Golf Architect Quiz

[Jeff Schley]

My club is attempting to have a brief program to communicate basic golf course architecture and become familiar for well known architects.  Two things please if you have the time:

1. Take the below quiz. Tell us how many you got correct. Take this quiz without looking at the answers given by other responders!  How many did you get right? Yes this is called the honor system, which is paramount in golf. 

2. What are 10 basic golf architecture concepts or features golfers should know?  Not as simple as fairway, bunker etc. But a little more in depth.  Like Redan or Biarritz perhaps or too detailed?  Thanks in advance.

Golf Architect Quiz (answers in post 12)

1. English Architect of Scottish decent who worked with Bobby Jones to design Augusta National?

2. The most prolific American architect of the 1950’ and ‘60’s. Responsible for revolutionising the ‘Modern design’?

3. Attended the University of St Andrews in Scotland, coined the term ‘Golf Architect’ and became known as the ‘Father of American golf Architecture?

4. Celebrated English Architect, who worked in America, England and Scotland, and designed the ‘New course’ at Sunningdale near London.

5. A woman who pioneered the forward tees. She is a decorated golfer, the first woman President of the American Society of Golf course Architects and the wife of a renown Golf Course Architect?

6. An architect who died in obscurity in 1942 after designing such courses as San Fransisco Club, Baltesrol, Bethpage State Park (Black, Blue and Red courses)?

7. A famous golfer who entered the design industry in 1970 and co-designed Harbour Town?

8. He designed many courses in America, but was from Dornoch in Scotland. Payne Stewart won the US Open on one course designed by this man?

9. Recognised as the first ‘Keeper of the Greens’ at St Andrews, he was also the caddy master and is the oldest winner of the Open Championship?

10. Australian, 5 times British Open Champion, and Golf Course Designer?

[Niall C]

Jeff

Regarding your quiz, I know 8 for certain and fairly sure of the other 2. Most of the answers I’d have known before coming on this site but a lot of the American ones I wouldn’t have.

With regards to your objective of passing on basic golf course architecture, your quiz is fine as far as it goes but I suggest you might want to then talk about the design ideas of the architects identified starting off with a brief outline of the history of golf and golf course design through the various design schools ie. penal, heroic, strategic. In doing that I’d bring in to the conversation course set up, and how it impinges or improves course design.

Niall

[Thomas Dai]

10/10!
Nice idea.
May I suggest you show lots of photographs, old and new.
Good luck.
Atb

[Matt MacIver]

Got all 10, by reading here for years.  Like the idea of asking folks to describe Short, etc.  I was trying to think of some other questions but it’s a thin line between facts and opinions. 

[Tom_Doak]

Jeff:  as a basic education in golf architecture, this seems wrong to me, like most of American education.  It's unnecessary to get into the cult of personality of famous designers, and it would be much better to use the Eden hole as a way to illustrate simple design principles, than to drill the templates into people's heads.


I would focus on the basics:
Drainage
Building blocks (length of shots, width)
Visibility
Strategy
Short game interest

[BCrosby]

Better - hand out copies of The Anatomy of a Golf Course. 


Or for more advanced students maybe a copy of The Little Red Book.



Bob

[Dave McCollum]

10/10 does that make me a card carrying cliche? See Tom D's post. 

[Luke Eipper]

Jeff

Firstly, that quiz was fun. Well done on coming up with such a broad array of questions. Sadly, I suspect only die-hard golf architecture fans would do well on it.
Most members I know couldn't care less about who designed what course ,or what someone's contribution to the game was.

In terms of your second point -
If I could give a golf architecture tutorial to members I would focus on three things
1. What is the existing design philosophy at the course? Who built it? What was the original design brief/club founders vision?


2. Basic agronomy about the influence of trees, seasonal weather and how the course changes with these things - maybe get your golf course super involved  for this


3. Explain simple golf architecture concepts with photos and or diagrams but emphasise player fun and imagination above all else. Concepts like removing double penalties, giving players width/options to the hole, and creating some ground game opportunities are easy to understand but are hallmarks of great design.


