[Mark_Fine]

Starting in May, Golf Tips Magazine will introduce a feature section on golf course architecture.  I am fortunate to be a co-author of these articles with golf writer Tom Ferrell.  Together we will be talking about many of the topics covered on this website and broadcasting them to a readership of nearly 2 million golfers a month.  We believe the opportunity exists to educate many golfers about the passion we all share on this site.  
 
How did this happen; well several months ago, I set up a round of golf for Tom and myself at LACC along with David DeNunzio and Mike Chwasky, two of the magazine’s editors.  After listening to Tom and I talk about golf architecture for four hours at such a hallowed venue (we also threatened them with 4 irons  ) they agreed to make it happen.  Frankly they are as excited as we are.  Look for the first article this May on “The Short Par Four”.  With the U.S. Amateur coming up, does the name Merion mean anything to anyone when it comes to great short fours    
 
It’s going to be fun and hopefully we can make a difference.  If anyone here has some ideas for topics they think would be interesting (to the masses not just to the few dozen purists on this site) and could help the education process for GCA, please pass them on.  All ideas would be welcome.  
 
Mark

[George Pazin]

A couple of quick ideas:

- In Praise of Firm & Fast (how it brings out the architecture)

- Learning Yesterday's Lessons Well (trying to praise holes that follow strategic formulas rather than aesthetic values)

- The Ambiguous Option (more on this later)

[Mark_Fine]

Good ideas George!  Keep them coming.  I love the firm fast conditions concept.  There is no question that design features are accentuated in firm fast conditions.  

[Adam_F_Collins]

I think that photographic analysis of great designs like the recent "#10 Riviera - A pictorial" by Jeff Fortson is just the kind of thing that people need.

One of the key things to a deeper appreciation of anything is a 'language' or an understanding of the underlying principals on which value judgments are made.

It's not about WHAT is good, as much as it is WHY it's good. The why is what will grow appreciation.

There are plenty of publications out there telling us what is good.

[Mark_Fine]

Adam,
You are correct.  Showing people a great hole is easy and everyone can do that.  Our focus will be more on "why" its a great hole or "why" its a great design concept.  We also want to expand on this "why" aspect and try to explain how understanding and appreciating the architecture can translate into better scoring and more fun.    
Mark

[Doug Siebert]

Maybe a mythbusting article talking about how courses like ANGC aren't highly ranked because of all the flowers and perfectly manicured green green grass but due to other factors and why it hurts a course in terms of playability and cost to pursue that "ideal".

Perhaps an article exposing the hidden costs in terms of maintenance and wider corridors required stemming from the out of control golf ball (i.e., why "just build another set of tees at 7900 yards" isn't a good answer)

Why a lot of classic courses are doing tree removal and what tree removal is intended to accomplish in terms of adding options, improving turf quality and perhaps speeding play a bit.

[Mark_Fine]

Good ideas Doug.  One article will surely be on trees!  

[Dan_Callahan]

I'd love to see an article that looks at green speeds over the years and the impact on contouring and pin locations. Perhaps some analysis from an expert (Crenshaw?) on what would happen to Tour putting averages if the greens were slower and hole locations were more extreme (closer to slopes).

[Jimmy Muratt]

Mark,

That is wonderful news.  Golf Tips will now go from an occasional read for me to a magazine I will greatly look forward to every month.  

The Short Par 4 article is a great way to start.

A couple other topics I'd like to see discussed:

- the art of routing a golf course.  (focused on maximizing the potential of the land yet still making it easily walkable)

- the short Par 3.  (similar to short 4's, holes playable by all, and they add much personality and character to a course.  It would be good to see some examples from classic courses and also some of the better new examples now being built.)

- the Redan.  (explaining the strategy required and then showing various examples from both classic and modern courses.  Besides the Redan's publicity at the Shinnecock Open last year, the regular golfing public knows little if anything about this classic design.)

[Tony_Chapman]

Can I subscribe to Golf Tips? Or, will your stuff be on the web?!! This sounds wonderful.

I think it would be great to do something on the art of "the build." Interviewing guys like Axland and Proctor or Jeff Bradley (www.bunkerguru.com) or some of Doak's behind the scene's guys.

