Golf architect design phases

[John Shimp]

Do golf architects go thru artistic periods or phases as much as other artists such as authors or musicians where the quality of their work has more to do with their choices than whether they were given great land to design upon?  

Did they think of bunkering, or green size/character, or routing in a pretty different way during periods of their careers that in hindsight made for different degree of design quality.

If so, What are the best examples of great architects going thru these phases both good/bad?

Pete Dye might be an example of someone that was able to do some great designs/concepts without that much natural land help (e.g. Harbour Town) and also went off the reservation with his style as well and created some odd, penal courses (pga West?).

[Mark_Rowlinson]

An interesting thought!  As a performing musician, although at nothing like the same level [or fee level] as Dye, I do find myself setting little challenges, re-inventing myself, finding ways of breathing new life into old warhorses, and so on.  We have one thing in common.  We can never do a sub-standard job.  Word gets round and we're finished.  Not long now....

[John Shimp]

Are there no other examples of architects that have gone thru phases?

[Jeff_Brauer]

I would call it a slow evolution, but I am sure there are examples of phases.

For example, Brian Silva went from the Geoff Cornish influence of his mentor to mimicking Raynor.

Pete Dye's work went from minimalist at Harbor Town to grand scale at PGA West. Now, the new Golfweek shows he is also following the trend to low profile.

As I mentioned once, Doak's work appears to be getting less rough edged and more polished in subtle ways. He is also branching away from minimalism when necessary (Rawls Course)

Art Hills has (IMHO) improved his bunker style by flashing them just a bit for visibility and incorporating some blind shots, funky holes, etc.

Look at Cimaron Hills (low profile) vs. Jack Nicklaus' early TX efforts with chocolate drop mounds.

There are any number of gca's who have upgraded in the 90's from a practical style to their version of "The look".  Hurdzan is the most visible example.

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