Picked up Jackie Burke Jr's book "It's just a game" the other day and think it is one of the best book's I've ever read on golf.. Plain, simple, direct and full of wisdom.. I've not met Mr. Burke directly but seen and overheard him in action down at Doral at Jim Mclean's golf school and was riveted by what he had to say. Some highlights in the book:
On Golf courses:
Take the kind of courses we're building. Everybody wants to build the kind of course they see on TV. They see these courses in absolute peak condition, and they want a course just like them. They want to feel -- want to say -- that the club they belong to is better than the one down the street. They go logo-crazy; they want to wear a logo that says, "Our architect is better than your architect." So they build courses that cost an absolute fortune. They don't just design 18 holes, plant some grass and build some greens. They move tons of dirt, get a million people involved, from the government to engineers to the bulldozer operator to the environment people to the watering-system people.
It costs money, man, and somebody has to pay for it.
Once they get the thing built they have to run it and that's expensive, too. There are a lot of hidden costs, things like labor costs, insurance, government taxes, property taxes. At Champions we have taxes on our guests that play. Just to register out here, play golf and have a drink, they are taxed. The deal is, if golf takes up a large piece of a community, the community says, "We're going to tax you because you have this priveleged group here, and they make more money than we do and we need taxes for our school districts." Of course, nobody at the golf course goes to the school, but the poor golf course gets taxed out of existence because of the school district and God knows what else.
Also:
First of all, there are too may golf courses that are forced into the landscape. Moving all that earth to a place that wasn't meant to house a golf course is like trying to force a golf swing. You just can't do it, it doesn't work. I think a golf course should be set naturally on land wherever you find it, the way you find it. It doesn't have to be some architectual masterpiece. It almost has to be siutated in an area where it looks like a course should be.
I'd also avoid having condominiums lining my golf course. There are too many people watching golf from their patios. I hate the sound of moving machines around all these lots on golf courses. If I could, I'd put the nearest house three miles from the golf course. On a lot of these courses the homeowners feel they are more priveleged than the other members of the club. They feel they should be able to ride out on a golf cart and play whenever they want to. They've created an air of privilege that really isn't there.
There should be fewer buildings on the golf course, too. If you get away from buildings, you get away from insurance, you get away from a lot of employees, carpet problems, you name it. It used to be so simple. Now the game is a wagone and it's pulling an unbelievable number of things. The game pulls Trevino, Nicklaus, architects, Toros, Worthingtons, it's pulling everything.
On Golf Carts:
Yeah, and it's unfortunate that people have to take this pressure to the golf course. It's like we're running to catch a bus. Everybody feels rushed. It's one thing I don't like about golf carts. There's so much emphasis on fast play. You look behind you and there are golf carts waiting. It makes you feel rushed. Everybody wonders how fast they're playing, not how well they're playing. It's like they want to get it over with as fast as they can.
At Champions, anybody can walk when he wants to. Another bad thing about carts is that they've made caddies disappear from the game. It comes down to money, of course. The golf course used to be such a great environment for kids. You could grow up caddieing, spend some time around adults and gradually grow into the game. I knew kids who were caddies and later went on to college and eventually worked for the guy they caddied for. It was a great relationship. Kids aren't allowed in the golf shop now. The owners are afraid they'll spill a Coke on the carpet. no one has time for them. It's too bad.
I could go on but the book really is a great purchase... His talks also about the perks for players in the Ryder Cup and you'll see how corporate the venture is and how opulent too. Also he rails a bit on the 1st tee not for its ethos but for how it is run..