[Niall Hay]

Does anyone know if this course is still offered or anything like it? Any variations?

Every summer at Harvard, armchair architects learn how to build their own layouts
Early this month, in room 111 of Harvard's Graduate School of Design, prospective golf course architects could be found eating each other for breakfast. The occasion was the class critique portion of Harvard's Golf Course Design course, an intensive two-day seminar for everyone from Dye-hard design groupies to rapacious land developers. The $570 tuition did include a spread of coffee and bagels, but the 33 students seemed to be interested only in chewing up each other's ideas.
A thirtyish, permatanned man sporting the logo of Bighorn Golf Club in Palm Desert, Calif., on his polo shirt was the first to step in front of the class and show off the hole he had sketched, a diabolical par-4 that doglegged between 13 bunkers and had a lake fronting the green. "You're giving us a sidehill fade lie to a green you have to draw the ball into, over a bunker, or else you drop it in the water?" asked an incredulous classmate. "That's a joke." The next victim was a woman in black who displayed a longish par-3, remarkable only for an inexplicable fairway bunker plopped 90 yards from the tee. "I just don't understand what the purpose of that bunker could possibly be," another student said in a reproachful tone. Finally, a brash undergraduate from Vanderbilt offered an uphill par-4 of 450 yards, saying he needed a challenge and was tired of hitting nine-irons into every green. "Not all of us hit the ball 280 yards," someone said, drawing a few guffaws, "and I think it's unfair to design a hole that demands it."
These sharp critiques were no surprise. If there's one subject about which all dimpleheads fancy themselves experts, it's course design, a fact that can be verified almost any afternoon in any country club grillroom. What's unusual about the Harvard seminar, now in its 12th year, is that it takes course architecture from the realm of scribbled-upon cocktail napkins and reveals the science as well as the aesthetics behind it. "A golf course is an art gallery with 18 different compositions," says Geoffrey Cornish, who teaches the course with another distinguished architect, Robert Graves. "Ours is such a strange and intriguing profession, and yet its mysteries can be mastered."
The sexiest part of the class is the requirement that all students draw an 18-hole layout. The results this year were a little more sketchy for some than others. Nearly half of the students were landscape architects. Also in attendance was a golf course architect as well as a fat cat who owned one course and had just purchased the land to develop a second. Still, this country-clubbish crowd of mostly over-30 white males had much to learn, and Graves and Cornish crammed the 16 hours of class time with lectures, slide shows, drawing exercises and graphic demonstrations that were both practical and fanciful, as were the professors.
Graves and Cornish have been doing their "dog and pony show," as Graves puts it, for various audiences across the country since 1976, and they have taught 12 seminars at Harvard. While both wear the shocking plaid jackets given to presidents of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, they are cut from different cloth. Cornish, 82, is old enough to have been friendly with Abraham Lincoln's son, Robert Todd Lincoln. Over the last five decades he has designed and built some 240 courses, 145 of them in the Northeast, which makes him almost as much an institution in the region as Harvard. He has seen a lot of changes in course design since World War II. He sums them up by saying dryly, "Fifty years ago I went all over New England taking out mounding. Now I'm going around putting it all back in."
"The historical perspective that Geoff brings and his personal connection with the old architects and classic courses is absolutely mind-blowing," said Warner Bowen, the class's lone course architect. Indeed, Cornish didn't so much lecture as spin yarns and offer breezy asides: Take the bit about the legendary designer of Winged Foot outside New York City, A.W. Tillinghast (Tilly, to his friends), impishly working phallic symbols into his blueprints. Or the revelation that the first bunkers were created by the hooves of livestock huddling behind hillocks from North Sea gales. Or the observation that grass stands more erect on courses near the ocean because of the salt in the air.
With his extensive slide collection Cornish took the class through a detailed history of design and talked extensively about the aesthetics of building courses. His philosophy is that anything goes, as long as the course is playable. "So often nowadays I arrive at courses only to find them bulldozing the very features that make a hole classic," he says. Cornish particularly lingered on the British linksland courses, which he says aspiring architects should study the way seminary students do the Bible.
If Cornish is an old-school romantic, Graves, 63, is a pragmatist. Most of Graves's work has been done on the West Coast, among the tree huggers, and he specializes in particularly tricky jobs. During the class he often affected the weary tone of a soldier who had just straggled back from the western front, not a Western time zone. "Golf course design is all about compromise," Graves said gravely, and he spit out words like wetlands and environmentalist. Graves was able to explain technical points such as how to build proper drainage into greens, how to construct bunker faces and how to resod fairways.
That might sound like dry stuff, but the wannabe architects lapped it up. Chris Doscher, a fourth-year landscape architecture major at the University of Massachusetts, which has no golf course design classes, came hoping to build connections as well as holes. "I hope this will help me get an internship," he said. "It can't hurt to have Harvard on your resume."
Then there was Mel Mindich, a real estate developer who already owned the nine-hole Harrisville Golf Course in Woodstock, Conn., and last summer bought 213 acres in Shirley, N.Y., to build a daily-fee course. Mindich stood out among his classmates by spending most breaks yakking on his cell phone. He had hired an architect for his Long Island course but came to Harvard to gain a richer understanding of the scope of the project. "As Bob Graves said, a good leader needs to understand what every person working for him is doing," says Mindich. Though Mindich claimed he would not be a hands-on owner, he left Harvard sounding like golf's Jerry Jones. "It's nice to be able to put a sand trap wherever you want," Mindich said. "You buy your own course, and you ought to be able to do whatever the hell you please."
Mitchell Wright, a master's candidate in landscape architecture at Harvard, was the only nongolfer in the class, and he gamely suffered through the lunchtime patter, which tended toward breathless accounts of the latest Fazio layout or ruminations on MacKenzie bunkering. "I'm not so interested in the golf stuff," Wright said. "I'm concentrating on the sculptural aspects of the land, especially the view corridors and view sheds." Uh, O.K.
Juan Carlos Arteaga had traveled to Cambridge from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where he has been helping to build that country's first golf course community. "This class is a bargain," he said. "All this free consulting." Arteaga had lugged with him the preliminary blueprints of his development Inn then thought it would be tacky to foist them on the profs. Still, he said, "in two days I have decided to make two thousand changes."
Not so shy about tapping the expertise of the teachers was Paula Adelman, who had come from Israel. An accredited LPGA teaching pro, Adelman lives in Caesarea, 20 miles north of Tel Aviv, and last year oversaw construction of Israel's first driving range, in nearby Netanya. (There is only one 18-hole course for the country's 4,000 golfers.) As golf director at the Wingate Institute of Physical Education and Sport in Netanya, where Israel's national teams train, Adelman was planning to build three practice holes on a nine-acre lot next to the range. Cornish and Graves helped her lay out two par-3 holes and a short, sharply doglegged par-4. "I was more than pleased at how willing everybody was to give his knowledge," Adelman said. "You don't realize how much there is to this until you actually try it."
Indeed. Cornish loved telling the story of the grand opening of Stratton Mountain Golf Club, a monumental building job he did on a gnarly, boulder-strewn mountainside in Vermont. Arnold Palmer was brought in to play the ceremonial first round, and as he was walking down one of the beautiful fairways, he was moved to say, "My, weren't you lucky to find such nice flat areas in between all these rocks." That was in 1969, long before Palmer became an accomplished architect. No doubt he would see it differently today. Once you've been introduced to golf course architecture, things never do look quite the same.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1008651/index.htm

