Has minimalism fallen into spectacularism?

[Philippe Binette]

Back in the english garden period, the pcituresque fell into the sublime...

Are we seeing the same thing happen in golf. After reading Tom Doak on design differentiation, I've ask myself the same question I've been asking myself for a while: As minimalism fallen into spectacularism...

With the emergence of Sand Hills, Pacific Dunes and others... the essence of golf design was reborn. 
But now, we see architects from outside the movement joining the movement, with what they think makes the 'minimalist' style: rugged bunkering, wild greens, wild grasses.... but that's not a surprise. If it sells, some architects will go in it.

The thing is, we also see that some courses done where architects 'inside the movement' are trying to outdo what they've done before... leading to more bunkering, wilder greens etc...

That's maybe because the clients are asking for it...

It's like the same movement as the 1980's, early 1990's but with wild grass and less water.

So, as minimalism fallen into spectacularism???

[Anthony Gray]

  Sounds like you played The Castle Course. What other new courses is this evident?

[Adam Clayman]

No more spectacular than nature herself. Although, after having finally seen Pac Dunes. spectacularism may have started there. 

All this recent focus on differentiation has led to the same path. The land and it's characteristics. From my limited travels, each place has the opportunity to be unique if the designer can bring it out. No better example of that is Bandon Trails, for Bill and Ben, and, Doak's Ballyneal.

[RJ_Daley]

I would say that it might be true that minimalism has in some cases migrated to spectacularism as a fad, if your definition is that a spare and economical presentation of what is there on the natural ground is cleverly blended into a golf design that offers traditional good value golf at very low cost to build and maintain is real minimalism.  Then, spectacularism is any extra effort to faux create natural looks that might be thought of as having a natural context of more and bigger natural features than exist on that ground, or anywhere in nature. 

So, Chambers Bay is spectacularism, while Sand Hills remains the poster child of minimalism (or Wild Horse... )  BallyNeal, is a leaner, going by what Tom D., often describes as their construction process, whereby the efforts to get the 'look' were greater than many might guess, yet not really that much compared to the big efforts that are made to get the look in other venues.

I'm going to be curious as to where Prairie Club comes in.   It is surely not going to meet the purist minimal standards as Sand Hills, yet I don't think it will be an over reach to create spectacular looks like Chambers Bay, or Sutton Bay.  I'm guessing that it might be closer to BallyNeal, maybe Dismal River. 

But, we can't just keep focussing on the standard of minimalism looking like Sand Hills or Wild Horse.   What about Mike Nuzzo's Wolf Pointe.  What is that?  I don't think it is really minimalism in a pure sense as we have followed it's construction on Mike's website; but probably a lot closer to minimal than spectacularism.  It seems like Mike did as sparing of a construction job as he could to get the most exciting golf, on such barely remarkable terrain.   Those that have been to Wolf Point will have to say...

Some constructors are going to be better than others at building bunkers and shaping land contours that appear very natural.  The more effort and time they put into getting that very natural, or in some cases faux and over-the-top natural look, the more spectacular it can be graded, IMHO.

[Brian_Ewen]

That's maybe because the clients are asking for it...

Philippe , you mean like the Dukes ?

[Philippe Binette]

The Duke's might be an example of spectacularism, don't get me wrong spectacualrism is not a bad thing, if you say that it is what the architect is going for and as long as the economy can support it.

The particularity with the Duke's though is that it's not a new course and the existing features (mounds all over the place, routing etc..) could not allow to do a minimalist course... the extreme earthwork was already done. I think the main issue at the Duke's was to give the course an identity, even if it had to be manufactured a bit.
Tim Liddy never pretend to built a minimalist course, he said he would change the bunkering style and pattern, reflecting the old style of bunkers and he did just that...

Is the bunkering at the Duke's over the top, I wouldn't say so. Hell most of the bunkers were built to hide some mounds. I think the flashy bunkers and the grassing / planting pattern that went along with it was an effort to reconnect the course with the landscape by trying to make the artificial mounding believeable.

I'm not really sure Mr Kohler was asking for that specifically, but once the concept and pattern got establish, he was definitely pushing that forward.

[Rob Rigg]

I believe "spectacularism" was one of the claims that was leveraged against Tetherow as well as the Castle - So Kidd is 2 for 2 there.

