's why my GCA posts are so cursory.

One last things.  I re-read sections of Spirit of. St. Andrews last night.  The line of charm - and please politely correct me if I am wrong - at its simplest is what you get when you take the dorect line from the tee box to the hole and stick hazards in that direct line.

Classic e.g.s include from Engh, 10 and 7 at Pradera.  10 has the two muscle bunkers right oin front of the green on the 311 yd. par-4.

on the par-5 7th, the trapdoor fairway on the right can only be reached if you carry a 220 yd waste area.  other wise, take the long way around.

I'll try to post pics in a few minutes...

Thanks

[Jay Flemma]

Also, there's great quotes frrom Jeff Brauer and Tim Nugent!

[Michael Dugger]

Muscle bunkers?  

Can't say I am familiar with the term.

Trap door fairway?  

Do we need a new vernacular to describe Engh's epic designs?

[Joe Hancock]

Jay,

I promise to go read your piece in a bit....but....

Of the two Engh courses I've played, I bestowed the term "Pleasure Bunkers" on what i saw...as in "Ribbed, for his and her....".

Apparently it is a style that is pleasurable to many, as JE has quite a bit of work on the ground.

Joe

[Mark_Fine]

Jay,
Jim did an interview with us for our book Bunkers, Pits & Other Hazards.  You should check it out.  

Here are some of our thoughts regarding the concepts of 'the line of play' and 'the line of charm':

The 'line of play' is thought of in two ways; First it is that line that a player ultimately takes. Second, to the golf architect, it is a line drawn on a plan (or multiple lines showing alternative paths) that a golfer would ideally follow to get from A to B. Whether the golfer follows through with this is another matter.

'The line of charm' is a provocative path. It is the line that attracts the golfer. It is often an instinctive route that shaves off distance and/or cuts the corner. It almost always falls close to hazards. It thwarts the line of play that the golf architect has in mind and puts the golfer in charge. The golf architect’s role is to create exciting possibilities that pit these two lines against one another. The goal is to use hazards to suggest a line of play, but to entice players toward a line of charm that will catch their fancy.

Accuracy, of course, is at the heart of the idea of the line of charm. Also involved are carry and length. The interest of a golf hole is in sending a shot accurately. Risk and rewards are always most appreciated when they are left up to the golfer.

[Jay Flemma]

Yes, Jim calls them "Muscle Bunkers" since the sides resemble a flexed bicep.  he also calls the hidden secrets, trap doors and hidden stairs..those are his terms.

I'm having trouble with the pix on my blog so here:

First, the 15th fwy looks like it ends at the rock wall:



But actually, there is a hidden entrance to the back right of the green!



I hit the fossil monument:



And Jim made me play it 12 feet in the air: