In his review of Tom Doak's Beechtree, Ran wrote:
Firm playing conditions have long played a major role in making golf in the United Kingdom such a joy. Watching a white golf ball bumble along the ground for 20 or 30 or even 70 yards is a sight to behold. In addition, such firm conditions also mean that a slight knob or a few degree slope in the land can play a major role in determining where a golf ball ends up.
This message of simplicity and of using the nuances in the topography was snuffed out in American architecture from WWII until the late 1980s because of the rush to use heavy earth moving equipment. Man-made hazards in the form of rows of mounds and water hazards became the norm but ultimately such hazards became repetitive and courses took on a certain sameness, both visually and how they played. Courses tried to distinguish themselves by becoming harder and harder, to the point of ridiculousness by the mid to late 1980s.
Tom Doak attempted to help lead the charge back to the ground game and firm playing conditions when he designed the highly original High Pointe in 1988. However, its design never had the intended effect on architecture nor did it bring Doak the credit that it should have. The reason? There was a complete disconnect between how the architect intended the course to play and how the course was presented for play. Firm playing conditions were a must the holes to play properly and yet, within ten years of its opening, on the front side alone, holes 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 had become shadows of how good they could have been because of soft playing conditions. The bunker behind the 7th green became a wasted feature and gone was the joy of trying to chase an approach up the ridge in the 8th green.
The common - but unfortunate - desire to see green has also led to the overwatering at Lost Dunes, Doak's other noted design in Michigan. To see so many potentially arresting shots be lost to soft playing conditions is a shame but fortunately, events took a change for the better when Doak and Renaissance Golf Design were commissioned to design both Quail Crossing in Evansville, Indiana and Beechtree Golf Club north of Baltimore in Aberdeen, Maryland.
In the owner James Knott and Green Keeper Russ Davis at Beechtree, Renaissance Golf Design finally found people who understood their design philosophy and how each hole was meant to play. Doak's long held beliefs in minimal architecture and getting the most from the subtle nuances of the land would be allowed to shine through finally.
I'm happy to report that French Creek (PA - Hanse) has now received a similar treatment whereby our new Head Greenkeeper "gets" the design philosophy.
The course has been transformed in six months to a true delight to play. The ground game is back in play, greens are firm, fast, and healthy. Native fescues have been allowed to flourish and give the course definition. Trees have been removed. The place has been reborn.
I just walk out there and I still can't believe the transformation. It's actually starting to look like a good golf course - a worthy neighbor for our friends across the street.
I'll post some pictures as soon as some of the fescues start to turn golden.
Ran was right - the head greenkeeper is key to allowing the work of the architect to shine through.