[Patrick_Mucci]

For me, early on it was Pinehurst # 2 and my home course, a 1927 Tucker design.

Later, NGLA, Seminole, Winged Foot and others.

But, the roots of my interest are deepest with # 2 and my home course.

I'll get into HOW I was infuenced later.

[Rich Goodale]

Turnberry.  The first links course I ever played.  After that experience all other types of golf courses seemed as distorted as the shadows of life seen by the prisoners in Plato's allegorical cave.

They still seem so.

[Bradley Anderson]

Growing up in Rockford Illinois, I was influenced first by Rockford Country Club, a very old Tweedie course. I played a lot at Macktown, and I'm not even sure who the architect was, but it had square corners and abrupt fall offs on all the fill pads.

I then worked at Old Elm Club as assistant golf course superintendent. Changing holes cups every day on those greens was amazing. From Old Elm I was able to get out and play the great Chicago golf courses:Shoreacres Golf Club, and Chicago Golf Club blew me away. There was something about Raynor that just floored me.

Skokie was a big influence. Onwentsia. Medinah I never understood. Take away the huge trees and it's just a very long and hard golf course. That was how I always felt. 

[Mike Hendren]

1.  Rolling Hills Country Club in Ripley, Tennessee.  A goat track that fostered my love for small, classically pushed up greens sloping upward to the rear.

2.  Jackson, TN Country Club.  My first real taste of golden age architecture - perhaps Langford, maybe not.

3.  Wild Dunes - my first experience down by the ocean.

4.  TPC - Sawgrass - my first exposure to artististic modern shaping with strategic merit.

[Chip Gaskins]

Governor's Club in Chapel Hill, NC:  the first time I realized that you could actually have a very famous designer, and exclusive membership, and an absolutely crap golf course.

Caves Valley outside of Baltimore, MD:  the first time I realized you simply can't fake it no matter how strong the "mission statement", the ambiance, etc is you can still end up with a golf course that is completely uninspiring.

Wild Horse in Nebraska: How simple and cheap can equal strategic and fun.

Tobacco Road in North Carolina:  How mental intimidation is an important part of GCA strategy

 

[David Stamm]

The first time I played Pasatiempo. I knew I had seen something different and special. That was 6 years ago and I haven't been able to get it out of head since!

[Richard Choi]

I learned how to play at the University of Michigan course (oh, how I miss those $7/round days...). Even though I was not capable of really appreciating good GCA, I believe that course laid the foundation for me.

The other course that elevated my appreciation for GCA is Bandon Dunes. It was my first exposure to the true links golf.

[Lou_Duran]

I went from occasionally playing former cornfields with push-up greens to the Scarlet course at Ohio State.  It made a huge immediate impression and seeded my love for the game and its architecture.  Biased perhaps, I can't understand why it wasn't in the Top 100 in any of the lists (before the Nicklaus renovation; I haven't played it since).  

[Kalen Braley]

The 1st course I played that made me realize golf courses could be so much more was Saddle Creek in Northern Cali.  It was then that I knew golf courses were not just your typical ho-hum muni slog and could be so much funner and interesting to play.

[Steve Salmen]

Turnberry.  The first links course I ever played.  After that experience all other types of golf courses seemed as distorted as the shadows of life seen by the prisoners in Plato's allegorical cave.

Rich,

No golf course has ever made an impression as the way the first links course I ever played: Muirfield.  I've returned to her about 15 times and appreciate each step and each shot with less regard to score as normal.

I've taken friends to Scotland who now swear by Machrihanish: the first links course I introduce them.

[Phil McDade]

I've taken friends to Scotland who now swear by Machrihanish: the first links course I introduce them.

I'd second Machrihanish; not the first links I played, but the best. A terrific example of using the natural lay of the land for both routing and hole design. (After a round there, I had beers in the clubhouse with a member who had invited me to play with him. He talked about the difference between living in tiny Campbeltown and how his wife missed Glasgow and the attractions of living in a major city, where she was raised. He'd thought of moving, he said, but added, glancing at the course: "Then I'd have to give up this.")

Lawsonia, far and away here in the States, for how both significant earth moving and lay-of-the-land blindness can create fun and demanding shots.

[tlavin]

Riviera did it for me.  I played with Jeff Lewis, Rick Holland and Norm Klapharda a number of years ago.  Each of them has forgotten more about golf course architecture than I'll ever know.  It allowed me to get educated and absorb the experience better than I could imagine.  It amazed me how flat the golf course was (except for the first tee shot and the last shot into the 18th green) and it seemed to me that the genius of the design that was revealed to me is that you can take a piece of basin and turn it into an interesting, complex and challenging golf course.  After that day, I started to look at golf courses with an eye that was slightly better informed.

[Phil_the_Author]

To no one's surprise, for me it was Bethpage Black. But to understand WHY one needs to appreciate that growing up on Long Island as a teenager in the 1960's, the best course I was able to play before that was the red course at Eisenhower Park.

The Black is so far beyond anything public on Long Island today it is laughable. Back then it felt as if you were transported to heaven.

