Another great interview and I agree with RJ in that Kye is a good writer who explains his thoughts very well.
That hypothetical golf course he described is interesting. The 700 k irrigation system has already been designed and installed at a course I know very well with single head control, complete coverage (DU 84%), computerized central, VFD pump station, all for 700K or so. Irrigation is stupid expensive and in most cases it's because of “industry standards” and decision makers just don't want to push too hard in this area for fear of being accused of installing an inadequate system. Really, what they need to do is find the right super, but that is another issue.
My thoughts about mowing lines. Definition, which means showing off mowing lines has been the "high end" look that many strive for. Lots of stripping, heights of cuts, and all the rest is much more the norm than making the course look like mowers are never even out there. 10 years ago when I visited Scotland I came away very impressed with not only how the courses played, but how they looked as well. Many of the courses had an unkempt look, yet the turf was fine and they played great. I don't know if they tried to hide their mowing lines as much as they just didn't have mowing lines. While I agree that Tom and his guys have been talking about mowing lines for a while now and they are spreading their ideas, there are guys out there who also are going away from definition and toward a more natural or low input look. At Wolf Point we talked about mowing lines, but I don't think we ever started shaping anything extra in an attempt to hide them. What we did do was eliminate the use of different mowers as much as possible, meaning we had fewer lines. If you ask me that's a lot more practical then doing any extra dirt work to create a landscape that allows you to hide lines. I know that's not the way its always done as I believe most of the time it’s just something that guys like Kye make sure they consider when they are building a hole. But, do that AND reduce the number of mowers on the course and you'll get the right look. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me to talk about doing great job hiding mowing lines while presenting a golf course with stripped tees, stripped fwys, and a stripped approach all cut with a different mower. Maybe I don't see the fwy/rough line, or rough/native blends well, but if I can see where every mower made it's last pass then all this mowing line talk hardly makes sense to me. If hiding mowing lines is just about making the edges of the course blend in, then I guess you can do that and still have a manicured look down the middle. I think it should be more than that. It should be about trying to get the entire golf course to sit well within its surroundings. That means fussing over it all, not just the edges. What I think looks great is when the designer, client, and super all agree on that look and they pull it off.