[Ian Andrew]

I've talked to Pat Howitt - Stanley's step-daughter and her husband Judge Howitt about this.

Pat said that Stan only drank some days - but tended to binge when he did.
She felt that the drinking combined with his diabetes eventually shortened his life.

The judge told me a couple of stories - that I will never share - but they don't paint a rosy picture of his binge drinking.

Geoff Cornish said that he didn't drink on site - but loved a whiskey when they day was done or they went back to the hotel to route a course. Geoff did say that he wasn't bad before the war - but when he returned home he was drinking a lot more.


I have always thought that the drinking for many were part of the legend and lore rather than the reality.


A drink is a nice way to relax in general - two drinks are a good way to get nothing done - and three is an excellent way to open up the possibility of embarassing yourself. I don't know of a single architect who drinks while they design.

[Anthony Gray]

A drink is a nice way to relax in general - two drinks are a good way to get nothing done - and three is an excellent way to open up the possibility of embarassing yourself. I don't know of a single architect who drinks while they design.

  All jokes aside this is great wisdom.

  Anthony

[Philippe Binette]

Ian: maybe some architects should drink more, their work would be more exciting and less repetitive  


no seriously, I'm not talking about having drinks at lunch time and try to get back on the dozer or work in the office in the afternoon, as Ian said, it's the best way to get nothing done.... and take an afternoon nap

I'm talking about end of afternoon, evening type of drinks, when your day is done, still have the project in your head and looking for a new creative solution... solving a routing issue, figuring out a bunker pattern on a hole where being stress out and sober didn't work... or simply talking with the crew about what to try the next morning...

me and my buddies just did a landscape design competition doing just that: in a bar Thursday at 8 pm, 2 or 3 pints, leave the bar at Midnight and go home, work on it over the weekend and talk about it the next thursday at 8pm over some drink... work out perfect.

I'm not saying to be an alcoholic will propel you to a career in golf design.

It's like those Walter Hagen stories, it's not because you're in a cocktail party at 1am with a drink in your hand that you're necessarily drunk, it could only be your second glass within the last 5 hours... but what people remember is that you were in a party at 1am with a drink in your hand and ... assumed you were drunk.
Doing that the night before a playoff in the US Open might sound crazy, but really was the other player sleeping at 1am the night before his playoff against Hagen.... no, so might as well do like him, have a little drink, talk to some nice ladies and relax a bit.

[Ian Andrew]

It's not the drink - its time to think without deadlines.

I think the key to better architecture is taking the time to think things through. You can’t spend a day on site and assume you’ve thought things through – because there was not enough time to consider the options. If your one site for a few days – and on foot – you have time to think. I like the walk between greens or features because it allows time to reconsider or ponder what you’re doing. If your there for a few days – it gives you the opportunity to walk away from something that you don’t think is good enough and return fresh the next day. It’s the advantage of scheduling periods of time on site. When you are given enough time - your mind relaxes and drifts through your problems – kind of like it does when you’re driving long distances. Some may call this daydreaming – but I disagree – I think the mind has far more ability to explore in this condition. Haven’t you ever noticed this is when you tend to have an epiphany?
 
I have been walking 5 miles every morning (since Augusta) to improve my health and to lose a few pounds. The side benefit is that I’ve gained an hour and a half to think. One of the best teachers I ever had (Jim Balisle) always said that if we wanted to become better designers - the first thing we need to do is schedule one hour for just think. No pens, no computers – just think (doodling is fine). It took me 25 years to discover he was absolutely right. I’m finding it easier to come up with alternatives when I walk – than when I’m “working.”

[Tom_Doak]

Cheers to that, Ian.

I spend a ton of my time just walking around the site thinking and looking at stuff from odd angles ... somebody told me Perry Maxwell used to do the same thing when he was working on Crystal Downs.  It's amazing how often you see something from a different angle or even from a different hole and realize that it doesn't tie in well, and that (say) moving the bunker to the right would make it a much better hole at the same time.

Best example:  I walked up the hilll on the 18th hole at Stonewall (old course) and stared at it probably 25 or 30 times before it suddenly hit me how to make the green fit into the landscape.  It's always been one of my favorite holes because it took that long for me to solve ... everyone assumes we figured that out first and designed other stuff around it, but that was not the case at all.

[Philippe Binette]

I've never thought this thread would go that far...

Time to think... you're right Ian, when I play golf alone late in the evening that's all I do, think and I assumed in the old days, when you had a 3 days train trip.... you had time to think. I can picture Stanley Thompson or any other guy just revisiting the course he had just seen in his mind...

As for walking a course or a site, it is the difference... I don't think anybody who design great courses are pure geniuses, Einstein was a genius... As a good friend or mine always says: we're not genius, we are just out there and looking at something long enough (a bunker, a green or whatever) to figure it out, see what looks right or not and fix it if needed.

Simply put: 10% of it is philosophy or ideas, 90% of it is just work... RW...
actually it should be 9% of it is philosophy or ideas, 90% of it is just work, 1% is beer..

[Philippe Binette]

DSchmidt:

I'm 27 years old by the way... but still figure that one out

[Eric Smith]

  Here is the reason why I quit drinking.

 


 

Hell, from the looks of those broads, they look to me like a fantastic reason to start!

Times have definitely changed...

[Anthony Gray]

  Thanks Eric. I think I'll stop by the liqour store on the way home.


  Anthony

 

[PCCraig]

  Here is the reason why I quit drinking.

 


 

Hell, from the looks of those broads, they look to me like a fantastic reason to start!

Times have definitely changed...

I swear to God that is actually my first cousin in the second picture...second from the right!

[Philippe Binette]

Pat: you should invite her, and her friend to the next GCA.com gathering... many people will show up

[Eric Smith]

Pat - that's hilarious!  I think I googled liqour + girls, or some such phrase.  No offense to your lovely cousin.

It's a small world...

[PCCraig]

Pat - that's hilarious!  I think I googled liqour + girls, or some such phrase.  No offense to your lovely cousin.

It's a small world...

I had to do a quaduple-take but it's her. I can't say we are very close, but very funny/randon to say the least. Be careful what you post on Facebook kids!

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