Golf Architect Societies: Now and Soon

[Ronald Montesano]

We have the following societies listed on the Travis Society site:


The Tillinghast Association
The Donald Ross Society
The Stanley Thompson Society
The Seth Raynor Society
The Devereux Emmet Society
The Robert Trent Jones Society
The Wayne Stiles Society
The James Braid Golfing Society
Alister Mackenzie Society USA
Perry Maxwell Society
Tom Simpson Society

There may be others. Here's hoping.

Question: which current architects will have societies in 2125, assuming planet is still orbiting the sun.

Take this thread down any road you choose.

[Tom_Doak]

I am 100% sure the Earth will still be orbiting the sun in one hundred years' time.  A bit less confident there will be people, playing golf.


The Robert Trent Jones Society?  I suppose it will still be going strong, if only to provide future architects contacts to kiss up to in search of "restoration" assignments.  Like the Donald Ross Society, his oeuvre provides the most potential for work.


For the same reason, there will probably be a Jack Nicklaus Society, I just wonder whether it will be run by the AI version of Jack?[size=78%] [/size]

[Pierre_C]

I believe 60% of the societies you identified will likely endure for the next 100 years in some form. The survival of the society is likely contingent upon the existence of the architect's golf course. Golf is fundamentally a business, and the ongoing financial success of an architect's courses extends the viability of his society.

But this is all mute if the Earth isn't orbiting the Sun in 100 years.

There was an interesting paper published last year examining the Earth's historical orbital fluctuations  - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ad24fb. The paper shows how perturbation of passing stars and other celestial bodies alters the Earth's orbit over time. As stars pass near our Solar System, they perturb the giant planet’s orbits (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune), which consequently then alters the orbital trajectory of the Earth. It's theorized that last passing star that altered Earth's orbit occurred 56M years ago.

A more plausible cause for Earth's orbital change within the next 100 years is a celestial collision. Lucky for us, Scientists increased the odds of Astroid 2024 YR4 hitting Earth from 1.2% to 2.3%.  The 163 foot wide astroid is expected to make 2 passes near Earth, 2028 and 2032. The nearest pass will be on Dec. 22, 2032, within 60,000 miles of Earth.





article below...
https://www.space.com/asteroid-2024yr4-odds-increase-no-concern

I am 100% sure the Earth will still be orbiting the sun in one hundred years' time.  A bit less confident there will be people, playing golf.


The Robert Trent Jones Society?  I suppose it will still be going strong, if only to provide future architects contacts to kiss up to in search of "restoration" assignments.  Like the Donald Ross Society, his oeuvre provides the most potential for work.


For the same reason, there will probably be a Jack Nicklaus Society, I just wonder whether it will be run by the AI version of Jack?

[Mark_Fine]

Let’s hope for our kid’s kid’s kids sake the earth is still orbiting the sun and golf is still being played. 

I don’t belong to any of the current societies but I am glad they exist and hope they all continue well into the future.  They bring attention to golf architecture and whether you like “restoration” or not, they do help many courses at least attempt to understand and appreciate their history and evolution. 

When I joined my home club in 1997, there were maybe only a half a dozen members who had any clue who designed it 

Attention to a course’s architectural history is still low but it has risen dramatically in part due to these different organizations.  I wish all the best for them to continue and hope and expect many more to be added going forward. 

[Greg Hohman]

In a recent post I suggested there is a Bell Sr bio waiting to be written. It follows that there is a Wm. Bell Sr (and Jr) Society waiting to be founded. I am not the founder-in-waiting, but would join.

[Rob Nydick]

To build on this, I've often wondered what efforts (if any) modern architects are making to preserve and archive their own work.  I assume there was significant time and effort spent compiling and digitizing something like the Tufts Archives (Donald Ross), so given our understanding of how important this preservation is, and the capabilities of modern technology, shouldn't this be part of every architect's long range plan?


