Now that's a golf course architecture subjet
A few weeks ago, I went to the Stanley Thompson Symposium and among the fascinating stories of Mr Thompson the use of alcohol generate a much heated debate.
It got me thinking, as I often thought, that most major golf architects of the golden Age have drinking stories, to say the least. It probably was a trendy thing to do... but to a certain extend, the use of alcohol and success in a creative environment can be related.
Having been in a design environment for the last 10 years, a couple of things came clear to me:
artistic design is about looking at something from a new, and at first often ridiculous, perspective.
therefore, you have to release the tension from your mind... let the flow going, throw away the details, the technical problem and start anew.
I'm not saying you have to be down on the ground drunk to do some design... but alcohol help you release the inhibition, some might use yoga, tai-chi or whatever else, alcohol is probably easier and faster.
the key is that you have to be able to remember, once you've freed up your spirits (by opening a bottle of one) creation and innovation is easier, but leave notes on paper because the next morning, if you can process all that information that came out the evening before... you are going to be productive with your ideas, you're going to make wild ideas work.
I do believe most golden age guys drank a bit (after all, you're stuck 4, 5 days on a train or a boat, what else are you going to do).. but odds are, the stories might have been blown out of proportions... If they were only drinking, they would have stayed in the bar, odds are they were drinking and thinking at the same time.
your thoughts, is there a golf architect who never drinks?