Is Rees Jones the "Father of Neo-Classicism"?

[blasbe1]

Jason, I have to take issue with you. The 17 volumes of work produced by this most complex and contradictory of thinkers are easily summarized in a throwaway line of a half sentence.

"God is Dead" is a full sentence, unless I'm missing something.

[Brad Klein]

Jason, see above. I was referring to your suggestion that I might be simplifying.

[A_Clay_Man]

Here Rees appears to have combined the ameoba (worm) shape with the spinning D-4 look.


and another example of variety  


But perhaps the real culprit is... this person? A sort of smiling demon seed.

[Andy Hughes]

Hmm, looking at the fairway bunkers at #12 at the Old Course, is it possible.......?

[Mike_Cirba]

Andy;

Unfortunately, those lamebrain golfing forefathers and sheep responsible for the pot bunkers at The Old Course didn't have the creative genius and architectural ingenuity to string them all in a straight row.  

They also weren't innovative enough to dig some nice retaining ponds that can be used to create the same hole on both sides.  

[Jeff_Mingay]

I've shaped a number of bunkers.

I've never attempted to build one circular, but I'm thinking that it's more difficult to create one of those perfect circles of sand than an irregularly shaped bunker.

Spinning around in a D-4 is no fun  

[Mike_Cirba]

Jeff;

The really fun part is how good those Reesian pots look from the ground.  

Very unlike those at the Old Course or elsewhere in the UK, which sort of start at ground level and go down, generally deeply, these are all built into man made mounds, above the general surface level, and generally only deep enough for an angry hobbit and his niblick.

Think the circular Rulewich bunker that Geoffrey posted from Yale, only built into a mound.  I'll dig up a ground level shot somewhere.

The things are so ubiquitous that I'm sure they're out there.  

[Mike_Cirba]

This one shows one of the previous holes from a different angle where you can really see the classic strategies laid out;



This one says to me, "be in the fairway, or be on a mound"

[Andy Hughes]

Unfortunately, those lamebrain golfing forefathers and sheep responsible for the pot bunkers at The Old Course didn't have the creative genius and architectural ingenuity to string them all in a straight row.  

I'm not exactly sure what it means when a pack of sheep create a more strategic, and natural-looking, gem....

[Dan Kelly]

In the cold-weather parts of this great country (and, for all I know, in the cold-weather parts of other great countries), people happily engage in the wintertime pursuit of perfect circles -- made by driving one's vehicle quickly across slippery, frozen surfaces, hitting the brakes, and spinning the steering wheel hard to one side or the other.

This is known, most places, as "making doughnuts."

In parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin, it is known as "whipping shitties."

Perhaps this quaint and charming Upper Midwestern terminology might come in handy here.

[JakaB]

Well Mr. Editor...you do doughnuts...you don't make them...the act of spinning is what counts not the impression you leave in the snow....

[Dan Kelly]

Well Mr. Editor...you do doughnuts...you don't make them...the act of spinning is what counts not the impression you leave in the snow....

Google reports: " 'make doughnuts' snow" 635, " 'do doughnuts' snow" 159. Not exactly scientific, but it appears you're in the majority, JakaB.

As for "what counts": The world of making/doing doughnuts is a great big thing, and there's room for all sorts of pleasures in it. Go ahead and enjoy the spin; I'll enjoy the circles.

[Mike_Cirba]

In the case of the photo above, do you think one shaper spends the whole day spinning to do them all, or do you think they send out 10-15 shapers to spin out just one each?  

The first is probably cheaper, but just think how dizzy he'd get by the 4th or 5th one.  At that point, he might just lose total control and start inadvertedly piling dirt up in symmetrical piles along the sides of each hole, and you know what a mess that would be!  

[Mike_Cirba]

I can't believe Patrick (You can't judge a hole by a photo) Mucci hasn't weighed in on this thread!  

His debating style has always impressed me and I couldn't wait to see what his tack would have been to defend Rees's work on the courses portrayed herein.  Somehow I think the words "dishonest" and "unfair" would have been in there.    

[Dan Herrmann]

If you want to see Rees at his worst, check out Tattersall in West Chester, PA.

Holes going backwards, cart required becuase of the elevation differences, a hole (#2) where you tee off with a 4 iron and hit your 2nd with a 3 or 5-wood, and a 0.8 mile treck from 18 green back to the clubhouse.

And if you want to see how Kidd/Doak could've ruined Bandon, look no further than Sandpines.

(can you tell that I'm not a Rees fan?)

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Dan, I'm a Dan Fan!

Thank you for giving validity to my critique to the waste of a tremendous golf site.  Many on here would just love to give him a pass.

[Michael Dugger]

And if you want to see how Kidd/Doak could've ruined Bandon, look no further than Sandpines.

Ah, Sweet Sandpines.  I was recently dragged there again, kicking and screaming.  (the guys wanted to play it on the way to Bandon)

I'd post some pictures but they crashed my harddrive