Mac, keep playing the greats, like reading the great books no reason to do much else. Read all the old interviews on the web site, many of the early ones are gems. Read many of Ran's Courses by Country, he has one of the best eyes in the world for GCA. For years I tried to read almost everything that Doak posted....
Brad...I'm taking you up on this and reading (and re-reading) many of these older interviews. I agree with your gems statement! Here is a few nuggets...
Tom Doak 1999 Is there a feature from the Golden Age of architecture that you think is missing from course design today? What’s missing most from modern golf course design is unpredictability.
In the old days, when you had a severe feature within the property, how it was used determined the character of the design. Nowadays, most architects either erase it with a bulldozer, or route the cart paths around it.
Brad Klein 1999Is there a feature from the Golden Age of architecture that you think is missing from course design today? 1. Good
routings2. Ability to play a golf course with one ball
3. Workable green contours
4. Attention paid to the 50 yards short of a green
5. Bunker contours and shape
Geoff Shackelford 1999 Is there a feature from the Golden Age of golf architecture that you think is missing from course design today?G.S.: No one feature. Just basically all of the key features from the Golden Age. Subtlety, mystery, natural looking beauty created by man, variety, irregularity, forced carries, decision-making, encouraging recovery play, skillful incorporation of drainage, intelligently-contoured greens, plenty of short holes, prudent
routings, etc…
Bill Coore 1999 Talks about their process for building a course.
Our working relationship at The Sand Hills was basically the same as for all of our courses. We work together in evaluating the site and agreeing upon a routing. Obviously, because of time constraints and Ben’s other commitments, I have more time to spend on the site. For that reason, it is generally my role to select individual golf holes that could be a part of any potential routing. Together, we assess these and any other potential holes and select the ones that will become the course.
After the routing is selected, we establish a general concept for the strategy and style of the individual holes and the course as a whole. This concept will include our thoughts regarding the holes’ strategy, the style of bunkering and the contouring of green sites and approaches. As much as the requirements for the permitting of the course will allow, we try to leave the details on contouring free to happen during the evolutionary process in the field.
From the start of construction on, ours is the job of establishing a starting point and giving guidance in the field. At times this guidance is specific, while at others it is minimal. We find ourselves editing the work of our associates in the field ever as much as directing it.
Gil Hanse 20001.
Is there a particular feature that is generally considered antiquated (cross bunkers, punchbowl greens, etc.) you think is missing from course design today?While the two you have mentioned certainly merit more use, I have become fascinated with an antiquated feature that hardly ever receives attention. It may not even be considered a feature in most people’s minds, but I think it warrants attention.
I truly love when architects use natural landforms as a hazard on a hole. By this I mean the use of a ridge, hollow, swale, or crease in the ground to promote strategy. Very often it is an improved line of sight that is the reward. If a player can avoid the landform, then he is often rewarded with a clear line of sight to the hole, or a more fruitful angle from which to attack the green site. If the player happens to roll into the hollow, or winds up behind the ridge, then they have a shot that is more difficult on the psyche, while not being technically much more difficult than a shot played from the same distance with a clear sight line. If these features can be highlighted by incorporating them in the fairway (so that the hopefully firm and fast conditions) will exaggerate the plight of the ball, they can be a very dramatic feature.
I find this subtle form of hazard, as opposed to a pond, stream, or even a bunker, can provide for a great deal of interest and variety in a round of golf. If you take it back far enough, it is an extension of the true nature of links golf, where the uneven nature of the lie, stance, and sight (or lack thereof) are truly dependent on the vagaries of the natural landscape. In this day and age, there are not many architects who would contemplate creating a situation where someone’s vision might be partially obscured on a hole (how could it be the signature hole if you cannot see it). I think that the use of natural landforms to subtly penalize a golfer is a great throw back to lay of the land architecture. A few examples that pop into mind are the fairway contours on the 16th Hole at The National, 13th Hole at Pine Valley (left side), several of the holes on the Back Nine at High Pointe, 7th Hole at East Hampton GC, 12th Hole at Inniscrone, and I can imagine with some thought we could all come up with a much more thorough list.
I also feel that these types of hazards can be used to varying degrees in keeping with the wayward nature of the shot. A player who has nearly pulled off a good shot could perhaps just not see the putting surface, a bit further away, and only the flag is visible, way off line and the shot is blind into the green. The same can be used if length instead of line is the factor on the hole, from nearly long enough to short, with the commensurate penalty for each shot. The final comment on the use of this feature is that Mother Nature provides these types of landforms in an infinite array of sizes, shapes, and character. Creating a situation where they can be used with imagination, and in a fresh way on any site that possesses them. Hopefully, architects that can use them in resourceful ways will be blessed with those sites.
Ron Whitten 2000...5. How do you think the period in course architecture (1985-1999) will be viewed in fifty years time?The era of extreme excess, both in money charged, money spent and earth moved.
One good recession will bankrupt most of what’s been built in this era, and one good drought will bankrupt the rest.
Mind blowingly good stuff!!!