1960-2020 (The most significant courses built in the US in each decade)

[Edward Glidewell]

In defense of my choices  :


Ed--The influence I think is on other architects and owners/operators/etc.  I think exposure to lots of golfers rarely impacts the future of the game and how it grows, and word about important golf course is spread (not always accurately) by the media.  For sure few saw Pine Valley and NGLA in their first few decades...when clubs like these were much less available than they are today...and much less available than Shadow Creek/Wade Hampton/Ohoopee are today.


IMO Sandhills proved that if you build a great great course...golfers will travel almost anywhere to play it...and that opened up phenomenal new sites for new courses (as most cities had very few available sites nearby).  My sense from reading and hearing interviews with Keiser is that SHGC was a major input toward his decision to go ahead w Bandon Dunes.

Indeed -- I don't think it's impossible for those courses to be influential, and as I said, it seems pretty clear that Sand Hills was. I'm not sure that's true for a course like Wade Hampton, though.


And while I agree that it's influence on other architects and owners/operators that matters far more than influence on individual golfers, I'd imagine those things are more connected than it might seem. Owner/operators/developers are generally going to build something they think people will pay to play/join, and that hasn't always correlated with great architecture. There are exceptions, of course, but there's probably a plausible argument that the most influential course of the 70s or 80s was something built in a location like Myrtle Beach that led to a boom of other similar developments.

[Tom_Doak]

...What did Chambers Bay influence?  ...

A municipality interested in doing Memorial Park?

Don't think so.  The impetus to rebuild Memorial Park came from the outside, not from the City of Houston, and all of the money for the project was privately donated.


The impetus was really all about hosting a golf tournament, and I guess Chambers Bay chose their designer because he proposed that, as well . . . but it's not like wanting to host a tournament is a new idea.

[Tom_Doak]

No I was not trying to focus on architects...

Well then it's a strong coincidence that you picked a Dye course for the 60's, a Nicklaus course for the 70's, a Fazio course for the 80's, a Coore & Crenshaw course for the 90's, a Renaissance course for the 00's, and were trying to decide between courses by Kidd, Hanse or Rob Collins for the decade just ended.


As I said, that's how the business works . . . certain architects get the lion's share of attention, sometimes even if their courses are not so highly acclaimed.  I just don't know that attention equates to significance.

[Sean_A]

I think there is a good case for Tobacco Road. Do people think its a coincidence that tons of courses essentially share the sandy look of TR? I also think TR was the kick start for the renovations of the area courses which essentially gave the seal of approval for the style.

Has anyone mentioned the first Bandon course? It seems to me that it was ground zero for the continued trend of building publics on the right land even if it is in the middle of nowhere.

Ciao

[Ben Hollerbach]

While I can't really disagree with any of the courses on your list, I'll present a contrarian list:

1960: Mauna Kea
1970: Muirfield Village
1980: Shadow Creek
1990: Tobacco Road
2000: Chambers Bay
2010: Memorial Park

Muirfield Village was very influential in making Nicklaus the man, and making ridiculous maintenance standards the goal.  If you move back Harbour Town to the 1960's then MV is the right choice for the 1970's.


None of the others on your contrarian list were particularly influential though.  What did Chambers Bay influence?  Who else has done anything like Tobacco Road?

Tom,


Ted never asked for Influential, he asked for most significant.


Mauna Kea was a construction marvel, demonstrating how completely inhabitable lava rock could be turned into a world class golf course and lead to the boom of destination golf being built on improbable sites across Hawaii and the Caribbean. The significance of Mauna Kea has carried forward through today, with new remote destination resort being constructed in all corners of the globe.


Shadow Creek may be the pinnacle of golf course construction. The product of a blank canvas and a never ending bank account, Shadow Creek showcased what is possible in manmade design and might have been the exclamation point on post war golf course construction. It stands in gross contrast to what was about to come less than a decade later at courses like Sand Hills, Bandon, and the start of the minimalist movement.


The right answer for the 1990 has to be Bandon Dunes, even more than Sand Hills. While Bandon may not exist without Sand Hills, Bandon has had a much greater impact on the game today.


But I proposed Tobacco Road for a few key reasons. I know of no other course in existence in which it is equally referred to it as the hardest course in the world and the most enjoyable course in the world. To create a golf course that polarizing is significant. While the direct ties to Tobacco Road in future work may not be concrete, it seems very clear that Tobacco Road and Strantz has had a significant influence on courses being built today.


Has any other course gone from creation, to hosing a US Am, to hosting a US Open as fast as Chambers Bay? Regardless if you don't think they deserved it, that is significant, especially considering it is a municipal owned property. How many high dollar, high profile private courses were build to host majors and never earned that right?