I worry that leaving this responsibility to the client is risky, as most clubs lack the resources or direction to execute these efforts.  Perhaps the answer lies with "societies" with a singular focus who can work in cooperation with living architects to assist with their efforts?

[Rob Nydick]

In a recent post I suggested there is a Bell Sr bio waiting to be written. It follows that there is a Wm. Bell Sr (and Jr) Society waiting to be founded. I am not the founder-in-waiting, but would join.

I believe there is one that's already been "founded".  Forrest Richardson was the individual who responded to my inquiry when I contacted the Society about Bell working at Oahu Country Club, so he appears to be involved at some level.


https://williambellsociety.wordpress.com/home/

[Joe Bausch]

 I believe a new society will be starting up this year.

[Greg Hohman]

Rob and Joe, my recent "revelation" about the resemblance between Mission Trails 12 and Balboa 14 won't die with me! My career as a lecturer with a captive audience is assured!

[Neil_Crafter]

There is an Alex Russell Society in Australia and New Zealand, while there is an Alister MacKenzie Society of the UK, as distinct from the American based one.

[Simon Barrington]

Think Tom is possibly right that a RTJ Society may crop up due to sheer force of numbers and commerciality.



Surprised there is not a Pete (& Alice) Dye Society already, nor a Mike Stranz one.
Perhaps needs more time to pass.


Might I suggest that there may well be a Tom Doak or Renaissance Society by 2125, but given recent threads on here re. consensus/groupthink etc. some may even suggest that it already exists in the form of this DB?     (Just kidding folks)

[Alex_Hunter]

There sort of is one for Mike Strantz. That is if you'd be ok with a fan club being a "society"


https://www.golfcrusade.com/strantz

[Ronald Montesano]

Lads, re-read my list. You'll see that the RTJ society exists already.

[Andrew Harvie]

I wonder if the architects of now will need societies in the same capacity the Stanley Thompson Society or Donald Ross Society act as. If Tom Doak and Bill Coore and Gil Hanse all post on Instagram and have a website (and some active architects post here), and with Google Earth being able to show nearly everything from the start... does that replace some of the functions of a society? I'm sure someone will make a Gil Hanse society, but with such a wealth of knowledge now, I wonder if it'll be redundant.

[Greg Hohman]

Andrew, think of the niche periodicals (sports, fashion, literary &c) of bygone days and apply their fates to Instagram, FB, &c. How many architects intend to set aside monies for the various costs of a website in perpetuity? Sure, as free backup, there’s the Wayback Machine.   The niche societies may outlive them all.

[Andrew Harvie]

Andrew, think of the niche periodicals (sports, fashion, literary &c) of bygone days and apply their fates to Instagram, FB, &c. How many architects intend to set aside monies for the various costs of a website in perpetuity? Sure, as free backup, there’s the Wayback Machine.   The niche societies may outlive them all.

I don't see it any different than a relative preserving someone's notable book collection!

[Greg Hohman]

I don’t follow. I mean online societies. Cyberspace makes the difference.

[Andrew Harvie]

I don’t follow. I mean online societies. Cyberspace makes the difference.

You're correct. But, digital spaces are the new books much like CD's were the new Cassettes (maybe I should say Vinyl considering they're still popular and books aren't disappearing anytime soon, but the point stands). People have maintained/kept book collections from their parents and grandparents and passed it down through generations, but if the perceived value of a website is archival and notable in their family, I could see someone willing to pay the domain & hosting fee every year to have that available. It really isn't that expensive to own the domain, and very cheap to have a hosting company—maybe $10 a month. If someone has a very successful art blog, I'm almost certain a relative would maintain that to uphold that legacy.

[Greg Hohman]

Although what you describe is bound to happen, I don’t see it yet (cf Wayback Machine) and bet it will be piecemeal. Also, the costs for my various websites, none sophisticated, are way more than $10 per month. You could counter, “Find new hosting plans” and I am ready to hear suggestions, though not inclined to sever longstanding relationships.

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