Who Are You Guys(revisited)?

[Justin_Hanrahan]

32 yo in Melbourne who is experiencing another (Sheesh!) career crisis, but as far as this site is concerned, I spent almost four years in SE Asia in golf course construction firstly as a surveyor and later assistant construction manager. Worked one course each designed by Palmer, Nicklaus and Weiskopf...

Not much work of that type at home, but that doesn't stop me dipping my toes in through sites like this...who knows, may yet get back into it.

Was a 12 h'cap at Yarra Yarra, but finances dictated that this couldn't last forever...

[Stan Dodd]

Stan Dodd
Winters, CA- 60 miles north west of  SF
Just moved in July to get out of SOCAL ratrace
48 years old
High School Principal
Member - Wildhorse GC in Davis CA
e-mail Whiteyd@AOL
Got turned on to site from a post on UKgolf guide.
I have got hooked! I  find the reading really educational and would love to hook up with other posters for a game. Play to a 9, gets better in summer when school  is out. Have always been fascinated by GCA.  The good ones are artists.  A couple of trips to Scotland have hooked me even more on the game and the experience. Our last trip my son and I played a match over 26 rounds of Scotlands finest. He beat me 3 up. I too am lurking and anxious to join in.

[ChipOat]

- Chip Oat
- 51
- Investment mangement
- Born/raised outside Philadelphia; NYC for 30 years since college
- Played lots of Golden Age courses 1969-1990 before they were called that, before I really appreciated their design and before I became a parent.
-"classic" additions to my list in last 10+ years mostly from bi-annual Scotland trips, most golf now the regular weekend game at Rockaway Hunting Club
-Haven't seen any of the newer courses discussed on GCA except Stonewall, Friars Head and East Hampton; hear good things about Applebrook and Inniscrone.
-Favorite courses: the usual suspects - Merion, PV, RDGC,
NGLA, Shinnecock, etc.  Played most courses of that ilk at least once except none in the midwest; also none in Ireland/England and only 6 or 7 in Scotland (I always go to Dornoch for 3-4 days on a 1 week trip).
-Hope to see after kids are grown: Pac/Bandon, American Club, Sand Hills, Chicago GC, Ireland, England, Australia, all Pete Dye courses, all Raynor courses plus all the usual suspects again!
-Not sure there will ever be time to get to know T. Fazio, Rees or Rob Jones, Doak, Hanse, etc.
-Outlier favorite: Bay Hill  - go figure.
-Pretty good 8 (partners send the limo for me) and a lousy 6 (opponents send the limo).

[Derek_L]

Name:  Derek L. (my email gives it away)
Location: Minneapolis, formerly from Detroit
Age: 27
Occupation: Civil engineer in excavation & land development

Not a very good golfer, actually quite bad, however Doctor Mackenzie wasn't that great either.  Been interested in golf courses since a young age, I can remember carrying home my bentgrass divots in my golf bag in hopes of using them to build a putting green.  Since I have been visiting this site I have discovered that I am not the guru that I thought I was, but here goes.  Probably have read over two dozen golf design books, own a dozen or so of my own.  Subscribe and read GCN and GCMgt.  Study plans whenever I get a chance.  Experience includes grow-in and light construction at Oakhurst Golf and Country Club in Michigan, construction laborer/foreman at Shepherd's Hollow Golf Course in Michigan, and engineering consultant for Windsong Farms in Minnesota.  Currently no projects on the boards but I am hoping to get my feet wet at some reconstruction designing and even some more consulting.  That is all for now.

[Tom]

My info:

Tom Leatherbarrow
Age: 33
E-mail:tleatherbarrow@hogarthpr.co.uk or tleatherbarrow@hotmail.com
Home: Surrey England
Occupation: Investor Relations Consultant
Home club: Banstead Downs
Favourite courses: Royal Liverpool / Walton Heath New
Handicap: 6

Play most of my golf now in SE England at various courses including Walton Heath - the New Course is a real favourite of mine.

Got interested in golf course architecture, primarily via being very opinionated (with no real justification as I have no professional qualifications whatsoever) about condition, routing, design and committee vandalism of various courses I have played over the years.

Worst experience was trying to persuade the President of one committee that two greens sitting side by side could easily be combined to great a huge double green and being told that it was an "old fashioned concept".  Crap idea maybe but old fashioned I reject out of hand !!!!

Would love to hear from anyone that wants to play in South of England particularly our visitors from overseas.  I would be delighted to show them round some of my favourites such as Deal, Littlestone etc

Tom

[Peter Galea]

Scary how things change. Looked up my old bio from two years ago, not only did I get older but........

