[George Pazin]

I had the good fortune of teeing it up with Ryan a few years ago at Oakmont East, the bizarrely quirky little public course which abuts the Oakmont everyone knows. In a way, Ryan reminds me a little of myself, in that he was relatively quiet that day in person, yet can make his voice loud when needed on here.

Ryan is living the dream, as a design associate at Schmidt-Curley Design (which see:http://www.schmidt-curley.com/). He also spent some time as an intern with Tom D's firm, hopefully he can share some insights from both experiences.

Most people think of me as the guy who did the Oakmont series, but as I have said many times, Ryan was the true hero of the series, with his excellent photographs, many of which still remain for your viewing pleasure. Here is a link to the summary thread, which has links to all of the individual holes (thanks again, Scott Warren, for fixing the links):Summary thoughts on Oakmont - please add yours.

Lastly, for those who don't know, Ryan is another in a long line of golfclubatlas-ers who stand on the wrong side of the ball. That list is long and distinguished!

Please welcome Ryan with interesting questions.

Thanks, play nice!

-----

On deck: Jim Colton

5 most recent:

Alex Miller

George Pazin

Jeff Mingay

Joe Bausch

Gary Slatter

Full list:

GTK participants

[JC Jones]

Watching people play golf left handed screws up my swing.  Does watching people play golf right handed do the same to you?

[Phil McDade]

Ryan:

Please re-count your experiences of fly-mowing Big Mouth and how it influenced your current views of golf architecture.

[Dale Jackson]

Ryan, any favourite stories about working with Tom D or Jim U?  Cool parts of any holes you got to design with them?

Have you had any involvement with the course your company worked on with Faldo in San Miguel de Allende?  Any information about its status?

I assume working on the architectural side of the business is a passion.  Does anyone fall into the business by accident?

Most thought provoking courses you have seen?  Most thought provoking holes?

[Mike Nuzzo]

Nice Ryan
How long has your firm been working in China?
How did the firm get the Mission Hills deal?
What have you learned that you didn't think you would?
Cheers

[George Pazin]

Standard questions:

What brought you to golf?

Golf course architecture?

This website?

-----

JC, one of my friends believes my swing was cursed by a round with a guy with the biggest practice swing/real swing differential I have ever seen. Actually, he thinks I was cursed by something the guy said, not his swing. He was a real character, the kinda guy you meet at your local muni on a Saturday morning (and I mean that in a good way).

[Tom Yost]

Do you ever see Faldo or Couples in the office?

[Brett Hochstein]

Hi Ryan,

What is your favorite aspect of the business?

How much time do you spend on the road?  In China?

How quickly did you pick up shaping skills?

Cheers

[Kyle Harris]

Ryan,

Please describe the rules of Ryanball.

Also, tell everyone about your favorite golf courses: Cobbs Creek and Galen Hall.

[Mike Cirba]

Ryan,

What 5 classic courses and what 5 modern courses have influenced your thinking on architecture the most, and why?

What do you think requires more talent; creating 18 interesting holes out of a featureless site by moving earth to create interesting features or taking a great site and moving almost no dirt but instead just finding interesting golf holes?

Would you recommend USGA-spec greens in every case?  Why or why not?

Is there a particular architect, past or present, whose work you admire more than any other?

Thanks in advance.

[Patrick Hodgdon]

Ryan-

My question is whether you might answer my questions to you re: Seminole on this thread: http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,42916.70/?

Also what are you working on these days?

Thanks,
Patrick

[Garland Bayley]

Do you ever see Faldo or Couples in the office?

Ya, Ryan the only names Alex could drop were Fowler and Gore. Show him how it's done!

Is Forrest Richardson still your favorite GCA?

[Ryan Farrow]

Watching people play golf left handed screws up my swing.  Does watching people play golf right handed do the same to you?

Haha. NO!

I don't get caught up in the details, my main problem is teaching kids.... or co-workers how to swing right-handed.

[Ryan Farrow]

Ryan:

Please re-count your experiences of fly-mowing Big Mouth and how it influenced your current views of golf architecture.

I think 210 steep grassed faced bunkers should be avoided on a single golf course.... but if you do, it better be a damn good golf course.

[Jason Topp]

Ryan:

I really enjoyed my one round with you in Arizona - I think at Vista Verde.  What struck me was your strong opinions regarding how a golf course should look (as well as your colorful descriptive phrases).

I have always considered visuals on a course of secondary importance to playing characteristics.  Since that day, however, I have paid much more attention to visuals.  Most likely, they have always been more important to me than I realized.

Since you have entered the industry, have your preferences regarding appearance of golf courses changed?  If so, how?

[Ryan Farrow]

Ryan, any favourite stories about working with Tom D or Jim U?  Cool parts of any holes you got to design with them?

