These are the people I think about most often when designing a course, or just the people who I would put in charge of the game if I wanted to protect it from ruin.
Please note that my list does not include clients, nor associates past or present. Several in each category would be candidates for my list, but if I included one, I'd have to include them all. It's presented alphabetically, of course.
John Ashworth - If I was the president of golf, John would be the Secretary of Keeping the Game Cool.
Archie and Sheila Baird - You could say Sheila was born into golf -- she is Willie Park's grand-daughter. Archie, a retired veterinarian and renowned golf collector, is the keenest golfer I know; he loves to play foursomes matches, and he wins way more than his share by hitting a 140-yard wood shot close for a net birdie. He's my living reminder that a course needs to be fun for players of his age and ability. Secretary of Education, thanks to Archie's little museum at Gullane.
Bill Coore - The more I'm around him, the more I'm humbled.
Ben Crenshaw - From the time I wrote to him at age 18 to ask how to pursue this career, he has treated me like I was his younger cousin, letting me tag along in practice rounds to talk about courses [and see Seve up close!]. When he took us out to Austin Golf Club last year, I asked on the way out how often he gets out there when he's in town, and he quickly responded, "Every day." Ben is already the Secretary of Defense of the Game ... I think W. appointed him.
Pete and Alice Dye - I owe them my whole career; they allowed me to watch and learn and they never held anything back. But it's more than that. Pete's enthusiasm for the work of golf course construction is the same example I try to set for everyone around me, and his battle of wits with great players was a master class in design.
Kim Gardner - The reason I pay just as much attention to how women will play my courses as how the men will -- I never met anyone who loved to play golf more than Kim. She had her sights on the LPGA, but she only got as far as a Curtis Cup player, US Amateur semi-finalist, and the Futures Tour; now living happily ever after as a club professional teaching kids the game. She's also the one who gave me the title for my next book -- "Americans are going to ruin golf."
Woody Millen - My favorite member of the blue-blood, old school golf crowd. He was the project chairman at Piping Rock when I did the work there for Mr. Dye 25 years ago; we had dinner and talked golf every night for two months straight. Still participates on the board at Palmetto Golf Club.
Brian Morgan - The first great golf course photographer, and a true globetrotter.
Fred Muller - Now in his thirty-second year at Crystal Downs, Fred's hospitality to a college student in 1982 is the main reason I live where I do today. In this list, he also represents the many other great club pros whom I have met over the years -- guys who were not only good players and teachers, but who could fix clubs and keep the green committee on the straight and narrow. I don't get the sense that so many of the young guys today love golf in as many ways.
Ken Nice - The best line I ever heard about him came from Dave Wilber, who said if an architect thinks of his golf courses as his children, then Ken is the guy you hope your daughter will marry. Secretary of Agriculture, naturally.
Harrie Perkins - Jim Urbina calls him the original Martian, just a guy who appeared out of the blue who loved everything about golf courses and wanted to hang around us a bit to understand it all. His idea of a great vacation is to go from Texas to the President's Putter at Rye, in January, just to watch.
Bill Shean - When he hosted me at Butler National, back when I was in college, Bill was the classic club champion type player who wasn't able to play at the next level; he was just too humble to believe he belonged. Eventually, he went to Bob Rotella, who advised him to get a bit of an edge, and he wound up setting the amateur course record at Pine Valley, and then winning the U.S. Senior Amateur. Twice. Occasionally I will meet someone who doesn't like him, and I know at once that he kicked their butts in competition, because otherwise he is still one of the nicest people in the world.
Dick Youngscap - I wish he'd been my client, but since he wasn't, I can include him here. His background as a building architect gives him a unique perspective on the client-architect relationship, but most of all, he has succeeded where others fail because he is much more practical than any of the rest. Secretary of the Treasury -- and I wish to God he was really it, instead of the numbskull we've got in there now.
Those no longer with us, who might otherwise be on this list:
Peter Dobereiner
Heather Farr
Jack May