[Scott_Burroughs]

Several people have been noticeably absent/silent lately besides Pat: Gib, Tommy, Adam Clayman, Jim Lewis, Paul Richards.  Maybe they're on trips of some sort.  Or maybe there hasn't been any topics of interest to them lately.

[Tyler Kearns]

Tyler Kearns
Age: 22
Winnipeg, Manitoba
2nd year student of architecture @ Univeristy of Manitoba

Gained an appreciation for golf course design by growing up on a Donald Ross course, Elmhurst Golf Links. Have been playing golf for 16 years and play to a +1 handicap. Currently spend my summers working for golf course architecture firm Grant Golf here in Winnipeg.

[Dan Grossman]

Dan Grossman
San Francisco, CA
Business Development Analyst
Current Handicap - 8

I have been lucky enough to be influenced by friends who like good golf courses.  Over the last 3 years, I have taken trips to Scotland, Ireland, Bandon, Monterey, Los Angeles, Hilton Head, Florida, Portland and Palm Springs to see golf courses.  It has been interesting to see the differences in classical golf courses (LACC North and Stanford, for example) versus the newly built ones (Long Cove, World Woods, Ocean Course, etc) in the United States.  It is even more interesting to compare US golf courses to the ones I played in Scotland and Ireland.  

I enjoy hearing what other think of golf course design, it makes me think about what I like and don't like about the courses I play.

[Richard_Goodale]

You may remember my evil twin brother Rich_Goodale who was a member on this site, received and then was denied first “Godhood” and then “Doyenhood” and then subtly moved himself into “Guesthood” for a while before disappearing without a trace.

The two of us are the result of an experiment gone tragically wrong.  It all started when our mother’s kiln exploded and the eggs she had left to science ended up in the wrong hands (Dr. Evil, this means YOU!), and well, suffice it to say that Rich_ got all the money and I got all the brains.

We were both born in 1971 with the bodies of 25 year olds, and the social skills of dribbling infants.  Rich_ has regressed on all fronts since then, while I have just begun to date.  My wife’s not happy, but that’s life.

We both golf at Cinnabar Hills and Royal Dornoch and anywhere else anybody will have us.  Both with an index of 4.83715 at both places (adjusted for USGA/SGU methods of computation and the phases of the moon).  I assure you that GCA will be a kinder, gentler place now that I have assumed the mantle of my well-meaning but tragically inconsistent sibling.  As Lyndon B. Johnson once said to me on a cold January day in 1969-Greeting!

[TEPaul]

I'm not too sure who I am anymore but I think I still live on a farm in Pennsylvania somewhere, and sometimes I go play golf at a club called...aaah, ah, let me get back to you on that in a week or so!

Tom Pa..Pa..., Tom Paul, I think that's right.

[Geoffrey_Walsh]

Name: Geoffrey Walsh
Occupation: Financial Analyst (JP Morgan)
Location: Glen Mills, PA
Family: To be married on 10/5 in Scranton, PA (plan to play Glenmaura Nat'l that morning  )
Handicap: 5.0

Grew up in White Plains, NY and moved to the Philadelphia area for college.  While at college I developed a keen interest in golf architecture and then happened to coach a high school golf team that calls Merion and Gulph Mills their home courses.  We played away matches at Philly Cricket, Philly CC, Huntingdon Valley, Waynesborough, Sunnybrook, etc.  Needless to say, these courses only fueled my interest in architecture.  In addition, Doak's book Anatomy of a Golf Course also had a big impact on me.

Finally, I moved to Glen Mills (PA) and became a Golf Digest panelist just as a new course was opening up.  I happened to wander over there on the first day of play for 2001, without knowing anything of the course (I thought it might even be private).  However, the course turned out to be a wonderful discovery.  The Golf Course at Glen Mills is a treat to play and I learn something new about every day.  Thank you Bobby Weed! The best part about the place is that it supports the troubled youth's of America (100% of the revenue goes to the school's scholarship fund) while providing exceptional golf.  If anyone is in the Philadelphia area, please look me up.  I'd love to get a GCA outing at Glen Mills!

Finally, my dad and I are trying to play the Top 100 while using the time to really get to know each other.  It has been a wonderful experience and I welcome anyone's advice while we embark on this journey.

[DPL11]

Name:                Doug Larson
Age:                  33
Occupation:        I have been a supt. for the last 10 years at a Ross and a Flynn in the Phila. area, but I have recently resigned to become involved with a golf course supply company.
Hdcp:                5.5-Been anywhere from a 0-6 over the last 15 years. Hope to commit to playing more with my new career.
Hometown:         Soon to be Egg Harbor Township.
Email:                DPL11@aol.com

I have been a golf and golf course architecture junkie as long as I can remember. I haven't decided where my homecourse will be yet, but I will probably return to my roots and play mostly at Wildwood G&CC(Stiles&VanKleek). I enjoy the site and have been lurking for quite some time, but plan on posting more.
I have played most of the greats in the Phila. area, which I think is obviously one of the most golf course blessed areas on the planet.