Have you had any involvement with the course your company worked on with Faldo in San Miguel de Allende?  Any information about its status?

I assume working on the architectural side of the business is a passion.  Does anyone fall into the business by accident?

Most thought provoking courses you have seen?  Most thought provoking holes?

Dale, I only worked 1 summer at Rock Creek Cattle Company for Renaissance, I only met Tom one time, and ditto for Jim at the GCSAA Conference a few years ago in Anaheim. Not too many stories on that front I spent most of my time with Eric Iverson who was the go to guy on that project. I learned a lot in 1 summer..... and was glad to be a part of such a great project.

The Faldo / San Miguel course is still under construction, I believe. Since I moved to China, I have lost touch with our Mexico projects. My only involvement was working with some color-up plans and graphics. From the updates I would get in the office its turning out great but a little bit on the slow side, most of our project in that region involve small construction crews, mostly in-house (owner), typically 2-3 year projects.


Does anyone fall into the business by accident? Yes, for sure.... its surprising given how difficult people say it is to enter this profession.


Most thought provoking course? Oakmont..... its just a grind, you need to be thinking about every shot or you will find yourself in a lot of trouble, often.

Holes? Anything that is wide, and/or has a lot of bunkers or trouble in/around the green. Find me an easy holes that provokes thought?

[Ryan Farrow]

Nice Ryan
How long has your firm been working in China?
How did the firm get the Mission Hills deal?
What have you learned that you didn't think you would?
Cheers

Lee and Brian have been working here for about 15-20 years.... . Lee lived in Hong Kong for a while working for Nicklaus, he was the lead designer on the Spring City project in Kunming....
 I think Brian first got involved in China through his work with Ron Fream? Not really sure on that one.

Again, not sure how Brian got the gig at the first Mission Hills project in Shenzhen. Nicklaus designed the first course there, the world cup course, and then Brian is responsible for about everything else after that, land planning and golf course design, sans the Norman Course.

So 10 courses later, here we are on Hainan Island building the next Mission Hills.


I've learned quite a bit about agronomy and warm season grasses..... but least expected..... learning how to manage on-site politics, the hierarchy of Chinese contractors and companies.... there are a lot of games being played, and its important to know who's on your side and what kind of motives other people have. You need to know your friends because they can help make your life a lot easier, its important to know who to go to, so you can get what you need to make sure something gets done right.

[George Pazin]

Ryan, it might be helpful to share a little background on your work experiences - when you started, where you are now, that sort of thing - a mini bio of sorts (of course, all within the bounds of what you feel comfortable sharing).

[Garland Bayley]

Watching people play golf left handed screws up my swing.  Does watching people play golf right handed do the same to you?

Haha. NO!

I don't get caught up in the details, my main problem is teaching kids.... or co-workers how to swing right-handed.

Phil's dad did a pretty good job teaching him from the opposite side.

Go ahead! It's OK to admit that right handers screw us up.

[Ryan Farrow]

Standard questions:

What brought you to golf?

Golf course architecture?

This website?

-----

JC, one of my friends believes my swing was cursed by a round with a guy with the biggest practice swing/real swing differential I have ever seen. Actually, he thinks I was cursed by something the guy said, not his swing. He was a real character, the kinda guy you meet at your local muni on a Saturday morning (and I mean that in a good way).

Standard questions:

What brought you to golf?

Golf course architecture?

This website?

-----

JC, one of my friends believes my swing was cursed by a round with a guy with the biggest practice swing/real swing differential I have ever seen. Actually, he thinks I was cursed by something the guy said, not his swing. He was a real character, the kinda guy you meet at your local muni on a Saturday morning (and I mean that in a good way).

What brought me to golf?

I first started noticing golf when my dad would leave for an outing or go on a 2 day golf trip with his co-workers. Then I would go on vacation to the Carolinas and my dad and brother would spend their days golfing when I was stuck at the beach with my mom and sister all day. My mom bought me my first set of clubs, probably in 7th or 8th grade, went out golfing with my brother a lot and finally got hooked.

Golf Course Architecture?

When I finally got outside of the local munis/public courses in Pittsburgh and went on a golf trip with my brother, I finally started to realize the difference between courses that were designed and courses that were just kind of found and slopped together. I then became more interested in better and better golf courses, you start to realize what you like and what you don’t like and start seeking out some more interesting layouts…. for the right price of course.
   About halfway through my freshman year (started out in graphic design) I really started to think about what I was doing with my life. Would I be happy designing websites when I am 30,40,50 years old. I was always interested in design, and was torn between architecture and landscape architecture before I enrolled in graphic design. Started doing some research on the web, e-mailed a few companies / architects and asked them what I should do to get into the profession. At about the same time I stumbled upon Golf Club Atlas. I think I was looking up information about Mike Strantz , Tobacco Road. I really admired his artistic approach to golf design, every course I had played or seen before lacked the kind of detail and originality that he expressed through his courses.  After browsing around and finally stumbling upon the discussion board, I sked Ran if I could join the website and had a lot of luck and a lot of help along the way.
Since the day I found Golf Club Atlas I worked on the maintenance crews at 2 Pittsburgh Courses: Chartiers Valley & Oakmont Country Club, Did the Tom Doak Internship, Worked for John Fought during my Senior year at Arizona State, and after a year at Schmidt-Curley I have moved to China in the front and center of the golf boom.

