Some Streamsong Black Pics

[David_Tepper]

From LINKS mag:

http://mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?i=388526&ver=html5&p=32#{%22page%22:32,%22issue_id%22:388526,%22numpages%22:1}

[PCCraig]

That windmill looks super tacky and the 3rd hole looks like something out of Harborside on the southside of Chicago...

[William_G]

sounds and looks like the best at Streamsong for sure, thanks David

[Joel_Stewart]

sounds and looks like the best at Streamsong for sure, thanks David

I spoke with an industry executive yesterday who played it last week.  He felt it was the best course at Streamsong which would make him the 2nd person I've spoken with to voice this opinion.

[Ronald Montesano]

sounds and looks like the best at Streamsong for sure, thanks David

Four pictures are enough to make it "look like the best."


One promotional article by a magazine dependent on advertising to survive makes it "sound like the best."

[William_G]

I'm a quick learner, get with the program

[Tom_Doak]

I love it how industry executives and the media tell us what we are supposed to think before the course is even open for people to form their own opinions.


I guess it's just an extension of the political and corporate journalism now common in America.

[John Kavanaugh]

There is not enough difference between the quality of the first two courses for this course to come in second. It has to be either the best or worse at the resort. Being the eternal optimist I am, I'm going with best.

[Tim Passalacqua]

Pics look great.  If Black is in the same conversation as Red and Blue, we are all in for a treat.  This place will be second only to Bandon, in my opinion.  At first, I had Red as a strong leader.  The diversity, strategy, and land forms pulled me in.  But during my last 2 trips there, Blue has grown on me immensely.  If you play it twice in a row or back to back days to learn the greens, the 2nd round is that much more enjoyable.  Also, I have appreciated the width and playability of Blue.  Angles of attack, fun greens, hard to lose a ball, and on a windy day, Blue isn't a grind.  It's like Old Mac on a windy day......fun.  Blue and Red might have the best set of green complexes on side by side courses.  I really can't think of anything better.  Hopefully, Black will add to all the fun!

[Carl Rogers]

Will be playing there at the Dixie Cup this fall. 


I risk sticking foot through mouth a hypthosizing, that the differences between the 3 Streamsong courses are more subtle than the differences between the courses at Bandon.  The courses at Bandon offer real contrasts.

[Rees Milikin]

I love it how industry executives and the media tell us what we are supposed to think before the course is even open for people to form their own opinions.


I guess it's just an extension of the political and corporate journalism now common in America.

Quite the stretch to draw that conclusion from this: "I spoke with an industry executive yesterday who played it last week.  He felt it was the best course at Streamsong which would make him the 2nd person I've spoken with voice this opinion." 

[John Kavanaugh]

Maybe the Fried Egg can get to the bottom of this on his upcoming podcast with golfs most prolific architect.

[Tom_Doak]

I risk sticking foot through mouth a hypthosizing, that the differences between the 3 Streamsong courses are more subtle than the differences between the courses at Bandon.  The courses at Bandon offer real contrasts.

Carl:


I will say that when we built Pacific Dunes, and later Old Macdonald, we were keenly aware of Bandon Dunes [and later Bandon Trails], and I tried as best I could to exaggerate the differences between our courses and those [and between the two courses we'd built].  I can't say [don't know] if Bill and Ben were as conscious of that while building Bandon Trails or not.


For Streamsong Blue, that wasn't the case.  We were building simultaneously with the Red course, and though others asked aloud whether the courses would be "different enough," Bill and I were both confident that the two courses would establish their own character, without needing to make it obvious.  Plus, we had done the two routings together to try and give the courses a fair share of the best terrain.


Certainly, Gil is starting from a different position than we were, with all of our cards on the table.  Plus it's just more fun to take one's turn at the end ... you have a much nicer place to stay, and to play golf when you feel like it!  I learned this the easy way at Bandon Dunes, and the hard way at Barnbougle.  I think Dave Axland and Keith Rhebb have played my course at Barnbougle more times than I have

[Tom_Doak]

Quite the stretch to draw that conclusion from this: "I spoke with an industry executive yesterday who played it last week.  He felt it was the best course at Streamsong which would make him the 2nd person I've spoken with voice this opinion."

Rees:


You are entitled to think that I'm stretching, but I still remember quite well how GOLFWEEK and GOLF Magazine and many others had already decided the pecking order of the first two courses before they opened, and made sure to tell their panelists in advance.


I'd be fine if Joel Stewart had opined on the course from actual first-hand experience, but he did not; he quoted an anonymous industry executive, and another unnamed source.  That's exactly how journalism works in D.C. and N.Y. nowadays.


Heck, on this very site, there is a thread halfway to deciding which is the Best New Course of 2018, because we've already decided on 2017 ten months in advance.  Bernie Sanders has no chance! 

[BCowan]

Quite the stretch to draw that conclusion from this: "I spoke with an industry executive yesterday who played it last week.  He felt it was the best course at Streamsong which would make him the 2nd person I've spoken with voice this opinion."

  Bernie Sanders has no chance! 

The irony of selling out. 

[Tom_Doak]

Maybe the Fried Egg can get to the bottom of this on his upcoming podcast with golfs most prolific architect.

That will be over easy.

