Amateur Architects, where are the modern day Crump's & Fownes's ?

[Patrick_Mucci_Jr]

Archie,

Your response addresses the question that the opening post asks.

Is it the technical/legal/environmental/financial aspects that are the impediments that prevent the modern day Crumps from coming to the fore ?

Are their amateurs who have the creative talent to design a golf course, who would be prevented from doing so due to the issues cited above ?

And, are the financial stakes so high today, that unless someone had exceptionally deep pockets, was eccentric, and loved golf and golf course architecture, that designing and building a golf course for other than himself, isn't feasable.

Does Jerry Rich qualify as a modern day Crump, despite building a  course for limited access/use ?

[David_Tepper]

If anyone has not read the articles on the development of the Trinitas Creek GC linked by Andrew Biggadike in an earlier post on this thread, I would refer you to:

www.trinitasgolf.com

Mike Nemee is the owner, developer, GCA and general contractor for the course he is building in California. If he can do it in a state with the reputation as being as environmentally sensitive as California, it certainly could be done by anyone willing to commit the time and resources needed to get the job done.  Clearly the complexities of building a golf course now vs. 80 years ago require even the best GCA's, professional or amateur, to seek consultation from a variety of experienced professionals at times.    

[Tom_Doak]

I don't really see why environmental issues would be the thing that held an amateur back.  Truthfully, golf course architects just sit back and wait for engineers to tell us where those things are, so we can try to avoid them.  If a property had a bunch of wetlands, sure, it would be harder for an amateur to come up with a good routing -- but there are lots of properties with minimal environmental issues, too.

Perhaps it IS true that an amateur developer/architect would be much more likely to stumble into a bad situation.  When I go to see a new site I ask a bunch of questions about potential red flags right off the bat.  An amateur might actually purchase the land and/or get the course half routed before he discovered the bad news.