Description vs Prescription

[Peter Pallotta]

Description (dəˈskripSH(ə)n/); noun: a spoken or written representation or account of a person, object, or event.
Prescription (prəˈskripSH(ə)n/); noun: a recommendation that is authoritatively put forward.

Oh, how many courses over the decades have been marred by architects/builders who have confused the former with the latter. Note (or should I say, try to imagine) the striking difference between a course that is described in the following terms (after it is completed) and one that has been prescribed in exactly the same terms (but before it was designed/built):

It has wide fairways.
It has several elevated tees.
It has unique/quirky features.
It has contoured greens.
It is playable for all levels of golfer.
It has bunkers/hazards from which you can recover.

Do you see what I mean? Not that what I mean here is anything new or deep -- but just putting it down like this seems to make the difference between one approach and the other remarkably clear.

Peter

[Patrick_Mucci]

Peter,

I'm not so sure that you're identifying the party responsible for confusing the terms.

Architects don't just drop in, uninvited.

They're usually solicited by a club that has already determined the architectural mission.

The architect is often just the instrument of the club's predetermined  intent.

[Tom_Doak]

Peter,

I'm not so sure that you're identifying the party responsible for confusing the terms.

Architects don't just drop in, uninvited.

They're usually solicited by a club that has already determined the architectural mission.

The architect is often just the instrument of the club's predetermined  intent.

Patrick:


I'm not sure I agree with this.  Many times, clubs are just looking for SOMETHING ... architects tell them what it is they need.


I realized many years ago that the two things Mr. Jones and Mr. Dye had in common were that they both had seen a lot of courses, and they were both master salesmen.  I'm not trying to dump any more or less of the blame onto them than on other architects, just trying to point out that architects wouldn't have to be that great as salesmen if clubs already knew what they wanted to do.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Tom,


I think some of the need for "salesmanship" is rooted in the factions within the club.


Often, those in power have a mission in mind, which results in inviting an architect to submit plans.  But, those in power may not represent the will of the general membership.


Sometimes clubs don't know what they want, but know that something is lacking, so they extend an invitation to an architect.


Irrespective of who extends the invitation or why it was a extended, in order for a project to proceed it must be approved by the general membership, and that's often when "Salesmanship" rears it's head, because the project requires funding which requires membership approval.


I think that people in general resist change, and that the invited architect is going to feel that resistance.  Ergo, the need for "salesmanship".


That seems to be one of the dilemmas you face in democratically run clubs