Empty space

[Don_Mahaffey]

In design, what is the power of empty space? Is there any?
A good novel can’t have you on the edge of your seat the whole time, can it? Doesn’t it have to ebb and flow, and how the author builds on the story and keeps you interested during the slow periods, isn’t that the key?
The great movies have climaxes, exciting scenes, but telling the story in between those exciting scenes, slowly building to something through great story telling, isn’t that most important? Sure we have some movies where things blow up in every scene, but who remembers those?
So, what about the use of empty space in golf design? Building two hundred bunkers, 10 ponds and making every hole a “signature” is not difficult design. Expensive and photogenic for sure, but good design, I don’t think so.
When I was younger and starting out as a Superintendent, I was taught the importance of definition. I was a super in the southwest where everything was overseeded; every height of cut had a different size stripe, perfectly straight in the short grass areas, wavy in the rough. It was all about definition, sensory overload. Then I visited St Andrews.
The grass was mottled; the mowing lines invisible, the flags just waving on the horizon, lots and lots of empty space. It wasn’t really empty, in fact if was full of all sots of interesting ground, but it was disconcerting, hard to play. What was I to aim for, where was the trouble, where was the definition? It was an entirely different experience and one that completely changed my thinking.
Is there power in empty space? Or is that just more mindless drivel that the literacy police are quick to jump?

[jeffwarne]

In design, what is the power of empty space? Is there any?
A good novel can’t have you on the edge of your seat the whole time, can it? Doesn’t it have to ebb and flow, and how the author builds on the story and keeps you interested during the slow periods, isn’t that the key?
The great movies have climaxes, exciting scenes, but telling the story in between those exciting scenes, slowly building to something through great story telling, isn’t that most important? Sure we have some movies where things blow up in every scene, but who remembers those?
So, what about the use of empty space in golf design? Building two hundred bunkers, 10 ponds and making every hole a “signature” is not difficult design. Expensive and photogenic for sure, but good design, I don’t think so.
When I was younger and starting out as a Superintendent, I was taught the importance of definition. I was a super in the southwest where everything was overseeded; every height of cut had a different size stripe, perfectly straight in the short grass areas, wavy in the rough. It was all about definition, sensory overload. Then I visited St Andrews.
The grass was mottled; the mowing lines invisible, the flags just waving on the horizon, lots and lots of empty space. It wasn’t really empty, in fact if was full of all sots of interesting ground, but it was disconcerting, hard to play. What was I to aim for, where was the trouble, where was the definition? It was an entirely different experience and one that completely changed my thinking.
Is there power in empty space? Or is that just more mindless drivel that the literacy police are quick to jump?

empty space is quite useful if a player gains an edge by utilizing a specific portion of it to gain an advantage (call it knowledge reward as opposed to risk reward)
ANGC used to have quite a bit

[Peter Pallotta]

Don - so many ways to approach this good topic (I think Ben S has discussed "Mu") but so hard, because it comes down to talent, and how does one describe or proscribe that? Most every writer and musician and dancer etc knows the theory/purpose of 'space' -- but whether or not they manage to put it into practice and use it effectively is another matter.  Do you know the concept of "ghost notes". In jazz, during a horn player's solo, he will sometimes end a long musical phrase not by actually playing the last 3 or 4 notes but by simply fingering them while not blowing any air through the horn, such that the concluding notes, the ghost notes, are implied rather than heard. But gosh darn it, don't you know that when it really works, it is like i can actually "hear" those notes, and I can certainly "feel" them. There is silence and space there, and yet -- because of all that's come before -- that space is not empty and inert but vibrant and alive.  Quite magical, really, this thing called talent.

Peter

[Mike Nuzzo]

My first thought was recollecting the movie Sexy Beast with Ben Kingsley.
I don't know how long it was before we first saw Sir Kingsley's in the movie, but the cast sure spent a lot of time selling him as a scary person. 
So when he got on site everything he did was magnified. 
If he looked cross, you knew it was bad, very bad.

