Joe Logan interview with Merion leaders

[jim_lewis]

Most of you will remember Joe Logan, golf writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer, who has posted on this site in the past.

Members of the Merion GC have received a letter form the Club informing them of an upcoming Logan column in the Inquirer regarding the much-discussed "bunker restoration" project. It seems that Joe recently played a round at Merion as a guest and requested an interview with members of the club leadership. The letter pointed out that while the Club sought no publicity regarding the project, they decided to grant Joe's request for an interview to address some of the public curiosity about the project. It is anticipated that Joe's column will appear in the paper soon.

Some on this site have expressed a desire that the Merion leadership make some statements explaining what they hoped to accomplish with the restoration (renovation?). I presume this will be their first public comments on the subject.

Joe, if you are out there, please share your column and any other observations with us as soon as you can. In the meatime, maybe some of you guys who live near Philly (Tom Paul) can be on the lookout for Joe's column and share it with us when it hits the street.

[TEPaul]

I'm sure this Golfclubatlas topic will stay somewhere near the top and when the article appears someone will post the Philly Inquirer website with instructions on how to bring up the article. It will be a Sunday article and Joe's Sunday articles are very large ones.

When the article comes out please let's all of us try to keep architecture in the forefront and personalities and name calling to a real minimum.

Most of the people involved at Merion are friends and acquaintenaces of mine and I can promise all of you none of them are remotely architecture's devil incarnate.

If they are now going to go public with their project through Joe Logan's article there is always a possibility that they may come onto this site too. I, for one, definitely hope they do and I also hope that the contributors to this site treat them fairly!

There is a lot to be learned from Merion and Merion may even learn something from Golfclubatlas too. That's my hope anyway, so stay level-headed and keep the focus on architecture alone!

Thank you very much!

TEP

[ForkaB]

Thanks Tom.  Great post.  I'm looking forward to learning something from the Logan article.

Rich

[Mike_Cirba]

I would like to second Tom Paul's request.

I know we've said a lot of passionate, emotional things on the topic because we frankly care a great deal about the treasure that is Merion East.  

I know I've danced a fine line around decorum and my posts have bordered on sarcasm and satire at times out of my own personal frustration with the issue.  However, if it comes to it, let's use this opportunity to have a gentleman's debate and respectful discussion about the most important thing here....the golf course.

At the end of the day, let's leave this thing feeling that we've done ourselves and GCA proud.

[Craig_Rokke]

I agree with the preceding posts. I get the feeling that perhaps the oft-discussed and
criticized turn of events at Merion will be better understood by all after the article.

[TEPaul]

I sincerely hope you're right about that CraigR, because if Logan misquotes or even vaguely misconstrues me, I have a 1 iron in my closet that has treated me very badly in the past and I'll get it out and go after him with a vengeance!

Joe Logan is a very good man, so forgetabouit!

[Patrick_Mucci]

Jim Lewis,

This is what I've been asking about from the begining, insight into the process, the club's thinking and the directives given to the architect and GC, as well as communications to the membership.

Hopefully, this will answer everyones questions.

I anxiously await the article.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Craig Rokke,
I'm agasped!

How on this earth do you think anything these people will say will bring any suitale reasoning for what they have done?

This whole project is a nightmare for all classic golf courses, and the table has already turned with Riviera and now Oakmont's decision to now use King Fazio.

I know you are more level-thinking then this statement, or have you had some sudden transformation I'm not aware of?

[Tommy_Naccarato]

And now my take on the interview:

Philly Enquirer Golf writer at Merion to see the newly completed bunkering with the powers that be that created it?

Sounds like a well-balanced story. (And please don't misconstrue my thoughts as saying anything against the exceptional writing talents of Mr. Logan.)

I would like to make this a little more clear--You have a Porshe Salesman over-looking the rebuilding the most fabled bunkers in the game; with the greatest architect that ever lived, overseeing the project while some half-baked electrician from California is doing the muck-raking.

Does that sound news worthy to you?

Trust me when I say this. It is a given that the article will be pro-Fazio/Merion accentuated, and they can all pat themselves on the back for using the Philadelphia media for promoting it..

The real impact on this project will not be seen for years when people on the information portal (future internet?) romance how great they once were, or Ronald Whitten III writes an architorture column about these bunkers 40 years from now.

In fact, Ron, Why not get a jump on your future Great Grandson by writing a column now. This is something I could truely appreciate!

[jim_lewis]

Joe Logan:

Please disregard my earlier request to share your thoughts on the Merion project. In fact, you need not even write the column.

You see, Mr. Tommy Nacarrato of California has already told us what your article will say. In fact, he has already told us all there is to know about the work that has been done at Merion. I can not imagine what you or the leaders at Merion could add. Afterall, Tommy has actually been to Merion once, and he has pictures and books, and he is the expert on the works of Tom Fazio (even those he hasn't even done yet). Just because the members at Merion have played the course a few more times, have actually watched its evolution over the years, have archives with many documents and photos, and  even know what instructions were given to Fazio, how could they add anything to what Mr. Naccarato has told us? Besides, he is "passionate" and they probably don't even care as much about the course as he does.

ps: Don't waste your time looking into the disaster about to take place at Oakmont either. Tommy has us covered on that one too.

Thanks anyway!

