My favourite designer is......

[Mark Pearce]

Such a difficult question for anyone bar the lucky few who have played enough of the great and nearly great courses to really comment intelligently.  I know I don't have wide enough experience.

That said, after a play-off between Colt and Braid, I think I'd choose Colt (on the basis of the courses I've played) for the variety, playability and strategy he provides.

Age 42

H'cap 11

[Doug Ralston]

Mark;

Exactly to point! I have never played a Doak, a C & C, or none of the great Ross, MacKenzie, Colt, McDonald etc. Of the ones that have been available to play, i will name 2 whom I have played more than one of worth.

Tim Liddy, from whom I loved Sultan's Run and Trophy Club, and look forward to others in Indiana by him.

And Michael Hudrzan. Why? Because before he started getting large jobs, he produce a lot a very good courses quite inexpensively and with great design, in the area in which I live and am familiar. I have never played a poorly done Hurdzan ..... all are very playable.

I am glad to give these 'lesser' reputed architects a bit of deserved recognition! And perhaps i will someday soon play some Doak, C & C, or [as i strongly hope] Brauer (sp?) courses. I love what I see here and in other places of those. as for the 'Old Masters', most are completely beyond my purse, sadly. Possibly I will someday play an origional Ross in McDermit Ohio, but most are no likely to happen.

Doug

Age 55 [played golf about 5 yrs], I have no handicap, I have a total disability!

[John Foley]

As for favorites I'll add onto the list that call Pete Dye thiers. It comes from a broad range of courses that I have played. He intimdates, challanges & just tells you to hit the shot in front of you if you want to succeed. I will say Ross is a close second though.

Got to see Pasatiempo this year and now I begin to understand all the noise about Dr. Mac.

Wayne - Can't believe you said Colt not Flynn!! Fell out of my chair when I saw that!!

45 and somewhere around 12-13.

Suprise no one in this group says C & C !!

[John Shimp]

Amazing how infrequently MacDonald/Raynor are mentioned as favorites.  Very surprising.

My favorite is Ross.  Always enjoyable and challenging.  Also a lot to choose from and contrast in NC which is nice.

[Paul Jones]

Tillinghast

Bunkering, greens and variety in his courses that I really enjoy.

Age: 32
Handicap: 2

[wsmorrison]

"Wayne - Can't believe you said Colt not Flynn!! Fell out of my chair when I saw that!!"

Maybe if I saw more Colt I would change my mind a bit except for his place in the timeline of golf design evolution.   I don't know if he had some mediocre courses.  But what little I have seen has been extremely interesting.  

I know Flynn very well and the more I study him the more I understand how great he was.  In all honesty I probably think most highly of Flynn after years of study.  But I do credit the work of the Heathland architects as the greatest advancement in golf architecture so I chose the best of the bunch.

[Craig Disher]

Alister MacKenzie with Harry Colt nipping at his heels.
1. No one has created natural looking features that complement their surroundings any better than MacKenzie. Every course of his that I've seen is as much a delight to the eye as it is to play.
2. What he did at Littlestone GC - taking an interesting but unspectacular links and creating a number of world class holes - is just genius.

60/12.

[Bill Satterfield]

Old School:  Dr. Alister MacKenzie without a doubt.  His bunkering style was revolutionary and gorgeous.  His hole designs (especially par 3s) are very memorable.  And finally, Cypress Point is my favorite course of all time.

Mid School:  Tom Fazio.  His work over the last 30 years has set new standards in golf course design.  Great combination of risk/rewards holes, implementing hazards, and always fantastic finishing holes.  Love Members Club at Aldarra.

New School:  Jim Engh and Tom Doak.  It may sound like a bit of an oxymoron on some levels, but they are both brilliant.

Engh:  Love the drama he features from the tee boxes.  His bunker shape and contours are completely his own style and are very penalizing and attractive.  His creativity around the greens is great and his courses are just flat out fun.  Love his dedication to step 'outside of the box' in regards to conventional design.  Love Black Rock.

Doak:  Love the way his holes can play so different each day due to the width of the fairways and fairway bunkers.  Does a great job of incorporating the prevailing wing/weather into his hole designs.  Doak creates the most natural looking bunkers of anyone out there right now and his green/fairway contours are splendid.  His courses are always playable for every level of golfer.  Love Pacific Dunes.

[Ash Towe]

The great names of GCA are mentioned here.  I would like to mention all the architects who volunteered their services around NZ.  They did this because of their love of the game and they were helped in the construction of the courses by other people who gave up their time and sweat so others could enjoy.  As a result nearly all small towns and communities have somewhere to play and almost everybody can access some course.
Age 53
Handicap 3

[Jeff Fortson]

George Thomas

1.  #10 Riviera
2.  #10 Riviera


32
Pro


Jeff F.