[Peter Pallotta]

PS - I think skyline greens work on that principle, especially when they really work -- the back portion of the green (whatever there is of it) is implied rather than seen, felt rather than recognized; and the same for the dips/valleys in the fairway close up to the green, where the ghost of a bunker/hazard seems to reside. And trees too, the ones that frame vistas instead of golf holes, where the space between what is the field of play and what isn't becomes less defined/definable, and so allows the golfer to fill in the blanks.

Peter  

[Mike McGuire]

“As human beings, we have a natural compulsion to fill empty spaces”

― Will Shortz

I never heard of Will Shortz but a Google search turned this quote up #1.

You see this in landscaping everywhere. Put a tree there a bed over there, until there is no space left. Then its done.

If the golfer sees empty space does his mind become uncomfortable ?

[Tom_Doak]

Don:

It's a very good topic.

One of the main features of my designs that most people don't pick up on is how often I leave one side of the green "undefended" ... I like to load up one side of the green with trouble and leave the other side open [though not necessarily leaving an easy up and down, due to contours].

The second green at Pacific Dunes is the first example that comes to mind.  You've got a bunker short right and another hidden up in the dunes on the right, but on the left there is nothing but short grass, with a couple of low natural rolls that feed some shots into the green.  The problem is, if you aim over there for safety and miss just a bit wide to the left, now you've got to come up and over those rolls and down onto the green, and gravity is not your friend, and it's very difficult to get up and down.

If there were bunkers over on that side, nobody would ever play to that side.  The fact that it's empty space lures a lot of golfers there, subconsciously ... even very good players who ought to know better.

A lot of the good players who prefer Bill Coore's courses to mine, do so because Bill's greens are more surrounded by bunkers.  They don't like the openness to one side of the green because they feel that inferior players can get away with a weak second shot and still make par. 

Of course, I learned all of this from The Old Course.  And, as Jeff says, Augusta used to have a lot of it, too.

[BCrosby]

Tom -

Your point about empty space applies well to the thread on the 2nd at TOC. The undefended entrance to the green from the right was a key reason why the hole worked so well. Until this week, that is.

Now it's just a harder, but less interesting hole.

Bob

[David Harshbarger]

Don,

I had that same disoriented feeling at Rustic Canyon.  On 12, there's so much room right it was  to figure how far  away from the left to play.  And on 13, the space left and right of the centerline bunker  made the centerline seem more attractive, as at least it provided definition.  At least that's how I remember it.  In a sense empty space is one of the most interesting features, psychologically.  

I've never been to Wolf Point but the photos seem to have that same character of disorientation and unease.

Dave

[Peter Pallotta]

Bob- your post on The Old Course reminded me of your essays on the debates there almost a century ago. To borrow my own language, I thought of the debates now as between those who relished all that was implied and those who saw the ghosts and empty spaces as flaws, and wanted to fill in the blanks.

Peter

[BCrosby]

Peter -

I love the way your mind works.

I would not have thought of those old debates in the way you described above. But yes, that's an interesting way to characterize them. One side relishing space, another anxious to fill it with rough, bunkers, water, o.b., etc.

One group of architects who want to set the player free and let foozles take care of themselves; another group who are bothered that a player might get away with a missed shot.

Bob

[Peter Pallotta]

Bob - thank you, but I think it was all there in your essay, including the perennial nature of the debate (all the more so because it isn't often out in the open). Neither Mr. Dawson, for example, nor Mr. Crane, think/thought of themselves as lacking in imagination, or as not appreciating the poetry of half-finished thoughts and pregnant empty spaces, and so -- as you outlined in the essays -- it has apparently always been useless to try showing them (as Behr did, as Tom D and others do) what they are missing by using the language of art and creative ideals. Nothing not proscribed and scripted and conscious seems to resonate with those who insist on the letter of the law and not the spirit, or with those who value most of all what can be seen over what can be felt.  (I liked and respect JN as a person and a golfer, and as an architect -- but his strength during all those years of winning majors was that he seemed wholly lacking in imagination -- a good trait for a golfer in that it allowed him to stay in the moment and neither lament what just happened and what might've been nor worry/be elated over what was still to come...but maybe not so useful in appreciating the magic of the Old Course).

