What is the most misunderstood facet of golf course design?

[Dan Herrmann]

What is the most misunderstood facet of golf course design?  The factor that architects understand and need execute well, but golfers/non-architects don't understand or appreciate....


I'm guessing it's the pain of permitting or budgeting, but I was looking for an answer that involves the design of the course itself.

[Chris_Hufnagel]

What is the most misunderstood facet of golf course design?  The factor that architects understand and need execute well, but golfers/non-architects don't understand or appreciate....


I'm guessing it's the pain of permitting or budgeting, but I was looking for an answer that involves the design of the course itself.

Drainage.

[Keith OHalloran]

Routing. I can't imagine that the consumer looking at the final product has any clue what the architect had to go through to get the course routed.

[Joe Hancock]

Not-so-glamorous field work with shovels and rakes, etc. to get the details right. It often involves copious amounts of sweat....

Of course, design can happen without the above said effort, but that's not so misunderstood.

[Tim_Weiman]

Like Chris H, I always thought it was drainage. Not really a subject of interest for most golf architecture junkies.

[Mike_Young]

Strategic subtlety and intended grassing lines...

[Matthew Mollica]

My first thought was drainage. Tom Doak's 42 decisions thread from years ago was an eye opener. My second was the magnitude and transition of manageable but interesting green contours. Doing that REALLY well can't be easy.

[cary lichtenstein]

It's all about design, not engineering. Making it look natural, yet dramatic

[Mike_Young]

I don't think the question ask what is most difficult but what is most misunderstood....

[Greg Chambers]

I'd say drainage, irrigation, and as Mike mentioned...grassing lines

[Peter Pallotta]

My first thought was "safety".

I'm sure I don't understand/misunderstand the level of concern about making sure that golfers don't get hit in the head by an errant shot from another fairway, or crash a cart into a gully.

Maybe on some recent courses where there were hundreds and hundreds of acres of available space, this concern has been to some degree mitigated, and has played a role in how those courses are designed and how they look (e.g. treeless, no containment mounding etc.)

Peter

[Pete Lavallee]

Peter,

That's a very interesting thought but, but I hate do al Mucci on you, but can you name 5 highly considered golf courses where you feel your life is in jrapordy? I will submit that my favorite US course, Padatiempo, was seriously compromised on their front nine when someone was actually killed by an errant shot on the 8 th tee; had that not happened I am sure it would be a top 25 World Ranked corse today!

[Ally Mcintosh]

I do think Peter has a point though. When I look at the armchair architect competitions, there were regularly routings that had serious safety pinch points... And those were usually on 1,000 acre sites...

That's why I'd love to see an AAC on a tight 180 acre parcel. I think that would be much more fun and easier to separate the good from the bad...

If I could provide the site, would someone else run this I wonder?

[RJ_Daley]

Ally.  LOL, safety on the road whilst driving to the good stuff! 

[Kyle Harris]

Change.
Maturation.
Time.

[Bill_McBride]

Peter,

That's a very interesting thought but, but I hate do al Mucci on you, but can you name 5 highly considered golf courses where you feel your life is in jrapordy? I will submit that my favorite US course, Padatiempo, was seriously compromised on their front nine when someone was actually killed by an errant shot on the 8 th tee; had that not happened I am sure it would be a top 25 World Ranked corse today!

Don't want to take time to name five, but often if I'm riding a cart on a new course (for health issues, Melvyn!), I'm surprised at the steep hills with sharp turns that are potential disasters.   This results from Melvyn's pet peeve, use of land ill fit for golf. 

[MClutterbuck]

The commitment of time on site by the Architect and/or his guy and how great design is not only about the plans on paper, but also about decisions made in the field.

[Peter Pallotta]

Pete, Ally -

I didn't mean to say that there were dozens of highly ranked and classic courses where "safety" was/is a concern (though there may be.). I was thinking of the 1970s and 80s and 90s courses that I've played and I realized that, unbeknownst to/misunderstood by me, some of the design choices and features and routings and vegetation and maintenance practices were based on concerns for golfers' safety. That's why I mentioned some of the top modern courses that had 500-1000+ acres to work with. I've always thought that the main advantage of such a big site is that it gave the C&Cs of the world so much choice and so many possible holes and routings to choose from; but with this thread, it struck me that maybe the best advantage of such a site is that the architect doesn't have to concern himself with designing for safety, at least not to the same extent.

Peter

[Adrian_Stiff]

The most important facet of any form of design is making sure that it works within the confines of the budget and working model. Understanding the clients brief, pockets and getting that in the ground on time and with a few pennies under.


That is continually misunderstood by not only novices but architects themselves.


If it works commercially its a success. Trophy projects are rarer than albatrosses, you might never get one in a lifetime.

[MClutterbuck]

I dont think safety concerns are misunderstood in general. I would argue they are the easiest decisions to explain and defend with memberships.

[Ally Mcintosh]

The commitment of time on site by the Architect and/or his guy and how great design is not only about the plans on paper, but also about decisions made in the field.

I actually think that that is the last thing that is misunderstood on this website. I'd say the time spent away from site on the drawing board, quantifying, specifying etc... is more misunderstood. (EDIT - I see from your next post that you mean by the client. I was thinking more of the typical GCA poster)

Peter, yes - what you are saying there is what I meant. Every routing I've done, the biggest amount of hair pulling / frustration has come from just trying to fit in the best golf course with adequate separation between holes / greens / tees / exit paths etc... That comes with the territory on a small, irregular shaped site.

[MClutterbuck]

Ally, I meant misunderstood by the membership and general public.

[Jon Wiggett]

Routing and rhythm of the course

[Adrian_Stiff]

Routing and rhythm of the course

What is your meaning of rhythm in the context of the routing?

[Philippe Binette]

Not a lot or people get restraint in design... When facing a problem, most add stuff... Few take away stuff