[John Kavanaugh]

Who the hell is giving you advice, first instagram and now a podcast with a bad sweater wearing manscaped novice. Please don't lose the mystery behind the man who had the balls to set golf on its ear. Don't Bieberize golf course architecture. Please.

[William_G]

Will be playing there at the Dixie Cup this fall. 


I risk sticking foot through mouth a hypthosizing, that the differences between the 3 Streamsong courses are more subtle than the differences between the courses at Bandon.  The courses at Bandon offer real contrasts.

this distinction with Bandon has less to do with the "architect/designer" than the topography given, while of course some "architects/designers" may beg to differ

however given the Black is a separate entity, it has it's own distinct features whereas the Blue and Red inevitably/perpetually are squished together for better or worse, kind of like the courses at St. Andrews, but while in the middle of a barren flat landscape in Florida

[Tom_Doak]

Who the hell is giving you advice, first instagram and now a podcast with a bad sweater wearing manscaped novice. Please don't lose the mystery behind the man who had the balls to set golf on its ear. Don't Bieberize golf course architecture. Please.

John:


I make time to do interviews with pretty much anyone who asks me, which is also known as common courtesy.  [The youngest so far was 14 years old.]  I've been trying to impress upon my associates how much of my time that takes, and that they should really devote a bit more time to it if they want more attention for their work.


Being mentioned in the same paragraph as Justin Bieber is pretty horrifying so I will try to be more circumspect from here on, but first I need to understand exactly what you mean by it.  God knows I've not reduced myself to giving politically correct answers [here or elsewhere] like pretty much everyone else in the business, but I don't think that's what you meant.

[Josh Tarble]

I'm sure it will be really good and really fun, so that's all that should matter.  But it looks exactly the same as all the other high profile courses recently.  Put some trees around it and it's Sand Valley.  Put some ocean by it and it's Tara Iti.  Put it on a landfill and it's Trinity Forest 

All of those courses are on my list to play, they all look fantastic, but they all look exactly the same.  I think there's a reason why MacRaynors, some Ross and Tillinghasts are held in such high esteem. They all look different.  Even though looks are far different than playing characteristics, I think it would be good for there to be some variety in the look of the courses.  Let's see one with only revetted bunkering.  Let's see one with straight (or semi-straight) fairway mowing or tiny greens. Just anything different.

Maybe it's just me though.

[Tom_Doak]

All of those courses are on my list to play, they all look fantastic, but they all look exactly the same.  I think there's a reason why MacRaynors, some Ross and Tillinghasts are held in such high esteem. They all look different.  Even though looks are far different than playing characteristics, I think it would be good for there to be some variety in the look of the courses.  Let's see one with only revetted bunkering.  Let's see one with straight (or semi-straight) fairway mowing or tiny greens. Just anything different.

Maybe it's just me though.

Come see The Loop, or Common Ground, and tell me they're the same.  You're exaggerating.  Of course, what you're also saying is that it's all the big, sandy courses that get all the attention in the magazines.


You're also exaggerating [a lot] to say that MacRaynors all look different from one another.

[Mike Hendren]

What's the newest attraction at Disney World?  Doesn't matter - I'm sure it's the "best."

Best destination?  While not public, give me the Erie Canal Tour (with or without Doak) any day over Bandon or Streamsong.   Have we already kicked Pinehurst to the curb?

Bogey

[Josh Tarble]

All of those courses are on my list to play, they all look fantastic, but they all look exactly the same.  I think there's a reason why MacRaynors, some Ross and Tillinghasts are held in such high esteem. They all look different.  Even though looks are far different than playing characteristics, I think it would be good for there to be some variety in the look of the courses.  Let's see one with only revetted bunkering.  Let's see one with straight (or semi-straight) fairway mowing or tiny greens. Just anything different.

Maybe it's just me though.

Come see The Loop, or Common Ground, and tell me they're the same.  You're exaggerating.  Of course, what you're also saying is that it's all the big, sandy courses that get all the attention in the magazines.


You're also exaggerating [a lot] to say that MacRaynors all look different from one another.

I am exaggerating slightly.  But not a lot. I'm sure they're all different in the ground, but even you can't tell me pictures of The Loop and Common Ground don't look similar.  I seriously think it's a disservice to some of these courses when they continually look very similar to each other.  I've played Cuscowilla, why should I make the trip to play the new Ohoopee course (for an example). 


Also when referring to MacRaynors looking different, I meant from other courses, not from each other.  It's also a pet peeve of mine that every MacRaynor is a potential top 100, even though they're very very similar. I like different and unique.  I think some of these new courses (including yours - The Loop excluded, that is certainly unique) are losing some of that. 

[John Kavanaugh]

Please, Zac Blair is one of the top five working architects today and he isn't even working yet. We view and critique courses from pictures on our phones or through the lens of an unauthorized drone flying the perimeter of a property. No wonder everything looks alike.


This is the Bieberization of golf course architecture. It seems a shame that established architects are going down the same rabbit hole as people who haven't built a damn thing. I think it's dangerous to legitimize this crap just to get your name on the lips and finger tips of millennials.

[Eric Smith]

The internet golf course critic seems to forget the local golfer who is surely playing something unique to the area that these big sandy golf courses are located. Grab your favorite foursome and go to these places and try not to have fun. Its impossible.


PLEASE Tom Doak, come build one in middle Tennessee. Bring sand.