Peter  

[Don_Mahaffey]

This subject fascinates me. It is also very difficult for me to collate my thoughts on it as I find it difficult to describe, so I hope you have some patience with my ramblings below. It’s about the feelings I get when I play a course that makes great use of space.

I don’t like being told how to play. I don’t like aiming bunkers, framing features, mowing lines that define and direct me around. Seems to me like good use of space is more about what you leave out then how cleverly you leave your mark.

I like Peter’s post about the ghost notes. How is that possible; how can a performer pull that off and have it praised (or not noticed) instead of criticized as being lazy for not finishing? I believe he brings the audience inside the music. They are no longer just listening, analyzing note quality or measuring progressions, they are involved. They are part of it, and a talented performer lets them finish the piece; he adds no more then necessary.

In golf design, I see few architects who try and involve the golfer. They want him to play golf, not immerse him within the course. So they direct him, challenge his execution, punish him for his failures, and show him some pretty scenes along the way. We dazzle them with impeccable maintenance, and fast greens, but we don’t try to bring him inside the course. Golf by numbers.

We are in the dark ages of course renovation. We alter our courses for all the wrong reasons; ratings, tournaments, keeping up with the Jones’. We use data, shot link, distances, % of slope and stimpmeters, distribution uniformity and sand specs, it can all be justified. But at what price? Is anyone trying to bring the golfer inside the course? I don’t think so. We guide him around, define the targets, give him nice grass, and hope he doesn’t get bored.

St Andrews Old had the best use of space I’ve ever seen. Most of it is still there, but the cat is out of the bag. The changes will all be based on data, for sure. What else could you use as the man in charge of the work doesn’t play golf? We know he’s not going to get lost within the course; he’s going to be directed by shot link data and scoring averages, distances carried, and percentage of slope.

Maybe I’m the only guy who has felt what its like to be immersed in a golf course. To lose track of score, hole number, and time; to just get so sucked in as to be completely in the moment. That has happened to me a few times. I guess for some it only happens when they are striking it great. Their great days on the course happen when they play well, and we all want to play well so I get that. For me, the special days are when the course sucked me in. When I felt like I was a part of it instead of trying to beat it. I’ve felt that at The Old Course and I’ve felt it at a few other courses as well. I believe the use of “empty” uncluttered space has a lot to do with immersion.   Am I alone?

[Steve Lang]

  I zoned out at TOC on first and only visit back in 1996, but i attributed it to reading preparation, walking around the day before, immersing mind in the museum offerings from the topo map.. onwards. perhaps it was gazing upon the Himilayas, or just the general domain of the place.. but in the end, the space was defined by its borders, horizons, steeples to aim at etc.. just like trees or your aiming bunkers.. just a bit more quaint for this Ohio Yankee-Texan in an old king & queens court.

You're not alone, but perhaps at 1 AM in any time zone one is ...

do you want golfers to use a compass?

[Howard Riefs]

“As human beings, we have a natural compulsion to fill empty spaces”

― Will Shortz

I never heard of Will Shortz but a Google search turned this quote up #1.

Crossword puzzle editor at the New York Times, star of "Worldplay" documentary and, my favorite, Indiana Univ alum with a degree in his self-created major: Enigmatology.

[Don_Mahaffey]

do you want golfers to use a compass?

Yes, the one built-in between their ears

[Peter Pallotta]

Don - I think the way you described ghost notes (the musician bringing the audience inside the music, involved instead of analyzing) was spot on. In music, I think one of the ways this is accomplished is through the soloist using phrases and patterns that have such lovely internal logic that they bring the listener along and then -- when they are involved -- allows them to feel the last few notes themselves. I have guesses and theories about the analogies to gca, but they will be worthless to gents like you.

