[Jeff_Brauer]

Q.'I have a good friend from Norway, Isn't it rich with oil?"

A. (from Brian) Mega rich with oil.

Uh oh, maybe the USA will have to invade Norway now......

Brian,

I agree with you on the Colt book. Not what I was expecting after the other bios put out there.

[Mark Alexander]

It's great to see Brian getting some air time on GCA without causing too much upset.
I'd like to add some of my own questions.

1) Which high-profile course would you like to get your hands on and why?
2) Which rule of golf would you change?
3) What's the best par three you've every played/designed?
4) Which architect and/or golfer would you like to collaborate with?
5) What advice would you give to someone starting out in golf course design?

Give me a shout when you're next over and I'II buy you a well-balanced, nutritional health drink.

[Bill_McBride]

When we lived in Northern Virginia some of our best friends were Norwegian.  He worked for the World Bank.  They are a lot of fun, especially after a bunch of aquavit.

But they were really terrible golfers!  Are Norwegians in general not so good at playing golf?  How does this affect your  designs?  The holes Garland posted look pretty tough!

Thanks,

[Anthony Gray]

  Brian,

 Sorry about the misspelling of your name and thanks for your participation.

  Phillips? That is not norwegian. Where were you born?

  How many months is the golf season in Norway?

  Would you want your son to follow in your footsteps?
 
  Have you plyed Cruden Bay?

 Thanks Again,

  Anthony

 

[Sean_A]

Brian

You seem to have some negative ideas about Dr Mac.  Aside from the personality side of things, which elements of Dr Mac's work don't you like?  Which elements particularily impress you? Any specific examples of either?

Ciao

[Brian Phillips]

1) Which high-profile course would you like to get your hands on and why?
I would like to be the consulting architect at St. Georges Hill.  Why?  I have attached a picture of what happens when a greenkeeper who does not understand the quality of his or her golf course and starts messing with it.  I am positive that we could look after the course design better than any greenkeeper. How can you design and build a bunker like that on a Colt course...?
2) Which rule of golf would you change?
I would like the Out of Bounds rule changed.  Just drop it where it went out and get on with the match.  Why send people back to the tee or make them hit 3 more balls out of bounds?  Speed or lack of speed is killing the game, maybe changing this rule would help?
3) What's the best par three you've every played/designed?
Impossible to choose one so here are a few:

In no order and pictures below.

Royal Dornoch 6th
Merion 13th
Pine Valley 3rd
Sand Hills 17th



The two that I am most proud of that Graeme and I have designed are the 3rd at Stavanger and the 17th at Stavanger. I have included the before picture of the 3rd at Stavanger to show you what we had to work with.  I am proud of the 17th at Stavanger because we had nothing, absolutely nothing to work with.  By the way Mark took the pictures for us in Stavanger!
4) Which architect and/or golfer would you like to collaborate with?
I would like to team up with Mark Parsinen, Tom Doak, Gil Hanse, Jim Urbina, Dougie Walker and a guy called Young Tom from our M.Sc. course.
5) What advice would you give to someone starting out in golf course design?
Get into construction first, do not settle down unless you are prepared to tell the wife that this is what you are doing, take it or leave it.

[Brian Phillips]

When we lived in Northern Virginia some of our best friends were Norwegian.  He worked for the World Bank.  They are a lot of fun, especially after a bunch of aquavit.

But they were really terrible golfers!  Are Norwegians in general not so good at playing golf?  How does this affect your  designs?  The holes Garland posted look pretty tough!

Thanks,
Norwegians are a lot of fun once they have a bit of alcohol in them.  They love singing and love talking about football.

Norwegians are pretty poor golfers with poor etiquette as well.  They have not grown up with the game and only get to play it about 6 months of the year.

Yes, it really does affect our designs.  No forced carries longer than 80 yards, all ladies tees nearly on the fairway.  No deep bunkers.  Egersund is a tough course but is fun to play.

[Stuart Hallett]

Brian,

We've met (old drinking days, bottle of whisky, B&B room and about a dozen GCA students), but I can't say I know you.

Totally agree with you, that bunker at St. Georges Hill is SHOCKING !