[Ryan Farrow]

Do you ever see Faldo or Couples in the office?

Not in the office. I had dinner with Faldo at Brian's house and recently got to meet Greg Norman and Hank Haney at our New Mission Hills project in Haikou.

Although I have heard rumors that Faldo & Couples spend their free time learning AutoCAD.

[Alex Miller]

Do you ever see Faldo or Couples in the office?

Ya, Ryan the only names Alex could drop were Fowler and Gore. Show him how it's done!

Is Forrest Richardson still your favorite GCA?

Oh man.

[Ryan Farrow]

Hi Ryan,

What is your favorite aspect of the business?

How much time do you spend on the road?  In China?

How quickly did you pick up shaping skills?

Cheers

Favorite aspect of the business?

Being in the business.... especially on the design side, but i just enjoy working in this profession day in, day out. Its all good.

How much time do you spend on the road?  In China?

I am in China full time now, return home about once every 4-5 months, vacation with my family and friends back home, and golf trips take up all my time in the States now. I travel quite a bit around Hainan Island, there are plenty of site visits, government meetings, site meetings, luckily our Mission Hills project is about 30 minutes from our office, so that takes up most of my time on a day to day basis and get back in time for dinner in the city. But really, not much travel to mainland China.


How quickly did you pick up shaping skills?

I like to think I can pick up shaping skills pretty quickly, but I just can't run a dozer. And to be honest, I'd much rather tell a shaper what to do!

I did plenty of finish shaping with an excavator when I worked on Tom Doaks project in Montana, enjoyed it but its a grind. I like coming back a day later and seeing what someone else has done. Most shapers we work with are pretty talented, and as long as they get good direction, they will do good work. And in the end, thats what really matters.

[Ryan Farrow]

Ryan,

Please describe the rules of Ryanball.

Also, tell everyone about your favorite golf courses: Cobbs Creek and Galen Hall.

Ryanball is golf my way, less rules, more fun. It usually ends up in a blank scorecard. I would play real golf but I'm just not any good.... but at least I can hit every fairway.


Cobbs Creek reminds me of North Park Golf Course in Pittsburgh, George will understand. And Galen Hall is just a mess. Thanks for the personal tour, if I were playing alone I would have drown myself in the Moat.

[after Lloyd trades the van in for a moped]
Harry: Just when I thought you couldn't possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this... and totally redeem yourself!

Paxon Hollow baby!

[Ryan Farrow]

Ryan,

What 5 classic courses and what 5 modern courses have influenced your thinking on architecture the most, and why?

What do you think requires more talent; creating 18 interesting holes out of a featureless site by moving earth to create interesting features or taking a great site and moving almost no dirt but instead just finding interesting golf holes?

Would you recommend USGA-spec greens in every case?  Why or why not?

Is there a particular architect, past or present, whose work you admire more than any other?


Thanks in advance.

5 Classic:
Oakmont - great course on average terrain, variety in green sites
NGLA - big - wide - fun - firm - fast - funky
Riviera - great strategy - again, on a very average site
Huntingdon Valley CC - Side Hill Golf at its finest
Bethpage Black - Great Parkland Golf, good angles, good use of trees

5 Modern:
Friars Head - golf course or piece of art?
Tobacco Road - Opened my eyes. wow. different (still have not been there)
Caledonia Golf & Fish Club- Atmosphere - Relaxing, southern comfort
Rustic Canyon - Unexpectedly interesting, looks like a mellow golf course until you actually get out there and play it.
Any Pete Dye Course - Once you learn to accept not every golf course has to look natural, you begin to love the shaping and of course, they are always a blast to play


What do you think requires more talent; creating 18 interesting holes out of a featureless site by moving earth to create interesting features or taking a great site and moving almost no dirt but instead just finding interesting golf holes?

Moving earth and creating holes.... Any dodo can find great golf holes on great sites. Not everyone can create something out of nothing.


Would you recommend USGA-spec greens in every case?  Why or why not?

NO! Especially if its my money.



Is there a particular architect, past or present, whose work you admire more than any other?

George Thomas... just because Mackenzie gets most of the love.

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