Does a sense of humor matter to an architect?

[Phil Benedict]

The first time I played Yale I laughed at the 9th green, not derisively but because I thought something that extreme was genuinely funny.  One of the reasons I love Yale is that it makes me laugh as much as anything, probably because its over the top features work as architecture.  Would Seth Raynor be offended by this or might he have intended it?

Watching a ball roll into a gathering bunker or off a false front green is exasperating but it's also funny.  Brings out the inner child or whatever.  Maybe quirk is close to humor, and guys who like quirk have a better sense of humor.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Phil,

Geoff Shack writes about that in one of his books. I have read them all, and right now, I can't recall which one. I doubt he will mind if I just recommend you buy them all until you find the quote I am referencing, though.

When someone complains about a Biarritz swale I may have on one of my courses I always tell them its like a "CD" - there is substantial penalty for early withdrawal.

But yes, a sense of at least, whimsey, can show through in architecture, as can dead serious strict or proportional punishment, and a lot of other things.

[Jerry Lemons]

I doubt that ODG ever envisioned a ball rolling off a green down a fairway 30 yards after hitting a false front. Jeff, did your son find it funny? They may have laughed but I bet they saw a flaw not a giggle.

I think it is important to have a sense of humor for the business side. Clients don't like being with boring stiffs.

Jerry

[Jeff_Brauer]

Jerry,

Him? No....Me, I had to hide behind a tree and stifle the giggle.  It would have been a lot funnier if it was an opponent, though.

[Phil Benedict]

I doubt that ODG ever envisioned a ball rolling off a green down a fairway 30 yards after hitting a false front. Jeff, did your son find it funny? They may have laughed but I bet they saw a flaw not a giggle.

I think it is important to have a sense of humor for the business side. Clients don't like being with boring stiffs.

Jerry

Balls rolling off a false front are examples of near misses, which are a staple of visual comedy.  Think of Wil E Coyote chasing the Road Runner.  Or the slow roll into disaster in silent films.

[Jerry Lemons]

Best I recall, I have never been to a Pro tourney and heard laughter after a ball hit to 3' rolls off the green- just ooooos and aughhhhhs.

Jeff, I bet you hid behind the tree for another reason. See you forgot to design in the relief station did'nt you!  

Jerry

[Mike_Cirba]

It does if they are going to participate in this nut...er...treehouse.  

[PThomas]

for the ones who participate on GCA, it must, putting up with all of us knuckleheads!

[Phil Benedict]

Maybe I'm being bullheaded about this but I think it's kind of funny watching the ball roll off the green back down the ninth fairway at ANGC or off one of those shaved banks into a pond.  People are too polite to laugh outloud because the event is so serious.

[Eric Franzen]

Phil,

Geoff Shack writes about that in one of his books. I have read them all, and right now, I can't recall which one. I doubt he will mind if I just recommend you buy them all until you find the quote I am referencing, though.

It's in "Grounds for Golf"

Cheers,

Eric

[Jeff_Brauer]

Phil,

Geoff Shack writes about that in one of his books. I have read them all, and right now, I can't recall which one. I doubt he will mind if I just recommend you buy them all until you find the quote I am referencing, though.

It's in "Grounds for Golf"

Cheers,

Eric

Geoff,

I tried to sell a few books for ya!

[Roger Tufts]

Best I recall, I have never been to a Pro tourney and heard laughter after a ball hit to 3' rolls off the green- just ooooos and aughhhhhs.

Shinnecock, #7, 2004 US Open

Quite the laughter when Kevin Stadler putted his ball from 2 feet into the front bunker...

Also the only site where I have heard Booos that weren't aimed at a player. They were aimed at the grounds crew watering the green because they wanted to continue to see the pros getting screwed.

[Anthony_Nysse]

#5 at Long Cove makes me laugh bit, but I think thats because so many people come up to it and have NO CLUE as to what to do...

Tony Nysse
Sr. Asst. Supt.
Long Cove Club
HH, SC

[Mark Bourgeois]

Phil,

Geoff Shack writes about that in one of his books. I have read them all, and right now, I can't recall which one. I doubt he will mind if I just recommend you buy them all until you find the quote I am referencing, though.

It's in "Grounds for Golf"

Cheers,

Eric

Geoff,

I tried to sell a few books for ya!

Geoff?

[Forrest Richardson]

Yes. A sense of humor is important.

I think back to some of the math word problems in my elementary textbooks. Cannot recall them exactly, but every once in a while came an absurd story about a farmer and some type of comparison between his apples and his wife's pies. The one I am think about had her making hundreds of pies per day, which of course is humorous.

Golf courses are puzzles. The best of which cause golfers — every once in a while — to scratch their heads and smile.

[Ryan Crago]

Phil,

your thread reminded me of a great quote which i believe applies to all things design....

“There has to be an irony in both the design and the objects.  I see around me a professional disease of taking everything too seriously.  One of my secrets is to joke all the time.”  

industrial designer (and self proclaimed minimalist):
Achille Castiglioni