Q. Given the lack of links sites available, what sort of site would you like to get your hands on, where & why ?

Cheers

[Brian Phillips]

Brian,

Sorry about the misspelling of your name and thanks for your participation.
No worries, I like it spelt that way...

Phillips? That is not norwegian. Where were you born?
I was born just outside Liverpool.  My dad is from Liverpool (his claim to fame is that he went to the same school as Paul Mcartney) and my mum is from Blackburn.  We are proud Northerners and have a humour to match.

How many months is the golf season in Norway?
It varies, around Oslo it is from May to October, up North less!  In Stavanger all year as long as the snow stays away.

Would you want your son to follow in your footsteps?
Yes that would be great, he already says he is going to. He is much better with economics than I am.  He is only 9
 
Have you plyed Cruden Bay?
I have played Cruden Bay twice and would not have changed anything.  I do not believe the new Par 3 will improve the course at all.

[Brian Phillips]

These questions are for both Brian and Martin:

After spending some time in the industry, what changes would you recommend for the program? Would you recommend the program for others?
George,

After becoming an Associate for the EIGCA I was asked to go on the Education Board. 

The main thing I wanted change on was a better understanding of HOW golf courses got built.  Too many architects in the business can draw fancy drawings but would not have a clue HOW the hole would get built, they would not know with which EQUIPMENT it could be built with and they would not know the COST of the construction either.

One year on the Diploma course the students actually got to build their own bunkers.

I wish we were stricter as architects to ensure that our list of recommended shapers and finishers are adhered to but many of us cannot put that decision on stubborn poorly financed clients.

[Brian Phillips]

Brian

You seem to have some negative ideas about Dr Mac.  Aside from the personality side of things, which elements of Dr Mac's work don't you like?  Which elements particularily impress you? Any specific examples of either?

Ciao

There are a number of occasions where he is very proud of certain holes or shaping that I personally feel is very poor landscaping.  Some of his green shapes were very poor in design.  Take the original shape of the 4th green, 7th green and 9th green at Augusta, all L shaped and so severe that they looked like they should have been played from two different fairways.  They have all now been changed.

The shaping photographs I have seen from Augusta are also very poor in places.  The mounding that was shaped next to some of the greens is verging on roadside verge type landscaping.

Even in his own book Golf Architecture there are a number of bunkers and mounds that if Fazio or Rees Jones had shaped them they would be laughed at.  He must have been very proud of them but I certainly would not be.  The pages I am referring to are:

Page 26.  The bunker at the back left of the photo
Page 32.  The "artificial" hummock at Moortown.  That is awful
Page 40.  The 15th at Newcastle...the bunkering and mounding is poor
Page 86.  A bunker on the fulford course...poor shaping
and best of all
Page 94.  The 2nd hole at Headingley.  Hummocks and bunkers...phew...they are really nice

Mackenzie was born in Yorkshire and but had Scottish parents.  He lived in England nearly all of his youth and even studied his first profession in Cambridge.  When he finished his initial studies he then went onto study even more in England (not Scotland) and 25 years after being born in England he joined the medical board.

How can a man who has lived and been brought in England for nearly 40 years have a Scottish accent without faking it?  

He is about as English as English can get apart from Scottish blood and one photograph in a kilt!  He probably used his connection to Scotland just to get contracts!

What do I like about Mackenzie?  The magical way he managed to get foremen to create wonderful courses for him even though he was not there.  Such as Kingston Heath and Royal Melbourne...

One thing I must add.  If I can design one course as good as all the brilliant ones he has done I just might die satisfied with my work.

[Brian Phillips]

Brian,

We've met (old drinking days, bottle of whisky, B&B room and about a dozen GCA students), but I can't say I know you.

Totally agree with you, that bunker at St. Georges Hill is SHOCKING !

Q. Given the lack of links sites available, what sort of site would you like to get your hands on, where & why ?

Cheers

Stuart,  that was a great night.  I can't believe I had about 10 students in my B&B room that night.  And it was in St. Andrews!

Seriously, I would like to design in China, Hong Kong or on the coast in Borneo.  To be honest I need a site where we can get recognised for the work we do.  We are creating some nice work in Norway on low budgets but who comes as a tourist to visit Norway and plays golf?  Hardly anyone!

