Michael
Thanks for the welcome. I assure you it is appreciated.
Regarding your questions, I will do my best.
- Influences - During the four years that I lived in England I had the opportunity to play a great many of the links courses of Scotland and Ireland. This is especially true of Ireland. I was so very moved by the randomness of the land forms and the fun it was to just walk through such settings. I wouldn't say that I try to design to this style verbatum. It is more of a mind set that is established by these crazy land forms called golf in Ireland. I made a statement about Carne after one of my first adventures there that might give perspective to my views. "this place is so crazy, it's bad and so bad , it's perfect".
I truly like a lot of elements of many of the people in my business. It is less about following one or two designers and their work and more about taking individual features from a great many of them. I truly admire Pete Dye for having the fortitude to do things in such a way as to make the envelope bigger for the rest of us. The work of Mike Strantz really blows me away. Very creative stuff. I regret that we never met before his death. However, I have formed a wonderful relationship with Forrest Fezler and have tried to steal some of Mike's genius from him.
Dearest spot in my heart - I don't intend to sound flip, but it is a little like choosing your favorite child. So much of your heart and soul goes into the process that you eventually feel a bit like a parent. As with any artform, "once you show your work to someone, it is no longer yours".
I might say that Medicine Hole GC, a nine hole public course in the Killdeer, North Dakota, pop. 600 is very dear to my heart. It was payed for through bake sales, car washes and raffles. My staff and I along with Ricky Maher of ACC Golf construction did alot of the constuction work for nothing. We did not pay for a meal or a beer the entire time. It is truly a 'seat of the pants' place, but it is a lot of fun on a sweet site.
Design books - Tough to answer specifically, as many of the general golf books tend to overlap on topics. 100's?? I will tell you some of my favorites that are in my library. The Architectural Side of Golf by Weathered and Simpson, 1929. Golf Courses Design, Construction and Upkeep edited by Martin F. Sutton, 1950. The Links by Robert Hunter, 1926. Design for Golf by Weathered and Simpson, 1952. Down the Fairway by Robert T. Jones Jr. and O B Keeler, 1927
Sleeper course - certainly my love for Carne back in the 90's before it was discovered might qualify. But it is no longer an unknown. Really any sand greens course. The experience is so unlike anything as I know golf today and they are disapearing fast.
I hope that is of assistance.
Happy Holidays
Jim