[Michael Blake]

Pretty interesting:

http://www.hws.edu/dailyupdate/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=12882

Studying Golf Course Architecture
Posted on Friday, March 12, 2010

Associate Dean of Hobart College Chip Capraro is sharing his passion for golf by teaching a Reader's College, Golf Course Architecture: History and Theory, this semester. The course focuses on golf course history, architectural principles of design, and golf course architects themselves, utilizing a number of readings and two field trips.  Capraro calls this method of study a "triangulation pedagogy," in which his students read current thinking and analysis, original writings by classic designers, and gain hands-on, experiential learning on the golf course.

"Learning through reading is valuable, because you can educate yourself on a number of topics," says Capraro. "But it can also be isolating. It's much better to build a community around reading, to help those of us in the Readers' College develop an interest, and foster a deeper appreciation, for golf and golf architecture."

Readings include Tom Doak's "The Anatomy of a Golf Course: The Art of Golf Architecture," Alister Mackenzie's "The Spirit of St. Andrews," "Golf has never Failed Me" by Donald Ross, Pete Dye's "Bury Me in a Pot Bunker," David Owen's "The Making of the Masters" and "Finger Lakes Golf Guide: History, Design, and Designers" by Jarlath Hamrock.

There will be two field trips, one to Mark Twain golf course in Elmira, designed by Donald Ross and another to Green Lake State Park, a Robert Trent Jones course in the Upstate New York region. "I chose these courses because they illustrate what's ‘typical' for each designer," explains Capraro. "They're public, accessible, and reflect the designers' original intentions."

Capraro is currently working on a book about the Finger Lakes and the history of golf in the region. A lifelong golfer, he continues to play locally and spends every Father's Day on the golf course with his dad.

 

[BCrosby]

Good to hear about the golf architecture course. A semester of gca ought to be offered in more colleges. It would be a much better elective than some of the s#@*^ course offerings at many colleges.

Bob

[Jaeger Kovich]

Haha!  This is to funny. I just graduated from hobart in may and was the ta for the class in its first ever semester. I was the one that added tom doaks book. I'm curently waiting out the rain on a constreuction site, but would love to answer more questions later.

MichaEl how did you find this?

[Joe Bausch]

It would be a much better elective than some of the s#@*^ course offerings at many colleges.

Bob

Whew!  I thought you were going to say organic chemistry there Bob!

 

[BCrosby]

Joe -

To be clear, though sh#*t is an organic compound, I did not mean to suggest that learning about organic compounds was sh#*t.

Bob

[PCCraig]

Where were electives like this when I was taking "Women and Creativity" my Junior Year? 

[Michael Blake]

Jaeger,

It was sent to me via Google Alerts.  Would love to hear your thoughts about the class.  Any guest speakers? Good thing you were able to get 'Anatomy' included in the readings. Seems to be the perfect primer for such a class.  

Perhaps Tom Paul's annual lecture series at GCA Command Center can get properly accredited for continuing education credits.  

[John Foley]

How Cool!!

Hobart is about 15 miles from me - Look forward to seeing Chip Capraro's book!!

[Dan Herrmann]

It would be a much better elective than some of the s#@*^ course offerings at many colleges.

Bob

Whew!  I thought you were going to say organic chemistry there Bob!

 

Joe - NOBODY takes organic chem as an elective!     

[Joe Bausch]

It would be a much better elective than some of the s#@*^ course offerings at many colleges.

Bob

Whew!  I thought you were going to say organic chemistry there Bob!

 

Joe - NOBODY takes organic chem as an elective!     

In the past, yes, my friend Danny-boy!

But these days many pre-med students come from less traditional degrees like history, psychology, marketing etc, so a decent number are now taking orgo as an elective.

Hard to believe, Harry, eh?

[Jaeger Kovich]

So more about the class....

How it works: 1/2 credit class known as a Readers College (Most classes at Hobart and William Smith are 1 credit @ 4 a semester its 32 to graduate). The class meets once a week on thursday nights for about an hour/hour and a half. We are all assigned to read the same book, usually about 1 book per 3 weeks, and we would discuss the book during class. At the end of the semester each student was asked to write  3-5 pages on each book. My semester we each picked our own book having something to do with golf courses (some a bit of a reach) and did a 10 minute presentation. There are no letter grades for this class, as it is only 1/2 credit, so it is simply Pass/Fail.

Guest speakers: Jarlath Hamrock who is a long time caddy on the PGA and LPGA tours, commonly known as "Upstate Jay", came to speak about his interest in golf courses, some of his experiences loopin and his book which give reviews of just about every course in the finger lakes region. The best part of his presentation was when he pulled out the Cornish/Whitten book to say how it was one of the best basic architecture books around, and I immediately opened my backpack to show him my autographed copy! (it was not a part of our reading list, but i worked for mungeam cornish golf design the semester prior)

My take on the class was a little bit different. When I first heard about the course, I just laughed and thought my friend was joking with me. But I went in to see Dean Capraro and find out what the deal was. I told him about my semester in boston working for MCGD and since I needed a extra credits he offered me a chance to TA the class. Since most of the class had very limited golf experience and zero architecture experience, the dean and myself often lead the discussions, asked questions, and explained some of the more complicated concepts. As part of my full credit, I ended up doing extra work, reading the 3 Tillinghast books from the Tillinghast Association and using my knowledge of Quaker Ridge, where I had caddied and work on the maintenance team for 1 summer at that point, and other Tilly courses, wrote my own thesis on Tillinghast design style.

For me, the class was great. I got the chance to increase the pace of my gca reading and obviously wrote that paper, both of which I think have helped in my quest to be a golf course designer.  But I think what helped me the most, was the chance to be able to communicate my ideas and explain the nature of golf course architecture to people who had very limited experience with it. Its one thing when you are on this website, or I am talking with architects, but having the ability to really step back and explain these things in a way that everyone can understand is what will help me the most in the future.

[JNC Lyon]

I wish we had this class at Colgate.  Hobart is only about 40 minutes from Rochester and maybe an hour and a half from Colgate.  I could make that drive on Thursday nights!

I also want to find out more about the book on Upstate golf.  If there is one thing that I know and love, it is golf in Upstate New York!

[Jaeger Kovich]

I've sent an email to dean c about this thread. ill try to get more info about his book and upstate j's book. Although I have a copy, I think J was selling it out of the back of his car!

I'm sure if some of the upstaters wanted to pop-in to see what the class is like, that could probably be arranged.

JNC - Capraro played on the golf team at colgate when he went there.

[Garland Bayley]

It would be a much better elective than some of the s#@*^ course offerings at many colleges.

Bob

Whew!  I thought you were going to say organic chemistry there Bob!

 

Joe - NOBODY takes organic chem as an elective!     

Dan,

The reason you are mistaken is that all the quiet nerd types are taking it so they don't have to take humanities courses to fill out their electives.

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