[Anthony_Nysse]

Doug,
  Where are you a super at? C&C's Hidden Creek....?

[DPL11]

Anthony,
I just left Manufacturers' Golf & CC where I have been for the past 4 years. A golf course that I will always love. I will be living about 3 miles from Hidden Creek. I have taken a tour with the Supt., and was blown away. What a superb golf course.
DPL

[wsmorrison]

Wayne S. Morrison
Merion, Pennsylvania
45 years old (hard to believe)
Director of a derivatives securities trading firm
Home Course:  Rolling Green Golf Club
Member at St. Andrews Golf Club, Fife Scotland
On waiting list at Royal Dornoch, Dornoch Scotland
Handicap is 6.6, though I think the computer is messed up

I am fascinated by the history of the game of golf and golf architecture, so naturally I check out this site quite often.  It is especially helpful for the book project I am working on, the golf courses of William Flynn.  G. Shackelford, D. Wexler, J. Finegan, M. Hurdzan, C. Lagerman, J. Nagle and R. Forse, T. DeBaufre, and many others (particularly from this website) have been a great help.  Anyone associated with a Flynn design or redesign that can assist with archival materials, contacts, and other relevant stuff would be of great help and certainly apprectiated.  Growing up playing the game and living in the Philadelphia area, it is hard not to appreciate golf architecture and William Flynn.  This project is a great joy and I am meeting wonderful people in the process; hard work but who's complaining?  Best regards to all,
Wayne Morrison
610.664.9663

[George Pazin]

Lots of new faces lately - care to fill in the blanks?

[mike_beene]

Mike Beene ,Dallas,42 years old ,trial lawyer,mebeene@flash.net,married 17 years,only children are two mixed breed dogs(Tina Ballerina& Miss Pickles)                                                      Probably hit more balls than any one in town(including our tour pros)which proves I have no natural ability.Member at Lakewood which Bendelow staked out in 1912,Plummer revised in late fortys and Coore&Crenshaw restored in mid 90's.Fascinated by golf courses as a kid I wrote and received scorecards from numerous great clubs.Quit playing for 10 years while I learned law.Now makeing up for lost time.The real beauty of golf is the people you meet.      

[David Wigler]

I do not remember if I ever did the old one so:

David Wigler - I live in Farmington Hills MI (Suburb of Detroit).  University of Michigan grad.  Home Country Clubs are Polo Fields in Ann Arbor (Claim to fame is that Doak listed our 18th hole, in The Confidential Guide, as the worst #18 in the entire world) and Plum Hollow (Claim to fame is that we hosted the '43 Ryder Cup, '47 PGA Championship and are a Colt / Allison design).  My e-mail is dlwigler@globalbiz.net.  If you are going to be in the area, send me a mail.

[Mike_Sweeney]

Michael Sweeney
Age: 39, married with 2 boys 4 and 6 years old
Home: New York City
Home Course: Yale Golf Club
Ireland "Home" Course: Enniscrone Golf Club, Co Sligo

I grew up in Philadelphia area and played on the St Joe's Prep golf team. I was fortunate to play Merion Golf Club as a guest numerous times with a golf teammate that I still visit at least once or twice a year. Our home course at St Joe's was Cobbs Creek, Hugh Wilson's only other design other than Merion East and West. I still think the West at Merion is very underated.

Moved to New York City after graduate school at Cornell where I played often on the RT Jones Course at Cornell despite the weather. I have been lucky enough to play many of the great courses around the Met area, especially out on The East End where we are just about to sell our second home to be closer to my wife's family in Connecticut. There is lots written here about NGLA, and I can only tell you that it is all true. It is my favorite course in the world, but I still have a lot more comparison shopping to do.

I am very open to taking GCAers to Yale so don't be afraid to ask. I have also played The Mid Ocean Club in Bermuda, and obviously CB MacDonald is my favorite architect. I joined Enniscrone in Ireland after taking a trip to Sand Hills last summer. At Sand Hills, there was a father playing with his son on a retreat and so I decided to create a similar atmosphere for my son's and I at Enniscrone, where we can get away from the daily pace of life and play golf in a remote corner of the world.

I also want to acknowledge Ran. I have a slim idea of how much work it takes to keep this going, and it is appreciated.

[Scott_Park]

-Scott Park
-Cary, NC, but have lived in DC, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Tokyo & SLC in the past 6 yrs
-Age- 33
-Married with 3 kids
-Occupation- Structure energy derivatives for energy trdg co.
-Handicap ~4
-Email - scott.park@pgnmail.com
-Favorite courses - Shinn, Oakmont and Somerset
-Next trip - Oregon in June

[RTrull]

Randy Trull
Lake in the Hills, IL (outside Chicago)
Age: 45
e:mail  rwtrull@aol.com
Occupation: Golf Project Manager/ Owner's Rep.

