Here is the link:
http://golfclubatlas.com/feature-interview-with-kyle-franz-2/I assume you could hear crickets chirping when Crooked Stick and The Golf Club opened some ~45 years ago when no one covered architecture. Media consisted of the local paper, the radio and Walter Cronkite. Herbert Warren Wind cast a keen on the proceedings, but too often just the big events. Golf magazines and Ron Whitten had taken a foothold when some of Pete Dye's disciples like Doak and Coore got started in the 1980s. Today, things are markedly different with the world-wide web, 24 hour sports channels, and social media all starving for content. Look no further than the fish bowl treatment that the Olympic course received from start to finish!
The Interviewee we feature today, Kyle Franz (who is in Rio as we take this live), was one of the talented guys who helped out on that Gil Hanse project. Kyle’s perspective, one that can only come from someone who worked on the project, will help people enjoy the women’s event just underway.
Speaking media, this is GolfClubAtlas.com's 18th year, which happens to coincide with how long Kyle has been in the business. In fact, Kyle first reached out to Tom Doak through GolfClubAtlas in late 1999 or 2000, leading directly to work at PacDunes and Barnbougle. Work, work, work, recession, restoration becomes the thing, and then he turns up working for Hanse on some great ones and Coore & Crenshaw at Pinehurst #2. That directly segued into Mid Pines, and subsequently Pine Needles and Country Club of Charleston. In between other random opportunities like Cabot and the Rio course he travels to see the Dornoch's, Fraserburgh's and North Berwick's of the world. O
ff his career goes, not talking about architecture but doing it, increasingly under his own shingle.e. If that isn't a winning formula for design success, what is?!
You see the progression from the hands-on Pete Dye to Doak/Coore/Whitman and now to Kyle's generation of 30-somethings. Those who love working in the field, getting their hands dirty while respecting the land are having the most sustained impact. Certainly, that's reflective in the seismic shift over the past 20 years as to who is - and isn't - deemed an architecture superstar.
Known by the Mid Pines Mafia
as the Maestro of Mid Pines, Kyle has worked on great courses around the world, learned from the best, and is now applying that knowledge to his own projects. That's how it should be but such pathways rely on the Hanse's, Doak's and Coore's tolerance and communication skills, which happily are expansive. We all win if the ‘media’ correctly identifies and then helps propel those who do the best, most efficient work to get more work.
I am not sure I can name another 30 something year old that has achieved the recognition that Kyle did for his work at Mid Pines. It certainly has gotten tons of positive 'ink' on this web site - and rightfully so. Soon to follow it seems will be Country Club of Charleston, Minikahda and Woods Hole (which really looks to have crazy good potential). So, stay tuned for that as well as many more Feature Interviews with young, hungry guys like Kyle who are in the process of showing the world just how talented they are. And this time, the media is there to cover it.
Best,