It is because of how the Black made me FEEL when playing it or even looking forward to playing it that i make a conscious effort to examine every course I go to with the that idea in mind.

For example, late last year I had the privilege of getting to Merion for the 1st time. I was there only to enjoy Wayne's Flynn researches (which I did immensely) and enjoyed an hour walking tour of about 6 of the holes.

That little bit alone convinced me that the course MUST be among the truly great ones in the world. I know that if I ever get the opportunity to go back there and actually play it that I'll probably hyperventilate as I drive into the parking lot just at the thought!

It is that excitement and induced-passion that I look for in golf courses. On the other side, I was so underwhelmed when I played Pinehurst #2 in the late 1980's, that I was even more disappointed than I should have been. It would take a great deal to get me back on the course.

Golf should inspire one in many ways but never more so than when it is played on a grand course. That is when it breathes life into you...

To this day, with 400 or so rounds on the Black under my belt, I STILL get thrilled at the thought that I will be playing it once again. It is when a golf course inspires that thought in one that I look for in defining a GREAT design...

[Bill Shamleffer]

My intro to golf course architecture was through Golf magazines (of the late 1970s & early 1980s), TV, and golf books.

Until I was in my 20s I only knew a few decent St. Louis privates, some goat track publics, and St. Louis C.C.

In the 1970s & 1980s Golf Digest and Golf Magazine were strong on golf course architecture.  I still clearly remember the Golf Magazine article on Unreachable Par 5s (which I now know was penned by Tom Doak).  Golf Magazine also used to devote a couple pages to one great hole in each issue (from such courses as Royal County Down, Ballybunion, and Prairie Dunes).

Over at Golf Digest, they had the great Charles Price often discussing golf architecture.  They would also have pull out maps of Augusta, and the US Open, The Open, & The PGA courses in preview issue.

ABC’s coverage of the 3 summer majors included Jim McKay, Dave Marr, & Peter Allis.  I got to see the courses of the Open rota, and I got to see Merion, Pebble Beach, Oakmont, Baltusrol, and Winged Foot.

Then in my later teenage years I discovered the books The Golf Course, The World Atlas of Golf, and The Story of American Golf.

Finally, caddying for good golfers who loved golf, and then caddying in city tournaments, allowed me to learn about the variety of strategic options offered by a course.

I did not see my first golf tournament until I was 23 when I attended the US Open at The Country Club.  Before that my own eyes only saw the 2 “great” courses: St. Louis C.C. & a round at Cog Hill #4 ($27 green fee).

If not for TV, golf magazines, quality golf writing, and caddying, I may have never developed my interest in golf architecture.

Do you think these same sources offer the level of introduction to golf course architecture today as they did 30 to 20 years ago?

On the positive we have:
1.   The World Atlas of Golf updated and at a reasonable price.
2.   Links magazine is good on architecture, but does not have the reach as do Golf Digest & Golf World do.
3.   TGC and the networks have occasional good stuff on architecture; but it is surrounded by a lot of junk and noise, while the old Shell Wonderful World of Golf is buried at odd hours.

On the negative we have:
1.   Travel + Leisure Golf is now gone and Golf Journal was lost quite a few years ago (once again shame on you USGA).
2.   And caddying, well we all know what has become of that.
(All kids who are active at junior golf should at least be recruited to caddy in local tournaments and club championships.  You learn a lot about all aspects of golf.)

Jordan Wall was resourceful enough to find this site and participate, but I was not searching to learn about golf course architecture when I was a teenager.  Instead I was fortunate enough to stumble upon it on numerous occasions.  Then as I aged and matured, I had a foundation to build upon when I began to want to learn more about golf architecture.

[Bruce Leland]

In my home State of MN it was:

Rochester Golf & CC  Tilly
White Bear Yacht Club  Ross
Northland Country Club   Ross
Interlachen Country Club  Willie Watson
Minikahda Country Club   Willie Watson & Robert Foulis

Elsewhere:

Spyglass
Monterey Peninsula CC
Pasatiempo

and more recently:  Sutton Bay

[Pete_Pittock]

   N. Berwick-West and Prestwick. I read a little bit about Prestwick but as far as I was concerned North Berwick was a throw away on a packaged tour in 1975. Boy was I ever wrong. My first few years were at Portland GC where I learned to keep it between the trees and below the hole.
I never played a Doak 6 or better until I was 30.

[Mark_Fine]

Hoylake.  First links course I ever played.  Thought it was a cow pasture when I arrived at the club.  Took me a few rounds to appreciate just how much fun and interesting links golf is.  I've since played hundreds of rounds on links courses throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.  It is my favorite kind of golf.  I still tell people that they have NOT really played golf until they play on a true links course in the British Isles. 

[Bill_McBride]

The Valley Club in Santa Barbara and Pasatiempo were my two courses that showed me there were golf courses like the ones I had played, and there were GOLF COURSES.

I didn't really know why they were so much better.  Then I got to play several rounds at Pebble Beach and it all clicked.

[Robin Doodson]

Turnberry.  The first links course I ever played.  After that experience all other types of golf courses seemed as distorted as the shadows of life seen by the prisoners in Plato's allegorical cave.