Peter

[Blake Conant]

Blank space, negative space, white space, whatever you want to call it is just as important as the subject matter.  In undergrad, negative space was always preached.  It helps define the subject matter, balance the work, and draw the viewer in.  We used to do exercises in life drawing or still life painting where we "worked" the negative space, drawing everything but the subject matter i.e., instead of drawing the thing, draw the stuff around the thing.  Really helped define boundaries of the object, develop advanced compositional skills, and learn about balance in your work.  

If any designer, 2d or 3d, can understand formal qualities (form, line, color, texture, space, composition, content) and how to use negative space, the design will probably be successful.

Strategy, scale, and how people use the same space so differently just make it a more complex puzzle for golf course designers to solve.

[Peter Pallotta]

Blake - thanks for contributing that; the insight of a visual artist is much better/more useful than using music or writing as a parallel. 

Peter

[Don_Mahaffey]

Blake,
How are you?
So in golf design, is it the proportionality of negative space vs active space? Is the target always the active space, framed by the negative or empty space, or if not the target, at least the area of focus, like a green flanked by bunkers?  I think this is the most common use, and I think this gives the good player comfort and confidence. He doesn't have question the journey, only focus on the destination. But what if the destination is hidden, in plain sight, within the negative space? What then?
Does any of that make sense? Are my questions valid?

[David Harshbarger]

Don, it all makes sense to me and I find your construction of the argument compelling and gripping.  The analogy to subject and background is good to understand, but I believe what you are talking about is a course that does away the traditional constructs that make up the subject in that analogy.

Tom Doak made a comment on one of the TOC threads about how TOC is unique in being undesigned, or as much so as possible given the inherent artifice of the game.  In that sense, the whole course is background with foreground features like greens emergent while retaining characteristics of the background.   I think a better analogy in the visual arts is to abstract expressionism, as in the works of a Jackson Pollack or the color field painters.

If TOC is the ultimate expression of minimalist design, an interesting question is how would or could you create, or maybe, allow other courses to emerge from the background?  Would it really have to be the right land, the right caretaker, a set of enthusiasts, and time and play?  At some point a course, any course, would have to evolve towards some formal structure.  But to avoid the designed nature, how could you proceed?  Rabbits and sheep would be useful, so that decisions on what to mow are limited.  There would need to be enough ground to make it interesting. 

A long narrow strip of land could be a plus, as many arbitrary routing questions are solved for you.  With a square, you have to answer questions about which direction, how far, and when do you turn.  With a strip, you have simple questions.  How far do we play first?  Now, second.  Now, third.  Where you stop would be dictated as much by where the sheep graze enough to make an interesting place putt. 

Hazards would be as much what was there to avoid, or use, as any other consideration.  The quality of the land would be paramount.  The scale of ground movement and features would need to be enough to create interest, but not so much to overwhelm.

Finally, you'd need to have people willing to go out and play the game, to prove the course, to make it relevant.  They could not be expected to travel far nor to pay much.  They would be proving the course as much as playing it. 

Frankly, I don't know that a course for golf could develop organically ever again.  Makes TOC and many of the other original links that much more special.  It seems unlikely that space could ever transform into a course in quite that way ever again, or that the minimal amount form required to be a golf course could no more than just emerge from the background.

[Neil White]

Blank space, negative space, white space, whatever you want to call it is just as important as the subject matter.  In undergrad, negative space was always preached.  It helps define the subject matter, balance the work, and draw the viewer in.  We used to do exercises in life drawing or still life painting where we "worked" the negative space, drawing everything but the subject matter i.e., instead of drawing the thing, draw the stuff around the thing.  Really helped define boundaries of the object, develop advanced compositional skills, and learn about balance in your work.

Blake,

From reading this are you suggesting that as much thought and effort goes into the 'space' as does the subject?

Don,

Can you give an example of where a destination is hidden in plain sight?  Is this theory more suited to tee shots as opposed to a shot into a green where the pin gives an indication of the destination?

Both,

Is it possible that the design of 'space' if not understood by the viewer has less psychological impact than those able to 'see' it? I guess this is a double edged sword.