[Niall Hay]

Has anyone here attended one of these? Or taught one?

[PCCraig]

I checked a couple years back, and as far as I can tell the class hasn't been held for a few years now.

[Niall Hay]

Damn, they should either start it back up again with the same people or recreate a “minimalist school” for guys like Doak, Coore, Crenshaw, DeVries, Hanse…..or even have competing schools of Fazio, Nicklaus, RTJ2.  Dye would also be a great instructor.   Historical schools like the British Isles (links), or the Philadelphia, etc.

Anyone with any more information or details?

[BCrosby]

Check with Harvard.

I had heard the course was discontinued. Don't know why unless it had to do with Geoffrey Cornish who taught it for a number of years. He (I forget his co-author) wrote the textbook they used.

Bob 

[Niall Hay]

Already have put in a request for more information from them and am waiting to hear back. Was more looking for any experience here with the program or knowledge of it.

Robert Graves was his partner for this.

[PCCraig]

Already have put in a request for more information from them and am waiting to hear back. Was more looking for any experience here with the program or knowledge of it.

Robert Graves was his partner for this.

Niall,

Please let me know what you hear back.

[Dan Kelly]

I checked a couple years back, and as far as I can tell the class hasn't been held for a few years now.

If the coursework at Harvard is getting the same treatment as Cornish's course work here in Minnesota ... they're probably just undoing everything he suggested. (SOURCE: "From Fields to Fairways: Classic Golf Clubs of Minnesota," by Rick Shefchik; University of Minnesota Press -- available now for pre-purchase.)