Started out as a kid in West Texas operating dozer for my family's company doing soil erosion control & water conservation projects for the Gov in the 70's. Took a roundabout way to get there but ended up running dozer for Wadsworth Golf Construction on a Fazio project in '83. Fazio requested me on other projects across the country so I started traveling with Wadsworth doing Fazio [and many other] designer's projects (lived in 22 cities in 11 years).

I "hit the ceiling" as far as money was concerned as a shaper so I moved up to Project Supt. managing projects for several years. Aboout 5 years ago, I went into business for myself as an Owner's Rep, Consultant, Project Manager (whatever title the owner wants to put on it) for developers of golf projects.

I've been involved in construction of over 30 courses (18 of which are listed among Golf Digest's "best of" rankings). I won't list them all, but some that you may have heard of are:
Barton Creek Resort - Austin, TX - Fazio
Ventana Canyon Mtn - Tucson, AZ - Fazio
Shadow Creek - Las Vegas, NV - Fazio, Steve Wynn
Cantigny GC - Wheaton, IL - Roger Packard
Nevillewood CC - Pittsburgh, PA - Nicklaus
University Ridge GC - Madison, WI - RTJ Jr.
The Quarry GC - San Antonio, TX - Keith Foster
Buffalo Run GC - Commerce City, CO - Keith Foster
Half Moon Bay Ocean - HMB, CA - Art Hills
Trump International GC - West Palm Beach, FL - Jim Fazio, D. Trump

My current project is construction of a private course in Monterrey, Mexico (Robert von Hagge Design). I suspect we'll be taking bids from contractors on this project, called La Herradura GC, within the next few weeks and start construction in June.

Love this site and monitor it all the time! I don't get involved very often but many of the posts and opinions are extremely interesting and often make me see something from a different perspective, which is never a bad thing. I often travel so I tend to miss a few days and then go back and catch up so don't be upset if it takes me a while to respond to a direct question or topic.

Randy Trull

[Steven_Biehl]

Steven Biehl
West Lafayette, IN
Age: 21
Turf Student at Purdue University
Handicap: 11

Have been reading here for about 6 months.  Read about this site in The Golfer magazine in an article about Pacific Dunes, and have been hooked ever since.

Courses I hope to play someday: Sand Hills, National Golf Links, Old Course, Cypress Point.

[jg7236]

John N. Gunning IV
25 years old
jg7236@hotmail.com
Las Vegas, NV


*Bachelor of Landscape Architecture
(University of Nevada-Las Vegas)
*Bachelor of Science in Agriculture
(Ohio State University)
Occupation: Assistant Superintendent/Stallion Mountain C.C.

I am originaly from Chillicothe, Ohio, just 45 minutes from Columbus.  Yes, we were shoes their, we also have five McDonald's too.  I played golf ever since I can remember, worked golf course maintenance through my junior and high school years.  I have always wanted to be a landscape architect since I was in fourth grade, and by eighth grade I changed to a golf course architect.  I got my first bachelors degree from U.N.L.V. in Landscape Architecture.  Then I worked for Landscapes Unlimited(Golf Course Development) for about a year.  I did the remodel for the U.S. Open at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, then I built Cascata G.C. in Las Vegas for MGM Hotels.  Next I was back in Ohio getting another degree in Science in Agriculture (Turfgrass Science) from the Ohio State University.  Long story short I am currently residing in Las Vegas while I job hunt in the field of golf course architecture.  So if anybody can help me get my foot in the door of golf course architecture let me know.  Also if anybody is in Vegas, give me a call and we will get together for a round of golf and a few cocktails.

[Jeff Fortson]

Here I go:

Name: Jeff Fortson
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Age:29
Family: Married (Adriana), one child on the way
Occupation: Golf Professional
Email: jfortson@hotmail.com

I have been playing golf since I was born.  My father is a scratch player and used to be a good amateur player.  I was a nationally ranked junior golfer in high school and went to the University of California, Irvine to play.  I turned pro in 1997 and have been working in the golf business since then.

I still compete often and hope to someday play on tour, but I think that is every Golf Pro's hope or dream.  Growing up I played with Tiger, Justin Leonard, Trip Kuehne, Notah Begay, Chris Riley, Jason Gore and many other well known golfers in junior and collegiate tournaments.  

As for courses, I love old Golden Age type courses.  Shinnecock is my favorite in the US that I have played so far and St. Andrews (Old) is my favorite internationally.  Too many others to mention.



Jeff F.