Hi everyone,
My name is Don Bartlett, and after many years of "visiting" this site, I finally reached out to Ran, who graciously accepted me into this great site. I have been playing this great game for the past 20 odd years, and have increasingly become interested in course architecture. I live 40 minutes northwest of Toronto, which provides many opportunities to travel the norhtern States. Over the past few years I've been fortunate to experiece some of the great courses in both the US and Canada and do travel 4-5 times a year for golf... Oak Hill, Monroe, Oakland Hills, Butler Nat'l, Rich Harvest Farms, Whistling Straits, and Inverness in the US, as well as St. George's, Hamilton, The National, Coppinwood, Muskoka Bay Club, Mad River and Redtail in Canada (to name a few).
I love playing the different courses to see the differences, and in some cases similarities between different architects in how they design a course. I don't have a favorite architech as I admire them all, but I certainly have a soft spot for Stanley Thompson, and Donald Ross designs...
Seeing decorated architects such as Tom Doak contributing on the site is an added bonus to all the knowledgeable folks that I've been getting my architecture fix from for some time now.
I look forward to contributing to the site, and getting to know you all as time goes by - perhaps even meeting some of you along my travels.
Don