[George Pazin]

Brian, be forewarned that I am bookmarking this page and intend to bump it after you return from Australia, to hear about your adventures.

 

[Mike Nuzzo]

I was more in the camp that Norwegian Wood was a play on the phrase "knowing she would"
Have fun in Australia. 
Why wasn't I invited?
Was it a consideration for you to go out on your own?
How do you think that would have went?
Where did the company name come from?
The logo?
Your website and details look very professional - not always the case.
What do you use for your plan creation?  Software?  It looks like illustrator - if that is the case was my essay from GolfArch9 helpful?
I don't know if anyone ever appreciated my perspectives on CAD.
Cheers

[George Pazin]

I don't know if anyone ever appreciated my perspectives on CAD.
Cheers

The industry guys probably did. Any mentions of CAD on here usually involve a different meaning.

Belated Happy Birthday, Mike!

 

[Brian Phillips]

Brian, be forewarned that I am bookmarking this page and intend to bump it after you return from Australia, to hear about your adventures.

 

Only 10 days to go!!

[Brian Phillips]

I was more in the camp that Norwegian Wood was a play on the phrase "knowing she would"
That is pretty good as well!!  
Have fun in Australia.
Will do!  
Why wasn't I invited?
Are you a member of the ASGCA, EIGCA or SAGCA?  If not then that is why!    This trip has been organised by Phil Ryan from the SAGCA and sponsored by a number of large Industry suppliers.  There are about 30 from the ASGCA, about 15 or so from the EIGCA and about 10 from the SAGCA on the tour.

We are all meeting in Sydney to go "In Search of MacKenzie - A Golf Journey to the Land of Oz"
Visits to the following courses:
New South Wales
Royal Sydney
move to Melbourne
Metropolitan Golf Club
Royal Melbourne

we are then attending the Australian Masters at Kingston Heath on the last day of the tour.

Some of the EIGCA are taking the tour further going onto New Zealand as well.  I am not, I am thinking of having a trip down to Barnbougle Dunes as well on my own.

Was it a consideration for you to go out on your own?
I was on my own with Phillips Golf Design (you helped design the logo) but when I got back from Scotland after studying my Masters I had a chance of joining a couple of design firms but Graeme was the only one who came in and afford me a 50/50 partnership.  In fact he offered 40/60 first but I wanted 50!
How do you think that would have went?
Slow...
Where did the company name come from?
It came from Graeme's company that is called Team Niblick.  He wanted to call it Team Niblick Norway but I was having none of it.  When we first started I refused to do Design and Build due to the confusion of rules at the EIGCA and the risks involved in construction.  After Egersund was built (by someone else) it convinced me that money could be made on the construction side and we would have more control of the details rather than having to argue on site with a contractor about change orders and extras.  I am absolutely convinced that a client will nearly always get a better course if it is designed and built by the architect.
The logo?
We hired a company in Aberdeen to come up with different ideas and we just kept tweaking it until we were happy.  Graeme wanted a Norwegian flag in the Norway company and a Scottish flag in the Scotland company but I begged him not to do that!  It is a great logo that really does give the two companies a well known brand.  People recognise the logos everywhere now.
Your website and details look very professional - not always the case.
Yes, we paid a photographer to take photos of a number of our projects and we have gone with that branding in the website, the DVD and our brochures.  I think we have one of the most professional GCA websites out there.  Considering how small we are compared to the big boys we have done pretty well I think?
What do you use for your plan creation?  Software?  It looks like illustrator - if that is the case was my essay from GolfArch9 helpful?
We use Vectorworks which my mentor Jeff Brauer introduced me to.  It has a similar interface to Illustrator (which I also have) but has an add on called Landmark which is geared towards Landscape design.  I really like it and it is not as heavy as AutoCAD which most GCA's only use a small percentage of the available program and pay a small fortune for.  We use LSS for earthwork calculations.  I read your essay and it was good but I pretty much knew most of what you wrote about before...

[Bill_McBride]

Brian, speaking of earthwork calculations, have you had to import fill on any of your projects, or have you been able to balance cut and fill?

Those Norwegian sites look pretty rocky!

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