It is great to read all the kind comments regarding Mr. Cornish's work. I will send him the thread today and with any luck if he not out on a long walk with the neighborhood dogs through the swamp in Amherst, I will get a return call before the fax has finished sending.
I grew up playing a few of his additions in Maine; Brunswick, Bath and the municipal course in Bangor. I was attending UMaine when the work on the third nine was underway and was captivated by his bunkers. They were so different than the other courses in the area. As he so often says they had eye appeal. I wasn’t aware of our classics then; Ross, Raynor, Mackenzie, etc. they meant nothing. The history lessons all came when I first met Mr. Cornish and his wonderful wife Carol.
I’ve known and worked for Mr. Cornish for over ten years. I may be the last of his interns, though some would argue that Steve Durkee and Brad Booth are. In that time I can’t remember once discussing strategy on a course project. We discussed eye appeal, the basics of art (form, scale, symmetry, etc.) and the names of people involved. Perhaps therein lies the truth of what Mr. Cornish did for golf in the northeast. He built golf courses for whatever budget and whatever site the client had. Some of the holes might be awkward to play (short iron off the tee and fairway wood to the green) or be entirely devoid of strategy. But they are maintainable!
While none of his courses will ever show up on a modern or classic course list, they will show up when budgets are tight and when having a place to play is. Try to go through his list of courses and find the ones that have closed or are failing. Even in these trying times, his courses are open for play, don’t need to advertise and might even spawn the next generation of course architect.