Greetings Boys - sorry for my recent lack of communication. Just want to weigh in on a topic from a little while ago.
*DISCLAIMER* - the last time I tried to make a post, it took Commission Gordon with the Bat Light to get things straightened out. I will try to do better, but no promises.
Thought of the day: "when you choose to be a rebel, you can't be offended when someone has a differing opinion"
I hope to share my views on a few things and then leave it to you veterans to do with them as you wish. These are only MY thoughts and impressions.
My view of the industry can be described as follows..."There are no absolute right answers, only opinions of absolute right answers and if your opinion is not the right answer too often, your out of business".
Cart Paths-
It seems to me that all of you have a partially correct position as to my opinion regarding cart path design, just not the entire perspective. It is simply a matter of degrees. Do I prefer to look for the best golf holes first? Yes. Woud I make a 2 mile transiition from one hole to the next to incorporate a feature into the course? No. Would I make you walk up a 0ne foot incline to incorporate a wonderful grove of trees into a hole? Yes. Obviously, somewhere in the middle is the correct answer. And each situation has many other factors.
From my perspective, I often times do not get the opportunity to choose whether walking is an option. We are typically given mountainous and very rolling terrain type sites. On the truly mountainous sites like Sanctuary, Redlands Mesa and Lakota Canyon, the decision was not whether walking is resonable, but more to the point, is this project even possible to build on this land. At this point, riding vs walking is a mute point. The good news is, if it is possible it will be very spectacular. When dealing with moderate land upon which it might be "possible" to create a walking course, I have the following decision; should I create a course that is very much less exciting/fun but is potentially walkable for 50% of the players? Or should I decide that this will be a mostly cart course and create a much more powerful golfing experience and sales engine for thr project? When making that decision, you must, as a professional, consider that if the course is walkable for 50% of the players, it is likely that you will have 90% of the golfers using a cart. In my mind that is an easy decsion. Do the better course. Now, if it is a flattish piece of land that I have been given, the factor of walking is a much bigger consideration. For example, at our new project in the snad hills of Nebraska, called Awarii Dunes, I have set a paramount on walking. Cart paths will be green to tee only and consist of a mixture of native sand and small gravel. Tee placements have been located for ease of access from the previous green. I am very pleased to be able to take this position, still I suspect that we will have a significant amount of cart use. Unfortunately, that is the way things are.
Having said all of that, I would like to make one thing very clear. I DO NOT DESIGN THE CART PATHS FIRST AND THEN PUT IN THE GOLF HOLES. Although never actually stated, some of the accusations were coming very close to such silliness. However, once the golf holes are placed and designed with the ultimate of priority, I do infact put a great deal of effort into making the experience from the cart path the best it can be. As a professional, I must recognize and consider that a majority of players will experience my creation from the seat of a cart. To ignore that reality, would be foolish and unprofessional. It sort of sounds foolish to say that "I am going to do a really poor job on the cart paths because I don't like carts".
Let me put it this way to the business people out there. You have opened this great new Chinese restaurant, here in the US, that is intended to support your family. The food is the best in the state. 70% of your customers prefer to use a fork as opposed to chop sticks. Do you stand your ground and go out of business because forks are not traditional? Or do you give them nice quality forks with a great dining experience and have happy customers?
An interesting side note: at Lakota Canyon we were faced with a storm runoff of 1200cfs ( thats a lot of water coming very fast). We were faced with having to put $2 million worth of storm pipe under the 5th fairway to accomodate the water. Obviously, as the total construction budget for the course was around $3.5 million that was not going to work. We were very close to pulling the plug on that project. Then we thought it might be possible to put in small pipe for naormal flows and have the rest of the storm water run down the cart path after the detention area filled. That is why there are berms beside the cart paths on holes number 1 and number 5. Cart path actually saved the project.
BOWLS -
Question: If bowls make every shot so easy, why do my courses still slope out at 135 - 145?
Answer: Because I have intentionally, sckewed the spectrum of how the game is played and where and how the difficulty is presented. Much as it is played in Ireland, your mind must be "turned on", because the shots that are required do not fit into the "American mold" of how the game is played. Certainly, many times these "bowl" shots will kick into the green, possibly right beside the hole. More likely, you will have a putt that requires the depth of thought to that of a chip shot, with several options and breaks. If your ball does not kick down you are faced with a very difficult and creative down hill chip shot, to a down hill slope, that can be played several different ways. Maybe your ball hit the green and kicked through into one of those "thinking mans chip shots." I feel that golf in America has become very similar to itself. And for many years the game has been played in a dictacted spectrum. After many years of trying to determine in my own mind, why I love playing in Ireland, I finally came to the conclusion that it is the fact that my brain is fully "turned on" for the entire time on the course. Endorphins (sp?) are flying through my brain and I am taking in the land and having to figure out how to hit these ridiculous shots that are so much fun. I am never once, able to "coast" through a hole without having to have my brain totally intuned to what is going on around me. I am trying create a different and fun way to play the game here in America. This includes all settings, not just the ones that look like Scotland and Ireland.
I certainly do not expect all of you to embrace what I do. But I would hope that those that care about the game will view my work void of aggenda.