If you don't think Memorial Park is significant, I won't fight for it. It probably isn't today, but do you think it could be?

[Tim Gavrich]

Tim, I'd love to hear what your rational for including Hammock Beach (Conservatory) was. It is a course that, until now, I had never even heard of and a quick google search left me feeling less than overwhelmed.

Stephen--


The exercise Brad and I went through in that article was not 100% in alignment with the aims of this thread. It was more an exercise in nominating courses that typified the prevailing architectural styles/themes/contexts in their respective decades.


The Conservatory is emblematic of the excesses of golf in pre-recession 2000s America: a very heavily shaped, Bobby Ginn-developed, signature-architect-designed (Tom Watson, in this case) 7,700-yard golf course with 125+ bunkers originally meant to be very private and exclusive with Mediterranean-style mansions all over the place. The course itself is no world-beater, but it is actually pretty solid if you take it at face value, I think. Decent width, nice green contouring and a few risk-reward propositions if you play the right tees (I think there were seven sets when I played it).


As for the real estate part of The Conservatory, the 340 homesites reportedly sold for a total of $141 million, many of them on the first day they were available. As of this great NY Times article from 2009, only five lots had been built upon. When I played the course five years ago, I think there were maybe three dozen houses on the property.


Other Ginn communities here in Florida included Bella Collina, Tesoro and Reunion. I probably could have chosen from them, but at the time Brad and I put the article together, Conservatory was the only one of them I'd played. It fascinates me as a period piece and a cautionary tale in the saga of golf and real estate.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Ted,


No big problems with your list, but there are a few other obvious alternatives.


I agree that Muirfield Village would probably be more influential in the 1970's.  Yes, Harbor Town made Pete famous, and made Jack an architectural consultant, but it didn't even influence Jack to stay with Pete!  More courses were built in the MV mode and derivatives than in Pete's distinctive style (or pet holes, even) It also got more pros in the biz.


In the 2010's, I might consider the Olympic Course.  I know you weren't focused on gca's themselves, but it did get Gil to the top of the heap, and whatever he does is likely to influence design along the way, although, it might be too early to tell.

[Sven Nilsen]

1989: nothing particularly noteworthy

Do the Right Thing? Dead Poets? When Harry Met Sally?

FIELD. OF. DREAMS.


C'mon man.

Fletch Lives, Skin Deep, Weekend at Bernie's?


1989 was the year the excess of the 80's boiled over.

[Bernie Bell]

Contrarian thoughts:

1950s -  NCR/Firestone
          -  Old Warson
         
1960s  -  Spyglass

1970s -  Kemper Lakes - (> Kemper Sports >> Bandon ??)

[Paul Rudovsky]

Not to muck this discussion up any further...but perhaps the question should be "who and what has has the greatest influence on golf course design in the last 60 years?"   because in many ways people (not just architects) are more important than courses, and other factors are also involved.   Specifically I include the following people and things in my nominations:


--Dick Youngscap:  as brilliant as the Sandhills design is, Youngscap who conceived of the idea of golf in the NE Sandhills was the original and real genius here (and IMO absolutely belongs in the Golf Hall of Fame);


--Mike Keiser---similar reasoning as above and also IMO deserving of a slot in HOF


--A variety of new Bermuda, Bent, and other grasses.  In the 1970's there was no grass that worked for places like Washington DC, Philadelphia, St Louis, Atlanta...fast and firm was close to impossible except in limited times of the year (usually Sept-November).  The new grasses changed all that, so either the new grasses or their creators deserve to be on the list


--I am sure there are other "things" and people well worthy of mention that have transformed design and construction (e.g. Billy Bunker Design?) but there are many other GCA's who know these details far better than I do.


Obviously architects belong on the list...but limiting it to architects and/or courses may miss some of the really big "influencers"

[Stephen Davis]

Tim, I'd love to hear what your rational for including Hammock Beach (Conservatory) was. It is a course that, until now, I had never even heard of and a quick google search left me feeling less than overwhelmed.

Stephen--


The exercise Brad and I went through in that article was not 100% in alignment with the aims of this thread. It was more an exercise in nominating courses that typified the prevailing architectural styles/themes/contexts in their respective decades.


The Conservatory is emblematic of the excesses of golf in pre-recession 2000s America: a very heavily shaped, Bobby Ginn-developed, signature-architect-designed (Tom Watson, in this case) 7,700-yard golf course with 125+ bunkers originally meant to be very private and exclusive with Mediterranean-style mansions all over the place. The course itself is no world-beater, but it is actually pretty solid if you take it at face value, I think. Decent width, nice green contouring and a few risk-reward propositions if you play the right tees (I think there were seven sets when I played it).