As an example of how people use space - in retail we ran a trial using cameras above the entrance to our stores to see which direction customers went.  A high percentage ( I cannot remember the exact number ) went to the left as soon as entering the store - this was regardless of how we had laid the store out ( by aisle ).

Does the same apply to the golfer?

Are we predisposed to look at a hole one way over another, and can an architect use this to his / her advantage when utilising 'space'?

Neil.

[Blake Conant]

Neil, the idea of "drawing the negative" is really useful.  It can help the designer look at the subject in a different way and generate more ideas on how to best use the space.  Unfortunately I think it's an underutilized tactic.

Don, I'm not nearly the authority on this subject as you and others in the thread, but I'll do my best to answer. 

Can a destination/target be hidden, in plain sight, within the negative space (i'm going to use the word passive space)?  Presumably this would make the good player question the route rather than focus on the destination.  By definition, negative space is the space surrounding the subject (target).  You could plop a target in a bunch of passive space, but it's a bit of a catch 22 if you do.  The more passive space you've got surrounding a target, the more it's highlighted.  Similar to putting a big white mat on a tiny print, it's going to make you notice it even more.  The good thing about passive space is it's not empty, you can use it to place secondary and tertiary subjects to keep the eye moving and keep the design active. 

Like you said, proportion of those areas is key and it's rarely equal.  Balancing that is the artistry.  Part of the reason why I think those courses with 200 bunkers and 10 ponds aren't usually successful.  It's also one of the reasons I really like looking at golf courses.  They are works of art with a hell of a lot more thought devoted to them than 99% of the stuff in museums.  It's fun finding the subtleties that ultimately define the course.

As for me, I'm just finishing up grad school and ready to get back to work.  all is well besides the backbreaking sports night yesterday. Not a good day to be an adopted UGA fan and a lifelong Husker fan.  Schneider made sure to rub that Badger's win in pretty good via constant, berating text messages.  If there was any question about my soul being completely crushed, he made sure to leave no doubt.  Hoping all is well on your end and tell Ryan I said good luck this spring.   

[Peter Pallotta]

Don - I'm reminded of the first pictures I saw on here of Wolf Point. There was a large stand of trees way off the the distance, and I commented that I could sense/feel how beyond those trees there was just mile and miles of flat Texas landscape, and large herds of cattle. I think that's an instance where space works both ways, i.e. 1) you and Mike crafted a big wide course that fit with the native landscape perfectly, framed by the big wide Texas sky above and that stand of trees in the distance, and by what I could imagine beyond; and 2) the sky and trees that i could see and the broad expanse of Texas that I could imagine in turn 'worked backwards' and gave a meaning (for lack of a better word) and a presence/context for what you had created -- in other words, the empty space beyond the confines of the course helped me to understand/experience the course itself in a deeper way (and just with pictures no less!).

Peter 

[Don_Mahaffey]

Don - I'm reminded of the first pictures I saw on here of Wolf Point. There was a large stand of trees way off the the distance, and I commented that I could sense/feel how beyond those trees there was just mile and miles of flat Texas landscape, and large herds of cattle. I think that's an instance where space works both ways, i.e. 1) you and Mike crafted a big wide course that fit with the native landscape perfectly, framed by the big wide Texas sky above and that stand of trees in the distance, and by what I could imagine beyond; and 2) the sky and trees that i could see and the broad expanse of Texas that I could imagine in turn 'worked backwards' and gave a meaning (for lack of a better word) and a presence/context for what you had created -- in other words, the empty space beyond the confines of the course helped me to understand/experience the course itself in a deeper way (and just with pictures no less!).

Peter 

Peter, thanks for that. I didn't think much about negative space and subject matter when we built Wolf Point, but I did think about restraint, trying to keep things low profile, and trying to not direct the players vision. I didn't want to tell the player where to look. Obviously they can see the flag, and they can see the corridor, but I know we tried to make things blend, stay away from seams. We knew the golf turf, the course itself, would look different than the surrounding landscape, but we tried to bring the "look" in, to not separate. Mike Nuzzo can probably elaborate more, make it make more sense, but I know I wanted your eye to go where ever it felt like going.