More Zac Blair!

[David_Tepper]

If nothing else, he has discovered self-promotion is a key to success.

http://mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?i=388526&ver=html5&p=39#{%22page%22:39,%22issue_id%22:388526,%22numpages%22:1}

[Bill Brightly]

Building all the Macdonald templates, I love this guy!

[mike_malone]

We have enough template holes. Let the land determine things.

[Bill Brightly]

Ah, a snarky comment from a Flynn fan!

We don't have enough great holes.
McDonald templates are great holes.
Find the best place on the land in question to build a template.
And we may just end up with one more great hole.

P.S. Is there even one MacRaynor course in Utah?

[mike_malone]

I want more great holes not more replicas of great holes.


I can see the reason to put another cookie cutter course in Utah because some people out there can't travel to Yale.

[Tim Gavrich]

I want more great holes not more replicas of great holes.

Why is a replica of a great hole necessarily not, itself, great? Is uniqueness required for greatness?


What's the average quality of golf course in the state of Utah? Is it better than Yale?


I'd be thrilled if a course of Yale's quality was my home course, so count me in for "cookie-cutter," I guess.


Furthermore, what made Macdonald and Raynor and Banks so brilliant was how they integrated the template holes into different settings. The 9th at Yale, 5th at Mountain Lake and 13th at Mid Ocean Club are all Biarritz holes, but play differently.


A course built using the same templates as those Macdonald and Raynor worked from would only be remotely able to be called "cookie-cutter" if the constituent holes were forced onto the land such that they exactly copied others. Somehow I think Zac Blair and whoever he'd align himself with to design his course has a lot more sense than that...

[Bill Brightly]

Well said, Tim. And there is also the inescapable fact that a modern MacRaynor in Utah will immediately connect to the history of St. Andrews, North Berwick, etc. That is so incredibly cool, especially if it is skillfully accomplished in Utah.

[BCowan]

We have enough template holes. Let the land determine things.

Mayday,

that took courage.  You are my hero!  At least it would be great to see some new templetes come about.  I like what Meadowbrook did by doing a WPJ template from Huntercombe. 

[mike_malone]

Ben


Yes ,in today's world we should expand beyond only the MacDonald templates to the whole British Isles/Ireland area.


This could increase the naturalness of the courses.

[E P Purmort]

Did you have a chance to listen to Mr. Blair on Shipnuck's podcast? Give it a go if you have 30 minutes in the car. He didn't leave a good impression on me, but I'd be interested in what others thought.


In reply to Shipnuck's questioning whether Zac would be the architect of record on his BUCK CLUB course he states that yes he would be, then states that an architect would be a waste of money as they'd be nothing more than a "name", then jumps on Shipnuck's commentary that PV, Oakmont, and Pebble are first time architect courses.


Its around the 7:15 mark.


http://www.golf.com/tour-news/2017/01/31/zac-blair-explains-his-creation-buck-club


I wish him luck, but his underestimation of the profession that supplies him with his largest passion is a hypocrisy that I cannot reconcile.


Also, the fly rods being used as flagsticks so you can fly fish in nearby streams thing..... I hope thats a joke. 

[Buck Wolter]

Did you have a chance to listen to Mr. Blair on Shipnuck's podcast? Give it a go if you have 30 minutes in the car. He didn't leave a good impression on me, but I'd be interested in what others thought.


In reply to Shipnuck's questioning whether Zac would be the architect of record on his BUCK CLUB course he states that yes he would be, then states that an architect would be a waste of money as they'd be nothing more than a "name", then jumps on Shipnuck's commentary that PV, Oakmont, and Pebble are first time architect courses.


Its around the 7:15 mark.


http://www.golf.com/tour-news/2017/01/31/zac-blair-explains-his-creation-buck-club


I wish him luck, but his underestimation of the profession that supplies him with his largest passion is a hypocrisy that I cannot reconcile.


Also, the fly rods being used as flagsticks so you can fly fish in nearby streams thing..... I hope thats a joke.

He has selected the land, completed the routing and hole diagrams and green designs so what would an architect/designer do? How is this different than any architect taking their first job? Really comes down to his hiring decisions for a crew I would think.

[BHoover]

Did you have a chance to listen to Mr. Blair on Shipnuck's podcast? Give it a go if you have 30 minutes in the car. He didn't leave a good impression on me, but I'd be interested in what others thought.


In reply to Shipnuck's questioning whether Zac would be the architect of record on his BUCK CLUB course he states that yes he would be, then states that an architect would be a waste of money as they'd be nothing more than a "name", then jumps on Shipnuck's commentary that PV, Oakmont, and Pebble are first time architect courses.


Its around the 7:15 mark.


http://www.golf.com/tour-news/2017/01/31/zac-blair-explains-his-creation-buck-club


I wish him luck, but his underestimation of the profession that supplies him with his largest passion is a hypocrisy that I cannot reconcile.


Also, the fly rods being used as flagsticks so you can fly fish in nearby streams thing..... I hope thats a joke.

He has selected the land, completed the routing and hole diagrams and green designs so what would an architect/designer do? How is this different than any architect taking their first job? Really comes down to his hiring decisions for a crew I would think.

I completely agree, Buck. If anyone else on this site was doing what ZB is doing, we would praise him for taking the chance. Is it because ZB is a Tour pro that some seem to discount his ability to design his own course? I think ZB should be respected for taking the risk of trying to design his own club. If he succeeds, great. If he does not, I applaud him for taking a chance.

[BCowan]

I agree Brian.  Also his father has constructed Golf courses and could be assisting him in that department.  He has worked with his father before I believe when he was a kid. 

[Joe Zucker]

In one of the recent podcasts Zach did (Fried Egg maybe?), he talks about how his opinion of what makes a great course has changed in the last few years. When he initially got the idea to make the Buck Club, it would be championship course meant for the best players.  But as he saw more of the great courses, he explained that his idea for the Buck club changed to be a course that was fun for every level of golfer where matches could be played with golfers of varying abilities.  This attitude is one we extol here, so the fact that a tour pro wants to make a course playable by all is pretty remarkable to me.  From what I've seen on a few Nicklaus courses, it seems like Zach is closer to what we like than Jack.

[E P Purmort]

He may well have already done the work and decided that he is going to take a chance on himself as designer. I think that has plenty of merit.


He may well be building a course for the common man, who wouldn't approve of that?

Do I think a golden age course in rocky Utah will be awesome? 100%, yes. 

But that isn't where my comment was directed. He didn't leave me with a good impression because of his comments on hiring an architect. I think it is reasonable for a rookie architect in his position to approach it with a little more humility. Others in the profession wouldn't be a pointless waste of money and nothing more than a name, in my opinion.

[Jon Wiggett]

Evan,


do you hire someone to do the work you have already done? If so then your criticism is correct but if the answer is no then why do you think Mr. Blair should do so. As for humility, top sportsmen are rarely humble.


Jon