[Bill_McBride]

Alister MacKenzie with Harry Colt nipping at his heels.
1. No one has created natural looking features that complement their surroundings any better than MacKenzie. Every course of his that I've seen is as much a delight to the eye as it is to play.
2. What he did at Littlestone GC - taking an interesting but unspectacular links and creating a number of world class holes - is just genius.

60/12.

Craig, how much of Littlestone today is MacKenzie?  As you know I am hankering to get down to Kent, maybe 2008.  

[Gary Daughters]

[Craig Disher]

Bill,
At least 4 holes, 6, 8, 16 and 17, are MacKenzie's although there are a few features from the previous design that he retained - Braid's 1905 fairway bunkers on 16, e.g. He also made recommendations for other holes that were implemented over the years. He must not have liked blind carries (Littlestone had many) and urged that some be removed - #2, #4, #7 all have had dunes cut down or opened according to his direction.

I've not seen his written recommendations and plan to search the archives next summer.

Make sure you keep 2008 open for a visit to the area. You won't be disappointed with the golf or the beer.

[JC Urbina]

Nobody was better then Perry Maxwell when it came to greens.

1) Perry made the greens better at Augusta and Pine Valley.
2) Maxwell perfected the inside roll on putting surfaces.
 
    Greens- The great equalizer

[Michael Robin]

Jim -

Pardon my complete ignorance, but what are you referring to when you cite "the inside roll" on putting surfaces?

[Jack_Marr]

Braid or Hackett,

a)I'm sure they were very different characters in different times but I feel they have done similar things for each of their countries. i.e provided a lot of very decent to great golf courses at a reasonable cost.

b) Carne, Enniscrone and Brora.

33y.o.  16hcp

Sean - you should play the Grange in Dublin, where Braid designed the course and Hackett added 6 holes when a motorway cut off some of the course.

[RJ_Daley]

Michael Robin,  Mr. Urbina is probably back in the field and I'll just mention that most of us understand the Maxwell Rolls as a series of contours and humps and bumps in a green that contain somewhat within the green putting surface as opposed to rounded shoulders like Pinehurst 2, where the shoulders roll into hollows and areas leading away from the green.  Maxwell also oriented some of his greens from front to back away from line of play.  One can see this and read about Maxwell in Chris Clouser's fine book called "The Midwest Associate".

[Pat Ruddy]

By my reckoning, after six days of polling the leaders in "My Favourite Designer" poll are...
7.5 each   Colt and MacKenzie
7.0          Pete Dye
4.0          Tillinghast
3.0 each   Ross and Doak
2.5          Mike Strantz
2.0          Stanley Thompson
1.5          James Braid, Eddie Hackett
1.0  the field ....Ashworth,  Banks,  Flynn, Fownes, Langford, McDonald, Maxwell, Thomas


Who expressed views?
By age ....
2 aged under 30
16 aged 31-40
13 aged 41-50
11 aged 50-plus

By handicap....
28 at 9-and-under
12 at 10 to 18.

It has been entertaining and informative to date.

Let's hope there are more with a favourite to register.

[Tom Huckaby]

Just saw this.. record my answers as:

Pat Ruddy

Age 43, handicap 4


TH, world-class brown-noser.
 

[Pat Ruddy]

Sorry Tom .... spoiled vote ... smudged

[Tom Huckaby]

Sorry Tom .... spoiled vote ... smudged

 
Damn hanging chads get us again!

OK, I guess I ought to give a real vote now that I've had my fun.  And no wimpy qualifications, you asked for one and one only and I shall give you such:

the oft-cited Alistair Mackenzie.

Hey, I've lived pretty near Pasatiempo and Cypress Point for a lot of years.  It's homerism.

TH

[Sean Leary]

Hey, I've lived pretty near Pasatiempo and Cypress Point for a lot of years.  It's homerism.

TH

Thomas,

Careful with what you say considering where you live, as people may get the wrong idea. Not that there is anything wrong with that....

[Tim Pitner]

I haven't seen many of the classic age architects, but right now it has to be Tom Doak based on Pacific Dunes, Ballyneal, Riverdale Dunes, and photos of Barnbougle Dunes and St. Andrews Beach.  

Age 37, handicap 9.  

[paul cowley]

I have really tried to pick one person but I can't seem to push one to the top.....it's all about great parts or features of one or another, but I don't feel anyone has put all the pieces together yet......probably because this biz is a far cry from being anything close to a perfect science.

 

[Mitch St. Peter]

Ross

While not having played many of his masterpieces, every single one of his courses that he or his firm designed that I have playedseems to be both challenging and fun.  what else do you want?  I can't wait to hopefully play the likes of No. 2, Seminole, Charles River, Essex, .......

Age: 22
Handicap : 6