[Tom Ferrell]

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for the responses regarding the new column Mark Fine and I will are working on.  The mandate from Golf Tips is to illustrate how architectural features and methodologies affect on-course strategy and shotmaking decisions.  In other words, to answer the question:  Why should I think about golf course architecture?

Jimmy - the Redan will definitely be a topic.  It was the original discussion that got the whole ball rolling, so to speak.  We'll tie in conditioning (fast and firm) and such.

I also want to thank Lynn Shackelford for the pictorial overview of that shameless harlot, the 10th at Riviera.  I, of course, played one of the red lines and found out just how difficult a 30-yard wedge can be from the wrong angle.

Anyway, keep the ideas coming.  We'll do our best to be creative and informative and to help readers become more aware of the sublime art of GCA.

TOM

[Jari Rasinkangas]

Sounds really great.  This is a good opportunity to educate the average player what is happening behind the scenes.  

Adam's idea about WHY is very important.  It is the basic idea when teaching anybody.  E.g. when teaching the technique for a player it helps tremendously if you can tell why this change must be made to your swing instead of just teeling do it.  You learn much faster when you know what your old fault caused in your swing and what the new change does there.

My suggestions are:

- The marriage between design and maintenence: how the maintenance can change the original design ideas, how to get people understand that less maintenence is good for everybody.

- The environmental issues: how design and maintenence is changing or should change when environmental sanctions are getting more severe.

Jari

[Mark_Fine]

Great ideas everyone.  Thank you.  I'll sure we'll use many of them.  I suspect our articles will be on the Golf Tips website but I'm not sure.  Maybe Tom F. knows?  We'll keep everyone posted.  

[George Pazin]

Just to expound for a bit on my ambiguous options point -

I recently got into a discussion with one of the board more prolific posters about the highlights of The Rawls Course versus Black Mesa. I don't think I ever made my point clear, but what I was trying to say was that, while Black Mesa offers options, they are rather clearcut. At TRC, the options (which arise more through ground contours versus explicit and obvious hazards and OB) are nebulous enough that I think it would require more thought upon repetitive play. My gut feeling, after playing BM twice, is that the decisions are more obvious and wouldn't require much adjustment unless conditions changed dramatically. And on 16 & 18, the only adjustment would be, do I say one prayer or two?

The recovery shots are another matter entirely, a subject for further exposition.

[Mark_Fine]

George,
Just remember, we have to appeal to the masses and keep their attention.  If we get too deep we'll lose people.  We'll be curious on how you think we do on the first one.  
Mark

[Mark_Fine]

For all you golf architecture critics out there, check out our first article in June's Golf Tips Magazine titled, "beware the short par-4".  Tom and I analyze the short four and concentrate on Merion's #10 hole (since the Amateur will be played there this summer).  As some of you know, Bobby Jones double-bogeyed #10 before closing out the Slam on the next hole.  

As stated earlier, one of the main goals of our articles is to enhance the reader's understanding of golf course design to help improve their golf game.  

July's article is titled, "Wide Open - A New Angle on Width".  The hope is to get the message out there, one reader at a time  

Mark

[Mark_Fine]

Bill,
You will like the short four article and the discussion about options.  Trees are definitely a coming topic.  Do you want to be quoted  
Mark

[Scott_Burroughs]

FYI, the June issue is not online yet.

[Mark_Fine]

Scott,
I saw that but it should be soon.  It is in the newstands.  Let me know what you think when you see it?
Mark

[Cliff Hamm]

Before the Open at Shinnecock I suspect many golfers never heard of or knew what a Redan hole was.  It would be great to do a series with photo examples of the various other holes that have names and have been copied through the years.

[Mark_Fine]

Cliff,
That is a good idea and one we have contemplated.  As you say, what most of us here take for granted as common knowledge, very few golfers know much about.  
Mark

[mike_beene]

When possible use routing maps.Maps are interesting and give a context to overall flow of course.I imagine some of the readers will be confused by the course without houses.Golf Tips is a good magazine with a lot more substance than the bigger magazines.I know it is popular in Dallas and Calif. Congratulations!

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