Rich,

No golf course has ever made an impression as the way the first links course I ever played: Muirfield.  I've returned to her about 15 times and appreciate each step and each shot with less regard to score as normal.

I've taken friends to Scotland who now swear by Machrihanish: the first links course I introduce them.

Great choices. New machrihanish dunes course opens next month. check it out on www.machdunes.com. Think i might be making a trip home soon.

robin

[Bill Gayne]

I'm a bit surprised that no one has said Augusta National has not influenced their view on golf courses and GCA. Through TV, ANGC is many golfer's first contact with a great golf course.

I took up the game as an adult (24) and would say there were three courses that really influenced my views on golf courses and GCA. The first would be North Fulton which is where I played when I tooked up the game. The second would be ANGC. I attended the Masters 1988 through 1992. The third would be Ballybunion. My first trip to links courses in SW Ireland to play true links golf.

[Ash Towe]

I found Muirfield had a big effect.  The quality of the course, particularly the routing wherby the changes in the direction you played made the wind such a constant and interesting factor.
Royal Melboune West taught me that the line off the tee was so important despite there being little or no rough.
Cypress Point for how beatiful some places are and that we are fortunate to play a game that takes us to such places.

[Ross Waldorf]

I grew up in Baltimore playing public courses, and I think my first awareness of what golf architecture was about probably came at Mount Pleasant, which is an old Baltimore muni. I think Arnold Palmer won a tournament there in the 50s -- maybe his first tour win?

Anyway, I had a fondness for Mount Pleasant growing up, probably because of the way the course sat on the land. I always liked the feel of the place. And I also remember that an important part of it for me was the contrast with Pine Ridge, another Baltimore muni, which my dad always preferred. Pine Ridge was more beautiful in terms of location and views, but it just doesn't have the interest that Mount Pleasant does, architecturally. Having returned to Mount Pleasant more recently, my impression still holds, although the greens tend to be pretty nondescript. But the routing is quite interesting.

But the big moment for me came after I moved to New York in the mid 80s. Like Philip, Bethpage Black really did it for me. And I completely agree with Philip as well about what it was that made the impression -- it was the feel of the place. The Black is just an amazing place -- the scale, the feeling that on every tee you've got something special in front of you. And this was back in the late 80s and early 90s, way before the recent renovations. I haven't had the pleasure of playing there since the work was done, but it was obviously a world-class golf course even in ho hum condition.

And finally, I have to say that Rustic Canyon has been a constant education for me. I never tire of the place. And it also gave me a taste of what real links golf was like, even though at Rustic you only get an approximation (although I suppose on a day where the turf is really tight and firm, and you get a 25 mph Santa Ana wind, it can be a pretty damned close one). But I think that for any golfer who really has an interest in architecture, the best thing that can happen is to get to play an architecturally fascinating course on a regular basis. I played the Black 5 or 10 times when I lived in New York, but it wasn't until I found Rustic that I was able to play a truly inspiring golf course with real frequency.

The only problem is, it raises your standards big time. Pretty but boring really leaves me bummed out these days -- way more than it did 10 or 20 years ago. It used to be that I would seek out a course like Pelican Hill. Not so much anymore.

[mike_malone]

 I grew up playing at DuPont CC in Wilmington , De. The DuPont course was the longer course and was seen as the championship course. But, I had more fun playing the shorter course across the street which my dad called "sporty". It required more thought and had more complex greens.

   It wasn't until they renovated the DuPont course that John Gosselin told me about the originally undulating greens that were flattened in the early years. I may never have developed an interest in gca if those greens weren't disappointing by comparison to the shorter course across the street.

   Then my friends and I learned to drive and ventured down to the other course in the club which was 15 miles away and I found my love for elevation changes.

[Yannick Pilon]

Garden City.

It thought me you don't have to shape an entire property to have a great course.  Even the smallest undulations can be used to create fun golf holes.

Yeah, I know, the great site helps, but still, I feel I learned something really important there.

YP

[Sean_A]

For me the real eye opener was links golf.  My intro to this sort of game was Troon, but my love of links golf and belief that it is the best sort of golf didn't really click until I played North Berwick.  I spose I needed that wee bit of funk for the penny to really drop.  Somewhere along the line Pennard hit home with two major concepts.  First, wide is good and second, undulations and lay of the land golf (gravity golf) is what really should drive design.  Making these connections back to my boyhood course of Grosse Ile and later UofM, was much easier after getting a good few lessons in GB&I.  I also realized that I was rather spoiled as a child where golf is concerned as I played what I still think of as very good courses without really knowing it at the time.

I couldn't not mention the heathlands and especially West Pulborough.  It was these courses which showed me that much of what was encapsulated on the links could be done inland and I still use heathland courses as the benchmark for good inland golf in so many ways.  I reckon since that time not many courses I have played met the links/heathland criteria without being of that type.  A few which really impressed are Old Town, Merion, Kington, Huntercombe.  All stand out for variety and clever use of the land without resorting to yardage as a beat down weapon.  These courses also highlight the importance of greeensites and that its ok to fool around with the area if it it creates interest and challenge.

Ciao           

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