Does A Major Matter?

[Anthony Gray]

  In a current thread "Does Design Differentiation Matter?" the legacy of the architect has been well debated.

    Does designing or not designing a course that has had a major matter to an architect's legacy?

[John Moore II]

No. Pine Valley and Cypress have never held majors. Perhaps the designer designs great courses for people who want a 'retreat' and never intend to host a major. In the case of Mr. Doak, I would say that Ballyneal, Rock Creek and others will never host a major because of location. Today, that is the environment we live in. But Doak still designs world class courses.

[Kevin Pallier]

Not at all.

NGLA, Royal Dornoch and Nth Berwick are but 3 courses never to have hosted a Major - but I would hazard a guess any architect would love to have had a design such as them as their architectural legacy alone.

[Mike Mosely]

yes, sadly.  Look at Medinah and Torrey.  One is crap and the other merely reasonable.

[Ronald Montesano]

My vote is cast for "nay."  The major is too enmeshed in the political contrivances of little men with small weenies.  While certain courses are justified in hosting a major (The Black), it also serves to open their closets to intense scrutiny (the thread on the crappy 18th at The Black springs gazelle-like to mind).  The hosting of a major wipes clean the mystique of a course, fer sure.