Maybe they'll reoffer the course someday, de-Cornished.

[Mike Nuzzo]

Howdy Niall

Come down to Houston and I'll give you a graduate level course for the same $570, bagels included

Honestly - there is a lot more value hidden in this discussion group than any architect could teach in 2 days
And you can even enter the next routing contest

Cheers

[Peter Pallotta]

Reminds me of an old joke: "I just graduated with a degree in philosophy.  With any luck, one day I'll make as much money as some poets".  Which is to say, I have a feeling that gladiators have as much chance of getting a good job in this economy...

Peter

Actually, it would of course be very neat sitting in a Harvard classroom listening to a one-day-to-be-Old-Dead-Guy riff about architecture.

[Jay Flemma]

Why not take the courses at Rutgers offered by Stephen Kay?  His students like it and tend to go on to do great things.

[Niall Hay]

Already have put in a request for more information from them and am waiting to hear back. Was more looking for any experience here with the program or knowledge of it.

Robert Graves was his partner for this.

Niall,

Please let me know what you hear back.

Will do.

[Niall Hay]

Here is a newer mention as recently as 2002.

Harvard Design School announces Golf Course Design and Development Institute Seminars

Harvard Design School announces Golf Course Design and Development Institute Seminars

 

This summer Executive Education at the Harvard Design School will offer the final sessions of the Harvard Design School Golf Course Design and Development Institute, a group of seminars related to the planning and design of golf courses and resorts. These are: Golf Clubhouse Design and Site Planning (June 12-14, 2002/tuition $895); Golf/Residential Site Planning (June 17-19, 2002/tuition $895); Golf Course Development I—The Three Rs: Rounds, Rates, and Revenues (June 25-26, 2002/tuition $625); Golf Course Development II—Design Impacts on Cost and Operations (June 27,2 2002/tuition $325); and Golf Course Appraisal (June 28, 2002/tuition $325); as well as Golf Course Design and Golf Course Environmental Concerns and Cost-Effective Construction offered in the spring. These seminars may be taken in any combination for tuition discounts.
 
Instructors include golf course designers Brian Silva and Robert Muir Graves, environmentalists Michael Hurdzan and William Burbank, architects Kenneth DeMay and Richard Diedrick; and golf development consultant Barbara Hanley. 

For more information visit www.gsd.harvard.edu/execed.

[BCrosby]

"environmentalist Michael Hurdzan"  ??

Bob

[Niall Hay]

Found this from 2004:

http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php?topic=12236.0;wap2

HARVARD DESIGN SCHOOL ANNOUNCES
GOLF COURSE DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT SEMINARS

Seminars for Professionals in the Golf Industry: Throughout January, February, March, and April 2004, the Harvard Design
School Office of Executive Education will offer design professionals over 50 continuing education seminars in a wide range of disciplines such as architecture, urban planning and design, marketing and business management, leadership, and
environmental design and restoration.  The one- to three-day seminars will take place in and around the Harvard University
campus, with fees ranging from $405 to $1,025. Included in these programs is the Harvard Design School Golf Course Design and Development Institute, consisting of six seminars dealing with varied aspects of golf course design and development,taught by leading professionals in the industry.

Harvard Design School Golf Course Design and Development Institute:

·         Golf Course Design | March 29-30, 2004
With Instructors: Brian M. Silva, Cornish, Silva and Mungeam Inc., Uxbridge, MA; Andrew Staples, Robert Muir Graves &
Damian Pascuzzo, Ltd., El Dorado Hills, CA.

·         Golf Clubhouse Programming, Planning, and Design | March 29-31, 2004 With Instructors: Richard Diedrich, Diedrich LLC, Atlanta, GA; Dwight H. DeMay, Hart Howerton, San Francisco, CA.
Guest speakers: Bob Wesselman, The Bear's Club, Jupiter, FL; Cindy Anderson, Troon Golf, Scottsdale, AZ.

