Arthur Hills design comments...

[Mike_Young]

Arthur Hills has probably done more national work than any architect that does not have a "signature" attached to him.  Why, because he builds a course that people can play.  When people move into a development and then find that their wife either can't play the course due to length of ladies tees or diffuclty of carries, they have a problem.  Sometimes you have to take the blinders off guys.  He just redid the Country Club of Columbus in Columbus , Ga. and it is a much improved Ross course.  I remember being on a panel discussion at A DRS Pinehurst meeting in the mid nineties that included Art Hills and 3 more of us.  There wasn't much discussion because people immediately went after him for work at Inverness.  He listened, took it and just kept designing golf courses.  As one poster states in an earlier post" I bet his courses are better than 50% of the home cousres of GCA posters".  I would change that to 90%.  
He obviously has a model that works.

[Jeff_Brauer]

I have played several Hills courses.  He seems to do more of a low end to high end mix than the other big names, especially near his Toledo base.

I have also noticed is that he is still trying new things. Here in DFW, his Heritage Ranch course has an Dell/Redan combo green, for example.  At the Legacy in southern Michigan, he has an island green, some alternate fairways, (5th is good) a plateau green par 3 (6th) and chocolated drop mound fields (7th) for instance, that you wouldn't have seen in his work a few years ago.

So, he is doing a good job of keeping his designs fresh, rather than mailing in the same old stuff, which is always the "hazard" of becoming a busy, established gca.  I don't know if that is him studying the classics, or his talented staff pushing the envelope, or both.  If you have only seen a few of his courses, you might not have the clearest picture of his work, especially his newer stuff.

He does have a book "The Works of Art" which I picked up at the Legacy which details some of his work more.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

I know Art fairly well. He is a hard working thoughtful man. He has alot of energy and put it into his work. I do find his work generally good but not great as most of you on here have expressed. He does understand the game is meant to be played and enjoyed. He trys to incorporate that in his courses. He is not an artist and he does not try to be either. I enjoyed Sheppards Hollow but it may have been more the natual beauty of the land in the fall than the holes. He did a good job with the Ocean course at Half Moon Bay. I also feel he gets alot of lower end work and real estate work which usually does not hit the charts on here either. I like the work he did at Inverness. He is very proud of his home club as he should be. It is a great course.

[Ken Fry]

Golf Club of Georgia is a 36 hole Hills design.  The first 18, called Riverside, has some extremely difficult greens.  When the course opened in 1991, it won the "Best New Private Course of the Year."

The original owner had grand plans of trying to host large events via the USGA or PGA Tour.

When the other 18 opened, named Creekside, it was extremely difficult for most players.

These two courses certainly provide different examples of what Hills can do.

Ken

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Ken, he was proud of the work he did there. He thought Riverside was a place to show what he can do like a club in Ohio near columbus which escapes me right now.

[Mike_Young]

Ken and Tiger,
I think it is called Lakeside.

[Ken Fry]

Mike,

You are correct.  My mistake.  I worked there for a year and still forget the name of the courses!  I must be confusing it with Atlanta Athletic Club.

Did you get a chance to see the course prior to the neighborhood expansion all around it?  I'd be curious of your thoughts.

Ken

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