JWinick:
I will be glad to share details on that project assuming I get the job.
If I told you their rationale, it would narrow down the list of companies too close for comfort.
Tom is more brave than I would be regarding discussing projects......funny that just a few years back architects had PR firms telling of all the projects they had signed......now no one would dare discuss when and where or for who a project may be built....there may be a few circumstances that could warrant a new course but they would be few and far between....I think you can break golf course decision makers into four groups....
1. 501(c)3 clubs- these projects rely on a board to make a decision and true cost savings are never realized as compared to an individual owner so they are the best bet for really selling a course in such times....they can assess and really never blame anyone but employees and the employees know more than the decision makers so they can sway the board however they wish.....
2. Individual owner for profit courses- these guys are the tough sale...they know where the bullshit is hiding and all they want is to get the job done and make a profit....if they have been in business for a while they know their market and will do the work necessary to operate in such a market. These are the guys that will bring golf out of this downturn....
3. Developers- they care mostly for golf as an amenity and have been primarily responsible for the large false growth of golf the game when really all they were promoting was golf the amenity....and so many of us got confused between golf the amenity and golf the game....the courses were a sales tool and once lots quit selling the developers had no desire to maintain at a level they had been....normally you could talk to one of these guys and they were best buddies with Jack or Arnie....had lunch with once a month or hunted with them....( I figure Jack and Arnie had about 1000 of these "best buddies" between them...and can't blame them for it....it was/is their business) I don't think this will ever come back the way it was....I honestly think the day of the professional golfer signature is over except for a few instances around the world...( and that is not a slam at any of their work) it's just that people have analyzed the cost.
4. Resorts- these guys will probably keep at it but may analyze cost more closely and the marketing departments seem to now have the rational that the flagship hotel may have more to do with customer attraction than who did the golf course.....as golf goes worldwide we see so many projects that will never play 6000 rounds yet these resorts will maintain them to the highest standards in order to have the "complete package"..
It will be interesting to see how golf is perceived by the rest of the world over the next 25 years....we never discuss f the projects are viable..we just say they are building them....as for the architect business.....the hype is going to go away except for a few cases and most will remain regional and never heard of.