Which GCA would you be?

[Jon Wiggett]

If you had the chance to live the life of a GCA for a set length of time, get the sites he got, design the courses he did and meet the people he met who would you choose to be, when and why?

The GCA doesn't have to be of the dead variety!

[Mark Pearce]

Can I be Nicklaus and win 18 Majors?

[Jon Wiggett]

mmmm...

don't see why not Mark, although I was really thinking about the archie side of things. So which JN courses?

[Tom_Doak]

I always thought the best run anybody ever had were MacKenzie's "Seven Fat Years" from 1926-1933 ... starting with Royal Melbourne and Cypress Point, and working with Marion Hollins and Bob Jones (among others).  

But, if you pick the Good Doctor, keep in mind that you can never go back to Australia or Lahinch or Augusta or The Jockey Club or Crystal Downs to play them and see how they turned out!!

So, I'll stick with my own life.  Not only have I worked in some pretty cool places and gotten to go back and play them, I also got to play all of MacKenzie's.

[wsmorrison]

Tom,

Is there anything about MacKenzie's design tendencies that you consider questionable?  I haven't seen a lot of his work, but he sure did seem to situate greens in bowls or frame greens with mounds (sometimes man-made) and bunkers, particularly behind greens.  I can't imagine what he was thinking by framing his green sites so systematically.  In the case of MacKenzie's bunker style, I think fewer would have been better.

Jon,

Tiger Woods.  He'll break Jack's record of 18 professional majors (hopefully at Merion in 1013).  The combination of that wallet and that wife is irresistible.  Not only is he the most gifted player, he is the games best thinker as well.  

Although he doesn't have anything completed on the ground and he has associates that may be doing most of the work, I think he has enormous potential.  The downside is, with the kind of fees he must be charging, the types of projects he does will be limited to real estate deals or for the super rich.  Perhaps he'll expand the types of projects he does and collaborate with some of today's great architects.  Time will tell.

[JESII]

John Kavanaugh

The next great cart path designer...

[Jim Sweeney]

Without overthinking things, I'd say Pete Dye, because he changed the way we look at golf course architecture.

He travelled, played, and studied the great courses. He takes chances. He fully committs to his projects. He exercises complete control, even when changes are made in later years. HE is not afraid to get up on a tractor. He donates a lot of his time to develop great, affordable public courses.

He proudly says that his courses are "constructed," not minimalist, yet what he did in the 60's. 70's and 80's led to the minimalist movement.

He was way ahead of the curve- in fact, he was the curve.

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

I agree with Mr. Doak. I want to be him too. I do. I'm serious. Of course, having the name Xenophon G. Hassenplug would be kind of cool. My friends would call me "The X-Man!"

Nah, I want to be Mr. Doak.


Anthony

[PThomas]

this thread made me think that it would be cool to have a GCA Halloween party:  come dressed as your favorite architect of all time!

[JESII]

this thread made me think that it would be cool to have a GCA Halloween party:  come dressed as your favorite architect of all time!

A new leader for geekiest post of all time...

[PThomas]

this thread made me think that it would be cool to have a GCA Halloween party:  come dressed as your favorite architect of all time!

A new leader for geekiest post of all time...

ha!  I guess i can't blame you for that post JES...

I might come as Tilly.....a pretty good dresser if i remember correctly, enjoyed a few drinks, .....

[Mike_Cirba]

Yes, but who would dare come as Dev Emmett?  

[Mark Bourgeois]

this thread made me think that it would be cool to have a GCA Halloween party:  come dressed as your favorite architect of all time!

"Harry, this is Pete, Charles, and George."

"Yes, we've met."

"Super! Then you'll have lots to talk about...don't be shy about helping yourselves to punch and cookies."

[Tim Pitner]

Tom Doak so I could be my own butt boy.  

[tlavin]

I'd be Donald Ross.  Word has it that he didn't even visit many of the courses that he laid out, choosing instead to work off topographical maps.  My kind of minimalist!

[tlavin]

Tom Doak so I could be my own butt boy.  

Too funny.

[John Kavanaugh]

Mike Young - age 16 - 22.  My son would be so proud if I had played football at Auburn.  War Eagle!!!  I have a feeling my bean jar would still be full.

[Eric Franzen]

Yes, but who would dare come as Dev Emmett?  

I'll be Deveraux Emmett if you come as Marion Hollins.

[Dan Kelly]

Tom Doak so I could be my own butt boy.  

LOL, Tim.

I feel a song coming on: http://tinyurl.com/obltb

[Matthew Hunt]

Everyone will say Mackenzie for obvious reasons so I’ll be different and say Mike Stanz because I would have loved talk to this man. C+C’s  work interests because sometimes I will see feature and say  ‘I wouldn’t have thought of that!’, conversely with Mike’s work I look at photos of holes the as designed and thought ‘I thought that hole only existed in my physics notebook!’. Maybe it is the shared influence of RCD or something else, but I see his courses and think ‘that’s what I’d do and I wish he could’t did more before his untimely death.

[Mike_Cirba]

I'll be Deveraux Emmett if you come as Marion Hollins.

I'd have to take testosterone injections for at least a year to pull that one off.  

[Lester George]

Lester George

[Kalen Braley]

This is too easy...Desmond Muirhead...of course!!

[Garland Bayley]

No brainer.

God.

Designer of TOC.

And here most people already thought you thought you were God. It is only events like brat slippage that bring you back down to earth.

[cary lichtenstein]

Mike Strantz for me