http://jayflemma.thegolfspace.com/?p=3884Just a fun little piece. I might try "Which courses are straight out of 'Lord of the Rings '" next time, for fun of course.
From the article:
"Yes meets Jeff Buckley – Mike Strantz. Yes was always an acquired taste, one that, like Rush and old Genesis, made demands on the ear and required a tolerance for long, intricate songs that sometimes made no complete sense to anyone but the band (but you, of course, could interpret it however you wanted). Weird things like “The Gates of Delirium” or anything off Tales from Topographic Oceans, would get mixed in with rocking songs like “Roundabout” or “Going for the One.” It was eclectic, to be sure, but intricate, artistic, and intelligent. They were the proggiest of the prog rock bands that got noticed by the zeitgeist.
Some of Mike Strantz’s golf holes look like they belong on the cover of Yes albums. 11 at Monterey Peninsula Country Club and much of Tobacco Road leap to mind immediately.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” people always say. It was bold, intelligent, visually arresting, and outstanding golf.
Strantz was also as incendiary a talent as Jeff Buckley. He was great right out of the gate, dominating the landscape even in places formerly unassailable. Caledonia is the best course in Myrtle Beach. Tobacco Road is the only course to give Pinehurst No. 2 a run for its money, and Monterey Peninsula Shore Course fits perfectly between Pebble Beach and Cypress Point. Buckley, you may recall was a SONY artist put on their Legacy label right away, home of some of history’s greatest musicians across any genre or time period.
When asked the secret to his high-energy, emotion-ripping concert performances, Buckley said “It’s like long distance running. Just keep going until you can’t go any further. Then go further, because the moves you make then – when you’ve run out of steam and you’re totally on subconscious and not even thinking about the mechanics – the moves you make then are incredible.”
Buckley was talking about himself, but he was speaking for any true artist, any true trailblazer, any true maverick. Yes, even a golf course architect. Both his body of work and Mike’s are bold examples of what can be accomplished if you think outside the box. Sadly, like Jeff Buckley, we lost Mike to oral cancer far too soon, in the height of his ascension. The golf world mourns the loss of Strantz like it mourns the loss of Buckley – my God, what might have been.
Also like Buckley, we don’t think his work is better simply because he’s dead."