Hi Chip: I was surfing around (avoiding gardening chores, more likely) and bumped into your thread. You sure have a nice way with words! It makes one proud to have an association with the guys (and lovely Line Mortensen from Vol.1). Over the course of the four volumes, the contributors you’ve listed, plus many others, have thrown themselves into the research/writing tasks at the rate of $$nought/per hour, working through evenings after coming home tackered-out from the stresses of the daily grind. The “gratis” copy provided to each contributor is, I realise, but a pittance. The overall concept being, and hopefully it is working, is to gather a selection of differing views on various aspects of golf-course architecture. At the risk of some thinking I've taken leave of my senses, at times I deliberately publish views of the industry that, personally, I disagree with. If I’ve done my job, you’ll never ascertain when that is. But that aspect is how it ties-in with the publication’s sub-title: “A Worldwide Perspective”—not necessary my perspective (although a lot is), but also stemming from golf-course architects, shapers, enthusiasts, board members of clubs, students of golf-course architecture and, occasionally, golf addicts with no pretense to the inner workings of the industry. Members of Ross, Tllinghast, Travis and other Societies/Associations, too. Every now and again, a “turfie” gets the call-up, just to underscore how the disciplines of turfgrass and architecture are working closer together than in previous years.
One of the most instructive essays in Vol.4, for instance, was by Joe Hancock, who wrote a case study from his perspective as an ex-course owner, superintendent and lover of fine architecture. Joe noted that there was a conflict of interest in the roles that each plays, yet he was keen to offer the paying public a better golf experience, yet keep it relatively affordable. The essay teases out, among other things, how a drastic reduction in water usage at Grand Island, Michigan, lead to a lowered pesticide load, which encouraged an eradication of the hodgepodge of grasses, leading to a firmer playing surface. So although a turf-oriented essay, he successfully weaved in the relationship between maintenance practices and architecture. Before Grand Island was systematically dried out and made less lush, he relates how regular visitors learned to aim for the rough, as those grass heights were often lower than the fairway, and extra roll could be gained. Joe reveals several interesting personal revelations, among them: his awakening to the fact that how a course looked was far less important than how it plays.