Mt. Rushmore of Course Builders (now with pics)

[Emile Bonfiglio]

I recently asked Matt Ginella who was on his Mt. Rushmore of of current golf course builders Keiser and Trump, you can view his response here at the 3:35 mark. http://www.golfchannel.com/media/morning-drive-ask-matty-g/ In short he said remove Trump because he is a course buyer and here is what he gave.

-Mike Keiser
-Dick Youngscap
-Herb Kohler
-Mark Parsinen

This is different from Steven Blake's post about GCA Rushmore candidates http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,57942.0.html

[Tom_Doak]

Emile:

Well you spelled two out of four correctly.

The other two are Dick Youngscap and Mark Parsinen.

I have been fortunate to know all four of them for many years -- and I've actually looked at doing projects with each of them at one time or another.  Too bad more of those did not pan out.

[Emile Bonfiglio]

Tom:

Youngscap was all my fault but I blame Parsinen on Golf Channel's bad tag on their website. I like that Matt said without Youngscap we would have no Keiser, but does that earn him a spot on the rock, or specifically the current version of the rock? I still think Trump belongs up there but he he would have to be in Lincoln's spot to allow the hair to flow depending on the hair.

[Garland Bayley]

[Joel_Stewart]

Deleted after a small blunder.

[Garland Bayley]

deleted after pointing out small blunder

[Joel_Stewart]

Wow.  Honestly I can read.  Just not demonstrating it.

[Emile Bonfiglio]

Wow.  Honestly I can read.  Just not demonstrating it.

I can spell too...

[Mark Bourgeois]

JC Nichols
CB Macdonald
Frederick Ruth
James Tufts

Around the bend the "Crazy Horse statue" of our in situ rock heads is of FL Olmsted Jr. (Or FLO Jr can go on the main rock if whoever's playing Borglum in this fiasco wants to airbrush Nichols.)

[Joel_Stewart]

I still have issues with Mark Parsinen.  He's built 3 courses, Granite Bay with RTJ Jr. and he either lost it and/or then it went bankrupt.  Kingsbarn, and then he had a huge fight with Kyle Phillips and then he lost it or sold his stake to Art Dunkley.  And now Castle Stuart.

I'll go out of the box and say Ben Cowan-Dewar.  Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs and more on the way.

I'll also go out of the box and say Drew Brown.   Who?   He's the chairman of DMB reality.  They have built,

Kukui'ula.  New Weiskopf course in Kauai.
Martis Camp - Tom Fazio - Lake Tahoe.
Lahontin - Weiskopf - Lake Tahoe
Silverleaf - Arizona
Glenwild - Fazio - Utah
Santaluz - Rees Jones - San Diego
Forest Highlands - Weiskopf - Flagstaff Arizona
The CC at DC Ranch - Tom Lehman

Maybe he doesn't belong on Mt Rushmore but he's a force.

[Jim_Kennedy]

Can you imagine how long it would take just to carve Donald's hair? 

[Ron Farris]

I live quite close to Mt. Rushmore.
Fortunately I have met two of the four. 
The best part of the Black Hills is not Mt. Rushmore..........
Go to Rochford for a burger and discover the real beauty of the Hills.

[Tom_Doak]

I'll also go out of the box and say Drew Brown.   Who?   He's the chairman of DMB reality.  They have built,

Kukui'ula.  New Weiskopf course in Kauai.
Martis Camp - Tom Fazio - Lake Tahoe.
Lahontin - Weiskopf - Lake Tahoe
Silverleaf - Arizona
Glenwild - Fazio - Utah
Santaluz - Rees Jones - San Diego
Forest Highlands - Weiskopf - Flagstaff Arizona
The CC at DC Ranch - Tom Lehman

Maybe he doesn't belong on Mt Rushmore but he's a force.

Joel:

Was Drew Brown the golf guy in that group?  Going back to Forest Highlands when it opened, the two guys who showed me around were Jim Bartlett and Dick Bailey.  Dick later left the firm and became a golf course architect.

I'm surprised nobody nominated Lyle Anderson (Jack Nicklaus would have!).
Tom Fazio would nominate Mike Meldman (Discovery Land).
Pete Dye would have said Joe Walser and Ernie Vossler (Landmark Land), though they are no longer active.
Robert Trent Jones Sr. might have said Lawrence Rockefeller.

I never got to meet Lawrence Rockefeller, but I've met all the rest [except Drew Brown!].

[Joe Jemsek]

I'm surprised no one mentions Steve Wynn. Maybe not modern enough, but He was trumping things well before the Donald.

[RJ_Daley]

From public sector; Robert Moses - Bethpage?  Well, maybe not on the carved mount, but a force.  Who was the original personality force behind Spaulding sending Bendelow out to spread the game?

[SBendelow]

RJ Daley,
I think the quick answer to your question is A.G. Spalding.  He saw the potential for the growth of golf in America including the potential to grow the Spalding Sporting Goods Co.  He needed someone who could introduce the game and encourage the building of golf courses across the US and Canada.  Tom Bendelow had already laid out scores of courses in the NY/NJ area and after his nationally recognized success at Van Cortlandt Park, Spalding knew he had the right man.  A.G. Spalding provided the opportunity that Bendelow seized upon to successfully spread golf across the continent.  Bendelow paved the way for the success of many who would follow.

Stuart

[Dan Herrmann]

What about Fownes and Findlay?