What will an Ian Andrew Golf Course look like?

[Buck Wolter]

Not sure how many have checked out Ian's blog, I especially like the posts about what an Ian Andrew Course will look like.

http://www.andrewgolf.com/

click "Caddy Shack" from the main page

Very well done site Ian -- obvious you spend a great deal of effort on it. I have bookmarked it and look forward to going back over the posts and keeping up on the new ones.

Buck

[Tom_Doak]

Ian (if you're looking):

You know that I enjoy your site and your insights.  However, I think this last series was a bad idea, because it makes you sound like you've got a formula you are just waiting to apply and I've never thought you would be a victim of such restrictive thinking.

To say you want to do all these things someday in your career would be fine, but to say "an Ian Andrew course" is going to have all these tick box points is depressing.

Perhaps you're writing this because you think your potential clients need a clearer mission statement of what you're about ... but now if they disagree with just one or two of your points you're in trouble.

[Brett Hochstein]

I will also preface that I love the blog, especially the writings in the architect countdown.

I'm young, and I certainly do not know much nor have the right to say much, but one principle I have growingly grasped over the past couple of years is that of site adaptation.  It requires having an entirely clear head prior to visiting a site and responding with a design that reflects that site--its opportunities, constraints, look, form, and feel.  I believe this to hold true to other design media as well, but in golf it is the most important, for the site is the most closely to its surrounds.  I have a professor in landscape who says, "If you don't give any care to context, don't design this park--design any park.  Just make up whatever you want and put it wherever you want."  I'm going a bit astray here, but you get the point

I think changing the word "Will" to "Might" would change a lot.

[Ian Andrew]

Point taken - I've made some changes to the wording - it wasn't meant as a check list but I can see why it was assumed to represent one.

One of the issues I face is that my business is almost entirely restorative based work. While this is the area that I will always work in - I would also like to build a few new courses because I think I have something different to offer - particularly in Canada.

I was trying to use the series to illustrate some of the alternative ideas that I would bring to the table. While I have built over a dozen courses for another architect - they don't share the same architectural vision - so I find myself needing to produce a way to express what I want to do. I need to illustrate how I'm going to make my work more interesting and fun to play. This was the idea that I had.

I appreciate the comments.

Ian