Brad Klein's books really helped me to better understand the importance of above concepts. I would give interested members a copy of 'Wide Open Fairways ' or select some chapters from 'Rough Meditations '.


- Luke

[Jim Nugent]

Jeff, a concept I suggest is the value of being able to find your ball and play it. 

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

I knew all except the last one. I wouldn't have placed him as course designer but perhaps he's better recognized for that in Australia

[Mark_Fine]

Jeff,
No disrespect meant but not the right questions for a golf architecture session.  You will lose 99% of your audience.  You are not preaching to architecture addicts like you would find on this site.  Tom and Luke’s comments are right on.  I do a lot of these education talks and it is really important to engage the audience and get them thinking about basics and why those basics of golf architecture are important and helpful to understand.   


You can make it fun and interesting with lots of good photos and quotes,...and relate it to your course. 


Good luck!

[JHoulihan]

Jeff,


Great question but a few observations.

Was posting your score to a test without providing the answers on purpose to make each look up the correct answers? If not why not just post the answers on a follow up post.

What type of club do you belong to and whom is a typical member? 70 year old Male or mixed diversity of age and sex.

Post a photo of a well known hole and ways in which it might be played. Showing options like long drive/chip or fairway or hybrid plus iron or long iron/long iron and advantages/disadvantages of each option depending on what part of the game you excel at.

Is the ultimate goal to get the most right on the exam...or to get the members talking about why is answer is important to read and know more about.

7/10 correct.

Justin

[Jeff Schley]

Guys thanks for the feedback as it is much needed.  Some clarification on the scope.

We have a golf course here in Saudi Arabia, Rolling Hills GC for the use of the employees of the Saudi Aramco Oil Company only.  Our club is listed under the Texas Golf Association and has been rated by USGA raters for rating / slope. We have a VERY multicultural population in addition to quite a few who are beginners, which we certainly want to encourage to stay.

There are just 5 grass courses in the entire country and the nearest other course is the Royal Golf Club in Bahrain.  Many simply play our course over and over again, but when they travel they want to play other courses.  They have little to no knowledge of the genesis of Golf Course Architecture and who those architects were.

The intention is twofold initially and the architect quiz wasn't meant as the curriculum.

1. Expose members to who those historically significant architects were and perhaps a couple of their famous courses so they can target them while on vacation.

2. To get awareness of the basics of golf course architecture via pictures and vocabulary.

That is it.  We don't have any curriculum or topics we are brainstorming and wanted to run this by you guys for your impressions.  We also would like to chunk the two topics in 10 points each.  We have the 10 architects (sorry Tom and others here, no disrespect), unless someone feels strongly to include others.  What we need is 10 points of basic golf course architecture to communicate for awareness (not mastery) with the hope they can competently communicate these 10 points in the future.  We will perhaps have a fun quiz night or something to get a hook for people to come and participate.

Thus that is our scope and the team here would like to keep it to 10 architects and 10 golf architecture points.  If there are more needed we can tackle that next year maybe. 

So what do you think?

BTW I wasn't trying to trick anyone with the quiz, I honestly only knew 5 of answers myself.  Here are the answers:
1. Alister MacKenzie

2. Robert Trent Jones

3. Charles Blair Macdonald

4. Harry Colt

5. Alice Dye

6. A.W.Tillinghast

7. Jack Nicklaus

8. Donald Ross

9. Old Tom Morris

10. Peter Thomson

[Charles Lund]

8 of 10.


Charles Lund

[SL_Solow]

I confess to getting them all but I have always wondered whether Old Tom's credit as being the first Keeper of the Green at the Old Course is entirely justified.  What exactly was Allen Robertson's role?  I am aware of his preeminent status as a match player and a ball maker but some accounts give him a fair amount of credit with regard to course changes and maintenance.  Can any of our historians weigh in?  No disrespect to Old Tom intended, just curious.

[B.Ross]

9 of 10. got #7 wrong, went with another famous golfer of that era instead of the correct answer. really fun quiz