Thanks to devoted admirers, the work of a bygone generation of course architects is being preserved and celebrated by societies and associations bearing the designers' names....
It's hard to tell, but Vaughn Halyard is probably only joking when he says prospective members of the
Donald Ross Society — and those planning on playing in society events — should come prepared for a long and exhaustive discussion of Ross’ architecture and lifetime.
“Folks should be forewarned,” he adds with a sheepish smile. “Yes, we visit a lot of outstanding courses, but if you’re not willing to chat about the arcane details of Ross features, his course-routing acumen, his train travel, his prowess with hickories as a player, his roots in Dornoch and emigration to the U.S. and Massachusetts, and a litany of other things Ross or golf course architecture or history-related, then perhaps you shouldn’t come.”
Halyard, a Grammy Award-winning producer, says his own immersion into Ross culture is a relatively new phenomenon, but admits that the pull of Ross-chat with like-minded souls now goes far beyond mere geekery. It all began in 2011 when
Cedar Rapids Country Club embarked on a major course project and hired Ross specialist
Ron Prichard to restore the Ross features lost over time.
Read more:
https://www.firstcallgolf.com/features/feature/2023-05-09/the-golden-age-of-golf-design-lives-on