A "higher level of service"

[Dan Herrmann]

In Tom Paul's thread about Merion type thread issues, Peter Wagner wrote a great statement:

"I like CGA a lot but it's my opinion that the collective talents of this community can be put to really great use in many areas of our somewhat sick golf world.  I believe that CGA could migrate to a higher level of service and maybe the new website is the perfect time to try to do that."

I'd like to ask folks to think about what Peter wrote and perhaps provide suggestions as to how GCA could "migrate to a higher level of service".    Take some time during the website migration to think it over.

Maybe we could actually give something back to the game that has given us so much joy?

Thanks!

[Mike Benham]

What is "CGA"?

[Dan Herrmann]

GCA - Golf Club Atlas.com

[Peter Wagner]

Dan,

Thanks for fixing my typo.

There are several things we could do as a group that would benefit others in the golf world. 

1.) For starters we could create an online library of sorts.  It would be another button in the left hand column that when clicked would show "books" "volumes" and "pamphlets" on a wide range of golf subjects.  You might see a simple pamphlet titled "The correct way to fix a ball mark" that represents the collected postings on that subject on this site complete with video links etc.  You might also see a book that covers the groups feeling on a larger subject like magazine ratings or push up greens or the like.  How about a collected volume on redans?

The material would be categorized just like a real library and hopefully it would be used as a real library by the many people who come to GCA.com.

2.) I mentioned on another thread the idea of a group adoption of a run down Navy golf course that could stand a design make-over.  Maybe the next Armchair competition is centered on a real life Navy course with real topos etc. with the winning design being donated to that course for implementation.  Might make a whole bunch of services guys really happy!

3.) David Stamm's recent work on the before and after of the Valley Club makes me wonder how we as a group might be able to do the same for other historically important clubs.  David's work would be a book in the library which would not only be interesting now but think of the interest it might have in 20 years to some future research.  A group research project with the results published to our library but also printed and sent to the club's membership would be really useful.  (There have been other similar projects posted here, I'm just using David's as an example.)

Just some thoughts off the top of my head.

- Peter

[Steve Salmen]

Agreed.  I hate the Wine Spectator and I'm a part of this site which is the golf course equivalent.  It is a privilege to play golf let alone evaluate the best courses in the world.  I aspire to be more grateful and less critical.  I'm going to die and none of my arguments will mean anything.  What will be meaningful is if I can share my good experiences with other people so they can enjoy them too.  Please come visit me in Dornoch this summer.

[Tom Huckaby]

Here's the thing.

The site has an owner (or owners, not sure how Ben fits with Ran these days).

Before one gets too far with this, have they been consulted?

The stated purpose of the site is "frank discussion of golf course architecture."  That surely could be interpreted as anthithetical to service to golf.

However, Peter's ideas all seem like they could be done, and sure would be a benefit to many.

It just seems to me this is best for the owners of the site to request (and lead), rather than the "community" suggest or demand.

Hey I don't mean to be cynical, truly.  And odds are Ran/Ben would be in favor of this.  It just seems to me odd to put the cart before the horse, if in fact that has been done here.

[Peter Wagner]

Tom,

You are right to reign it back in.  I'll send an email to Ran to ask his thoughts before getting carried away.

I have a character flaw that my wife hates.  Within 10 minutes of sitting down for a restaurant dinner I have redone the restaurant's business plan and layout in my mind.  She'll just look at me and shake her head and wait for the eventual download.  What a geek.

- Peter

[Tom Huckaby]

Tom,

You are right to reign it back in.  I'll send an email to Ran to ask his thoughts before getting carried away.

I have a character flaw that my wife hates.  Within 10 minutes of sitting down for a restaurant dinner I have redone the restaurant's business plan and layout in my mind.  She'll just look at me and shake her head and wait for the eventual download.  What a geek.

- Peter

Well, it's a nice flaw to have, if it even is one.  And as I say, odds are Ran is all for this.  It just is best to remember that in the end, this is HIS website.

 

[Dan Herrmann]

Tom,
The "service" could be something as simple as giving a talk to your club's membership about the architecture of your course.  Doesn't need to be anything on a grand scale.

Or being an advocate for junior golf.   That sort of thing...

Also - Let me channel Wayne Morrison here - we should try to do a "My Home Course" if we can.  I've started at last 6 times in the last 3 years, and I really need to get my butt in gear and just do it.

[Tom Huckaby]

Tom,
The "service" could be something as simple as giving a talk to your club's membership about the architecture of your course.  Doesn't need to be anything on a grand scale.

Let me channel Wayne Morrison here - we should try to do a "My Home Course" if we can.  I've started at last 6 times in the last 3 years, and I really need to get my butt in gear and just do it.

Dan:

Gotcha.  I thought you meant actions taken by the site as whole.  Certainly we can all give back to the game if we choose to do so; and I firmly believe many participants here do such.

TH

[Richard Choi]

How about some recommendations of Golf Course Architecture books that one should read to be able to talk about golf course architecture in a meaningful way?

That should be a permanent link next to Courses by Architect.

[Dan Herrmann]

Richard,
Great idea - any suggestions as far as a first book goes?

[Charlie Goerges]

I think Peter's idea of a higher level of service is a good one. There is a lot of talent on this site, and a lot of information. Many of the participants could easily help each other with research, planning, documentation, and many other things. Most of the information may not be suitable for inclusion in an online library, but even the small percentage of stuff that is, could fill a few books I'd wager.

Go ahead and email Ran, Peter, but I don't see why he or Ben need be the originator of any new ideas. Not all good ideas come from the CEO.

[RJ_Daley]

I have a character flaw that my wife hates.  Within 10 minutes of sitting down for a restaurant dinner I have redone the restaurant's business plan and layout in my mind.  She'll just look at me and shake her head and wait for the eventual download.  What a geek.

Peter, that is really funny for me.  I do the same thing, but I'm not alone.  My wife joins right in on the whole evaluation of the restaurant.  When we are only the two of us, we spend half the meal watching the little details of the front of the house operation, and try to guess what is going on in back. That is way too geeky for comfort... 

As for the GCA.com makeover, home edition, I also think there is opportunity to elevate the mission or overall usefulness of all our 10 years of evaluations, pontifications, and critiques of golf courses all over the world.  If one had the staff and inclination, and more importantly - an effective search engine to query for subjects and courses of all those past 100s of Ks of postings, one could cull through the threads on a certain subject, or combine diverse threads written over the span of years on that subject and throw out the fluff, keep the intellignet stuff, and voila, you'd have the GCA.com version of Wikipedia for all things golf.  Now, if we could only find someone THAT obsessed to do all this sifting and winnowing of the minutia...   

[Charlie Goerges]

RJ, If it was like wikipedia, ONE person wouldn't have to do it.

[Garland Bayley]

Richard,
Great idea - any suggestions as far as a first book goes?

The Spirit of St. Andrews, AM

[RJ_Daley]

Charlie, that is true.  But, wouldn't there need to be a person or board of fact checkers to go over posted subjects, in order to be respectable and credible to the overall community of GC architecture issues consumers?

[Charlie Goerges]

RJ, I don't think there need be fact checkers, because everyone would be a fact checker. If wikipedia were used, there would be the internal protocols (which I don't totally understand), but as far as I know, anyone can input information. Things are  proofed in much the same way they are here, the difference is if something is false on wikipedia, it gets removed by the "proofreader". Of course it can be put back in again and bounced again, but at some point the site marks it as "in dispute".

Can you imagine how many items would be "in dispute" regarding Merion?