"Contrived minimalism" was another interesting call out that probably applies to some of the modern courses where architects have tried to make things "natural" although it looks more "supernatural"

Seems like we are at a point in design where courses that are obviously "man made" are forcefully put down. But with the tools available to architects today, maybe it is difficult to create the "natural" look hence the "natural on steroids" or "supernatural" trend that has come to the forefront?

As most of the ideal "golf sites" across the world have been used already, it is rare for an architect to create something like Kidd's Machrihanish which was essentially defined by environmental restrictions that allowed him to only put down tees, fairways, and greens, with little to no earth moving.

What Mike Nuzzo seems to have accomplished at Wolf Point is that much more special to me because it does appear very natural, I feel the same way about Ballyneal (having been to neither and only seen photos). Chambers Bay, on the other hand, does not look like it has been there forever, and thus, in the "minimalistic" sense is not as impressive (although it was built on an old quarry).

[Tom_Doak]

Philippe:

There is nothing wrong with using the spectacular features of a spectacular site.  I think we did a pretty good job of that at Cape Kidnappers, in hindsight.

However, I would agree with you that a lot of modern "minimalist" courses (including some of ours) are anything but minimalist.  There are too many bunkers and too much re-contouring going on in the name of never having a less exciting golf hole, or even a single less-than-exciting golf shot.

I remember Pete Dye lamenting the very same thing 27 years ago when I worked at Long Cove.  In those days, before $200 logoed cashmere jumpers, the most popular souvenir at Pine Valley was a postcard set of all 18 holes, which was their way of saying that Pine Valley was the only course where every hole was worthy of a postcard.  And Pete said that nowadays every client wanted every hole to be a postcard, or at least architects acted like that was the standard.

So maybe a better way of making your point would be to ask, what is the least overdone great course of the past ten years? 

I'd vote for Cape Kidnappers from my own work.  And the funny thing is, it's often been boo-hooed here for its spectacular location (which is all natural) and for not being so strategic (because the design features are subtle).  In truth, its lack of over-decoration has got as much to do with difficult soils as with our use of restraint ... cool bunkers are a dime a dozen on sandy sites, and that's why Ballyneal and Barnbougle and Friars Head and Sand Hills have so many of them.

[Kalen Braley]

But Tom,

Cool hairy bunkers on sandy sites are like CowBell, you can never get enough of them.....unless your always in them!!

[Tom Huckaby]

I've got a fever.... and the only prescription... is MORE HAIRY BUNKERS!

 

[Melvyn Morrow]

Tom

I will say that’s an improvement in that you are happy to use a natural long grass to keep you out of a bunker, but can we describe it as yet another prop to help you game? 

Hairy bunkers, where is your sense of adventure, the short look is my choice.   

[Mark Smolens]

Melvyn, I get the feeling you're not speaking about golf anymore

[Mike_Young]

In post #7 TD mentions subtle strategies and restraint and over decoration......
The over decoration factor is where it seems so many miss the boat with the mnimalism.....IMHO so many of the people trying to copy minimalism become trapped with the over decoration because they can't comprehend many of the subtle strategies incorporated in the restrained courses.  And that is where we get some of this unplayable stuff....

[Peter Pallotta]

Minimalism is not synonymous with naturalism. Few seem willing to risk being 'boring', ie appearing so at first glance. Understandable - you might not get a second chance. But in years to come I think those who do take that risk will be deemed among the best.
Peter

[Philippe Binette]

It seems like what has happen is that minimalism has been associated with sand dunes or sandy site...

It's probably true that a sandy site does favor minimalism and ironically also favor rugged bunkering and building a lot of bunkers since it's easy.

The question is, has somebody done a minimalist course outside a sandy site, recently???

[Gary Slatter]

  Sounds like you played The Castle Course. What other new courses is this evident?

Sitting in the bar at St Andrews Golf Club Thursday I heard from an very respected golf course writer that "Castle Stuart" is the best golf course to evolve in the British Isles in the past 100 years...

[Mike Nuzzo]

Rob,
Thank you very much.
I know Don and I are on a very good track when I show Wolf Point pics to landscape architects and planners and horticulture professionals and they remark how natural everything looks - and wouldn't it be great if more golf looked like that.  Then I tell them how it is easier to maintain and build too.
Cheers

[Bill_McBride]

I've got a fever.... and the only prescription... is MORE HAIRY BUNKERS!

 

That's a "fee-vuh."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyV2cPLuFuA&feature=related