As for the real estate part of The Conservatory, the 340 homesites reportedly sold for a total of $141 million, many of them on the first day they were available. As of this great NY Times article from 2009, only five lots had been built upon. When I played the course five years ago, I think there were maybe three dozen houses on the property.


Other Ginn communities here in Florida included Bella Collina, Tesoro and Reunion. I probably could have chosen from them, but at the time Brad and I put the article together, Conservatory was the only one of them I'd played. It fascinates me as a period piece and a cautionary tale in the saga of golf and real estate.

Tim,


Thank you so much for the explanation! That makes total sense to me and definitely seems to typify that time period in golf construction.

[Jeff Schley]

1960's - Going with Desert Forest as it was the first desert course and showed it could be done. Many, many came afterwards. Honorable mention to Mauna Kea
1970's - Muirfield Village
1980's - TPC Sawgrass
1990's - SH / Whistling Straits2000's - Friars Head (ducking for cover!)
2010's- Congaree

[John Emerson]

Not to muck this discussion up any further...but perhaps the question should be "who and what has has the greatest influence on golf course design in the last 60 years?"   because in many ways people (not just architects) are more important than courses, and other factors are also involved.   Specifically I include the following people and things in my nominations:


--Dick Youngscap:  as brilliant as the Sandhills design is, Youngscap who conceived of the idea of golf in the NE Sandhills was the original and real genius here (and IMO absolutely belongs in the Golf Hall of Fame);


--Mike Keiser---similar reasoning as above and also IMO deserving of a slot in HOF


--A variety of new Bermuda, Bent, and other grasses.  In the 1970's there was no grass that worked for places like Washington DC, Philadelphia, St Louis, Atlanta...fast and firm was close to impossible except in limited times of the year (usually Sept-November).  The new grasses changed all that, so either the new grasses or their creators deserve to be on the list


--I am sure there are other "things" and people well worthy of mention that have transformed design and construction (e.g. Billy Bunker Design?) but there are many other GCA's who know these details far better than I do.


Obviously architects belong on the list...but limiting it to architects and/or courses may miss some of the really big "influencers"

This is simply not true. Penncross bentgrass has been around since the early 50’s and was THE choice for bentgrass surfaces. It is still in heavy use today. Those areas you mentioned were all much milder 50+ years ago too and could grow bentgrass a little easier.  Atlanta being the outlier.  Science and research improved turf management at a much faster clip than genetic improvement.  The genetics have only taken big leaps in the last 20 years or so. NTEP (national Turfgrass evaluation program) didn’t even start until the 80’s. Also the equipment improved and made mowing much more precise and less stressful allowing for shorter heights of cut and firmer surfaces.

[Troy Miller]

As for the "Who" and "What"  I might add USGA Greens Construction Specifications and the 1966 Masters Broadcast as the most influential, without taking a stance on whether that influence was positive or not. Perhaps SubAir could be added to that list as well.


I would also add The Cradle in the 2010s, as I think its the most important course built in that decade.  I realize Bandon Preserve predates it, but from an exposure perspective, I believe Pinehurst has had a slightly broader catchment of influence in the short course movement.

[Paul Rudovsky]

This is simply not true. Penncross bentgrass has been around since the early 50’s and was THE choice for bentgrass surfaces. It is still in heavy use today. Those areas you mentioned were all much milder 50+ years ago too and could grow bentgrass a little easier.  Atlanta being the outlier.  Science and research improved turf management at a much faster clip than genetic improvement.  The genetics have only taken big leaps in the last 20 years or so. NTEP (national Turfgrass evaluation program) didn’t even start until the 80’s. Also the equipment improved and made mowing much more precise and less stressful allowing for shorter heights of cut and firmer surfaces.

John---


Thank you.  But what about the new strains of Bermuda?...to my mind they are vastly impr4oved over the Bermuda of the 60's and 70's which (if my memory is correct) had a much thicker or wider leaf, resulting is a much stronger grain, which always was toward the setting sun.  Today's Bermuda has a narrow leaf, much less grain and the grain runs with the slope (water drainage flow direction)...and can be maintained at much much faster speeds

[John Emerson]

This is simply not true. Penncross bentgrass has been around since the early 50’s and was THE choice for bentgrass surfaces. It is still in heavy use today. Those areas you mentioned were all much milder 50+ years ago too and could grow bentgrass a little easier.  Atlanta being the outlier.  Science and research improved turf management at a much faster clip than genetic improvement.  The genetics have only taken big leaps in the last 20 years or so. NTEP (national Turfgrass evaluation program) didn’t even start until the 80’s. Also the equipment improved and made mowing much more precise and less stressful allowing for shorter heights of cut and firmer surfaces.