·         The Landfill/BrownfieldGolf Equation | March 31, 2004
With Instructor: Roy Case, Case Golf Company, Lake Worth, Fl.
Guest speakers: Robert Colangelo, Brownfield News, Chicago, IL; Danielle Miller Wagner, International City/County
Management Association, Washington, DC; John Sapora and Brandon Johnson, First Tee Program, St. Augustine, FL;
Robin Bullock, Atlantic Richfield Co.; Peggy Cullen, AIG, New York, NY; Michael Hill, Marsh Inc., Washington, DC;
Jeffery Telego, Risk Management Technologies, Inc., Alexandria, VA; Anthony Ianello, Illinois Port Authority; Linda
Garczynski, U.S.Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC; Dawn Moses, City of Houston, TX; Glenn Stock, ET
Environmental Corp., Atlanta, GA; Bill Gauger, EnCap Golf Holdings, Raleigh, NC.

·         Golf Course Restoration | March 31, 2004
With Instructors: Brian M. Silva, Cornish, Silva and Mungeam Inc., Uxbridge, MA; Geoff Shackelford, author, Santa
Monica, CA.

·         Golf Course Environmental Considerations and Cost-Effective Construction | April 1-2, 2004
With Instructor: Michael J. Hurdzan, Hurdzan Golf Course Design, Inc., Columbus, OH.
Guest speaker: William Burbank, Abbellire, Inc., Sandwich, MA.

·         Golf-Residential Site Planning | April 1-3, 2004
With Instructors: Dwight H. DeMay, Hart Howerton, San Francisco, CA; Steve Garbier, Sasaki Associates Inc., Watertown,
MA.
Guest speakers: Tom Berkley, The Pine Hills, Plymouth, MA; Gary Anderson and David McIntyre, Sasaki Associates Inc.

A complete list of seminars can be found on our web site: http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/professional/exec_ed/seminars

Executive Education Seminars reflect the Harvard Design Schools role as the nations leading center for education,
information, research, and technical expertise on architecture and the built environment through its three major
departments--architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning and design.  Beyond its academic degree programs, the school educates a broad range of design professionals, policy makers, government officials, business leaders, and the public about architecture and design and their impact on our lives and communities through a rich array of conferences, exhibitions, and research activities.  The Executive Education Seminars are one component of the schools many initiatives in continuing education, including the Career Discovery Program and the Loeb Fellowship Program. 

The Harvard University Graduate School of Design Executive Education Seminars are registered with the AIA Continuing
Education System (AIA/CES) and are committed to developing quality learning activities in accordance with the CES criteria.
Harvard University Graduate School of Design Executive Education is also registered with the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) as a provider of Continuing Professional Education programs for landscape architects.

[Tim Nugent]

Welll, yes, I did attend one of these back in 1989/90.  Mr. Cornish and Mr. Graves were friends of my father's.  I remeber they gave us a site that had indian burial groiunds and we had to route an 18-hole course.  I don't remember the peanut gallery being so vocal. Mike Hurdzan was also there as he appeared to be being groomed to take over one of the instructor slots.
Although I didn't learn much about Golf Architecture, I did discover Sam Adams beer and can say "I studied at Harvard" LOL

[Tom_Doak]

I think the classes were discontinued in 2007 or 2008, for obvious reasons.

I've received lots of resumes over the years that mention the Harvard class, prominently but very vaguely.  It's probably more impressive to someone who doesn't know it was just a five-day gig [and someone who didn't go to an Ivy League school ].  I've been told it was very useful by some past participants, though.  John Darby did that class and went on to build several prominent courses in New Zealand.

Actually, the Harvard class is just a longer offshoot of a one- or two-day seminar that Graves and Cornish used to do at the GCSAA show every year.  Don't know if that one is still going on or not.

[Bill Gayne]

I took the three day course about seven or eight years ago and it was the most fun I've ever had in the classroom. Brian Silva was the primary instructor and some of his associates assisted. Brian and his presentation style made the whole experience worthwhile. I took the course for fun and my own personal enrichment. There were maybe 12-15 people in the class and my sense was that most of them were serving on green committees and their purpose was to be better committee members. I don't recall it being very expensive.

(Maybe second most fun, there was the day at Gonzage HS that Father Wheeler brought in a guillotine for European history class)

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

This does seem like fun. I can honestly say extended Q&A in a semi classroom  setting with architects, shapers etc can be a delight.

[Niall Hay]

I think the classes were discontinued in 2007 or 2008, for obvious reasons.

Actually, the Harvard class is just a longer offshoot of a one- or two-day seminar that Graves and Cornish used to do at the GCSAA show every year.  Don't know if that one is still going on or not.

What are the obvious reasons?

[Niall Hay]

This does seem like fun. I can honestly say extended Q&A in a semi classroom  setting with architects, shapers etc can be a delight.

It does sound like fun! And interesting.

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()