[s. berry]

i guess it was too much to hope that the thread proceed without any acrimony. however, there seem to be enough of us here who care enough about keeping this particular topic going with a modicum of decorum, such that we can power through the various personal/unconstructive attacks.

perhaps we can set up parallel threads, one where people can go and rant and rave til their blue in the face, and another where people can thoughtfully discourse about the changes being made to Merion.

I hereby declare this thread to be the latter of the two.

[Mike_Cirba]

For many months, some of us have been hoping to hear the reasons for the bunker project direct from club officials who are ultimately responsible. I am glad they have chosen to talk about it and think we should try to be open-minded.
Ideally, Joe Logan's article will simply present the viewpoint of the club, as well as the opinions of some knowledgeable people who feel the bunker project was not in keeping with the design of the course, or the character of the land.

I have read Joe Logan's column regularly, and although I don't always agree (i.e. Pine Hill, Bulle Rock) with his course assessments, I'm hoping that he does his usual professional job and simply presents his readers with the facts and differing opinions related to the project.

At least, that's what I'm hoping for...

[Craig_Rokke]

Tommy-

The powers that be have been quieter than California congressman on this matter. I am looking forward to hearing their rationale.
There must be some factors that played into
their thinking that we have no clue about.
As TE says, his pals are " not architecture's devil incarnate."

The one thing that puzzles me is the two architects Merion employed over the last few years. Very contrasting styles. I'd think
Merion would pick the style of the work to be
done, and then find a suitable person to carry that out. It now appears that they went in reverse order by picking the architect, and letting him dictate the style.

I'm just looking forward to hearing from the other side. I'll agree that probably nothing could change my partiality to the old look.

(Man, there must be some serious dichotomy
going on at that club.)

[BarnyF]

Tommy if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all.  I sit here wondering if you are simply the court jester or an evil stepsister. Linda Lavin had passion but she still could not sing her way out of a waitress job at Mel's Dinner. Your posts about Fazio remind me of the nights I would be sitting with my family watching a mind numbing sit-com while picking the crunchberries out of a fresh box of Captain Crunch....And then here comes Linda Lavin singing out of a mouth contorted like a famous bunker at Pine Valley...The same goes for your constant uninformed off the hip comments about everything Fazio does.  Please in the future don't spoil a perfectly good thread with inane comments...how can you possibly expect a member of any course associated with Fazio to offer an honest opinion when they know it will be drowned out with the same old song.

[Tim_Weiman]

Tommy:

Much as I am completely opposed to comments of a personal nature, I have have to say that you invited Jim Lewis' entertaining post.

Live by the pen.....

But, seriously, I think Pat Mucci and Tom Paul are correct that this site could benefit from encouraging those involved in controversial projects to more openly share their thinking (hopefully in this forum).

The political science student in me can easily imagine a journalist being pressured to say "great things" about a project like Merion.  Nonetheless, it does seem unfair to pre-judge Joe Logan's work.

Given all your admirable passion on the subject, wouldn't it be better to share with us your version of "Ten Questions About The Merion Restoration Project"?

Wouldn't that be more in keeping with what we want this forum to be?  Wouldn't that do more to raise the credibility of GCA?

[Duke Maas]

Everyone keeps asking for people (read Tommy N)to keep it about architecture and leave out personal attacks. Well in reading all of the various posts and threads on Merion it seems like he has explained exactly what it is architechturally that he doesn't like about the Merion changes. He has even provided pictures to illustrate his points.  

Yet people keep whining and whining about him speaking his mind about Fazio and the Merion leadership and their responsibility for what he sees as disastrous changes.  Why shouldn't he call someone on it if he thinks they screwed up, especially if he thinks it was done because of arrogance and lack of scholarship?  And why are so many people intent on carrying Tom Fazio's water?

[TEPaul]

Pretty simple really, Duke. I don't think anyone on here is trying to stifle TommyN's real feelings about the bunkers of Merion (or Fazio) and what he believes has happened to them--and that's the architecture of all this!

But what a lot of people would like to know is some of the reason's Merion did exactly what they did. The whys, the hows and the whens of it, sort of thing. Because they're interested in architecture, in Merion and in many other courses like it. Because some people are interested in knowing these kinds of things, they are interested in hearing from Merion and the people there who are making decisions.

It's an attempt to get some information from Merion and maybe even have a dialogue about these things and it always has been to me. Would it be easier to do that if you were polite about it (although you may be disappointed) or wouldn't it?

If you go past the architecture and simply insult these people, don't you think they just might get defensive and refuse to talk with you? I do!

Maybe Tommy's approach of calling these people idiots and devils ultimately will have the effect of making other clubs so nervous about using a Tom Fazio themslves that they will think twice--I really don't know.

But in the meantime plenty of others would like to talk to Merion and maybe some other clubs who may be doing things that they don't agree with.

Tommy (who is a good friend and I speak with all the time) seems to think that even speaking with Merion or others who might be using Fazio (or other architects he doesn't like) is some sort of an apologia for what they've done (or plan to do). I just don't agree with that--never have.

Expressing opinions about architecture is fine and strong opinions about it are fine too, but let's be honest, if you want to get a point across and maybe convince somebody of something it would probably be best to be able to talk to them about it! And to be able to talk to them about it it would proably be best to listen first too!