Thanks Tom,
Great to hear Crystal Downs is going to finally have a proper club history. And the timing is nice with Fred Muller and some of the other longtime employees and members around to contribute.
Michael
Michael,
I am quite happy to hear Crystal Downs is going to have a proper history and hope to obtain a copy when it becomes available. But, let me offer a perspective from two Alister Mackenie courses, Royal Melbourne and Cypress Point.
Honestly, Royal Melbourne’s book, while it may be appreciated by club members, is kind of disappointing as it has very little about the courses themselves and thus is not so great for golf architecture junkies. By contrast, Geoff Shackelford’s Cypress Point book is wonderful in its focus on the golf course rather than the club. I believe Geoff himself told me that the club told him they would support the project with the understanding that the book be what it became.
Another perspective along the same lines is Tom Doak’s Alister Mackenzie book. Per conversation with Brian Lewis many years ago, early drafts of this book were really too focused on Mackenzie’s personal life rather than his work. Lewis wisely understood that to be a commercial success, a book about MacKenzie would have to focus on his work, not his personal life.
No doubt Fred Muller is well aware of these perspectives and I hope his influence is to follow the example of Cypress Point rather than Royal Melbourne.