John---


Thank you.  But what about the new strains of Bermuda?...to my mind they are vastly impr4oved over the Bermuda of the 60's and 70's which (if my memory is correct) had a much thicker or wider leaf, resulting is a much stronger grain, which always was toward the setting sun.  Today's Bermuda has a narrow leaf, much less grain and the grain runs with the slope (water drainage flow direction)...and can be maintained at much much faster speeds

Yes but this has only happened with bermudagrass in the last 15-20 years.  This is a new phenomenon.  The “Tif-...” brand bermudagrass has been around since the late 50’s.  The fine leafed bermudagrass cultivars are a really recent thing.  Agronomic and management advances far exceeds the impact of genetic variety. 

[JohnVDB]

I think the most important course of the 1990s is Brandon Dunes.  While Sand Hills is probably better from an architectural point of view, Brandon showed that the public will come to a remote location and support a well run facility.  If that course had failed, Pacific Dunes and many others like Cabot and others would never have been built.

[Garland Bayley]

I think the most important course of the 1990s is Brandon Dunes.  While Sand Hills is probably better from an architectural point of view, Brandon showed that the public will come to a remote location and support a well run facility.  If that course had failed, Pacific Dunes and many others like Cabot and others would never have been built.

Clearly the 1990s belong to Pumpkin Ridge, which demonstrated that great dreams can be crushed by a spineless rules authority.

[David Wuthrich]

1960's - Crooked Stick
1970's - Casa de Campo
1980's - Shadow Creek
1990's - Sand Hills
2000's - Wolf Point
2010's - Tara Iti

How have Wolf Point or Tara Iti been influential?


I think that they might not have been wildly influential yet, but hope they will be.


Wolf Point shows what you can do with imagination and a limited maintenance budget.


Tara Iti shows that by building a very successful private course, other public offerings should and were considered to help the economy of the area in NZ.


Maybe I'm looking at this differently than others.

[Michael Moore]

Goodfellas and There will be blood are two greatest films I’ve seen in my life.  Donnie Brasco, Heat, and Top Gun are strong runner-ups.

Damn . . . these are way, way up on my list . . . I am running through the great directors with my teenager, and we watched both of these recently. Scorsese may have the deepest oeuvre outside of Spielberg and there are a half dozen I want to see again with the boy, but unfortunately I find Paul T. Anderson to be vexing and downright frustrating outside of Magnolia and There Will Be Blood. I can watch Goodfellas over and over and sing along, but I was let down watching There Will Be Blood for the second time, because it caused me to remember the first viewing, and how transfixed I was by Mr. Daniel Plainview, and how I had never seen a movie like that where I was hanging on the protagonist's every word just to see what he would say next.

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

I'd nominate Common Ground for the 2010s - pioneering the "golf as philanthropy" or re-engaging community driven golf courses.


East Lake probably did it first but the course was already there

[Jeff Schley]

I'd nominate Common Ground for the 2010s - pioneering the "golf as philanthropy" or re-engaging community driven golf courses.


East Lake probably did it first but the course was already there

That is why I selected Congaree. Kudos to any course that gives back and put em together.

[Tim Leahy]

Contrarian thoughts:

1950s -  NCR/Firestone
          -  Old Warson
         
1960s  -  Spyglass

1970s -  Kemper Lakes - (> Kemper Sports >> Bandon ??)

+1 Spyglass

[Kalen Braley]

Contrarian thoughts:

1950s -  NCR/Firestone
          -  Old Warson
         
1960s  -  Spyglass

1970s -  Kemper Lakes - (> Kemper Sports >> Bandon ??)

+1 Spyglass

I'm having a hard time understanding the Spyglass mention on this kind of list.  Isn't Spyglass pretty much the last thing one would want to do with such a blessed site with that kind of ocean proximity, sandy soil, and overall location?  Can you imagine if CPC has started with 18, 17, 16, and 15?  Unfathomable...

[Ira Fishman]

I think the most important course of the 1990s is Brandon Dunes.  While Sand Hills is probably better from an architectural point of view, Brandon showed that the public will come to a remote location and support a well run facility.  If that course had failed, Pacific Dunes and many others like Cabot and others would never have been built.

This is spot on. BD fails and no other courses there or at Cabot or Streamsong or Sand Valley. I am not sure if its success led to some of the remote overseas courses, but I would not be surprised if it did.


Ira