[Jeff_Brauer]

I just read the Paul Newman (or for hockey fans, Reggie Dunlap) obit.  One line in it has, perhaps, a paralell to gca:

"Newman didn't hide his disappointment that filmmaking had abandoned the "theater of the mind" for the "theater of the senses." He lamented that skyrocketing costs had increased the pressure on actors, writers and producers who could no longer afford to make mistakes and be part of a "growing-up process.""

In many ways, as I have often said less eloquently, gca has done the same, no?  Looks over strategy?

And does the comment about increasing costs explain the tendency to sameness, at least from the 70's through 90's?

[Bradley Anderson]

Jeff,

I think that the people who put up the money for building new golf courses today are of a different mindset than those who put up the money for golf courses in the golden age.

And I would guess that the golden age architects had a much bigger psychological edge over their sponsors than anyone building a golf course today might have, simply because what they were doing back then was so novel.

Or it could be that ....... what we have here is a failure to communicate.

[Peter Pallotta]

Jeff -

I think Paul Newman (rest in peace) was a symbol of how much filmmaking and the culture has changed. When he was the handsome young leading man, he starred in films like Cool Hand Luke and Hud and The Hustler, playing complex and flawed and self-destructive  characters. 30 years later, the handsome leading man of the day was Tom Cruise; watch him in The Colour of Money, basically playing the 80s versions of Newman's 50s pool shark...his entire characterization was based on being "cocky". I don't want to sound like an old crumb, but that's a real devolution - from existentialism to egoism.  (No real parallel to golf course architecture, I guess.) By the way, there's almost no one I'd rather watch that George C Scott -- I don't know another actor who combined such smart choices and instincts with such visceral power and emotion.
 
Peter
   

[Craig Sweet]

Newman was a real man's man....what a guy.

[Jim_Kennedy]

Newman was a real man's man....

A friend of mine used to work for Jim Haynes who ran Lime Rock Park. One day after a big race Haynes tells her to get into the back seat of a waiting car as they were going to be headed to a party. She does, then Haynes has Steve McQueen get in one side and Paul Newman the other.
It had an effect on her that I won't repeat here.

I agree w/Pete, good luck finding anyone to follow in his footsteps.
It's like hearing that PVGC just got bulldozed under.

[PThomas]

seemed like a classy guy, i don't recall any stories about him behaving like an asshole

and i believe ALL of the profits from his food company went to charity

[Bruce Leland]

Peter, what was that Tom Cruise movie where he played the young cocky guy?..........Oh yeah, all of them!

I just heard the report that Newman's foundation raised over $200 million for charity through the sale of his food products.  Loved him as an actor and apparently he was an even better philanthropist.  RIP Paul!

[BCrosby]

"Newman didn't hide his disappointment that filmmaking had abandoned the "theater of the mind" for the "theater of the senses." He lamented that skyrocketing costs had increased the pressure on actors, writers and producers who could no longer afford to make mistakes and be part of a "growing-up process.""

In many ways, as I have often said less eloquently, gca has done the same, no?  Looks over strategy?

And does the comment about increasing costs explain the tendency to sameness, at least from the 70's through 90's?

Jeff - Interesting thought.

Not sure what you mean by "Looks over strategy", but yes, as new courses are driven by economic outcomes of the developer, the design of those courses tends to repeat formulae (pls note correct plural form) of other economically successful developments.

As the money needed for new developments ratched up, so the nature of the golf courses desired became more and more homogenized. Bankers that approved the deals all knew Fazio or Nicklaus. But if they had to ask who a Brauer, a Young or even a Doak was, your deal was not going to get past the credit committee.

Bob

[rboyce]

My dad took me to Lime Rock a loong time ago to see the car races. Newman and Cruise were both racing that day and finished 1, 2 in their class iirc. I still remember my dad's old beater being possibly *the* crummiest car in a parking lot full of porsches and the like.

Talk about flawed characters. Look at some of Newman's more recent roles in the movie adaptations of Richard Russo's books like "Nobody's Fool". Great stuff.

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