[JC Urbina]

Peter P,

Great Question


Some designers feel,


" based on the belief that a golf course *is* what it is the moment it's finished"



But the same can be said for others who felt the need to tinker with their designs.  Pete Dye  ( May he Rest in Peace) constantly fiddled with Crooked Stick, C. B. Macdonald played around with his beloved National Golf Links of America. Donald Ross, refined Pinehurst # 2 for years.  I am confident that they felt the need to improve on the design.The newest generation of designers will always try to hit it out of the ballpark, if you were highly creative and  thought you had only one chance to prove yourself, why not swing for the fences.


  "The underlying assumption in modern gca seems to be that the majority of golfers won't give a golf course a 'second chance' -- which, as I say, is probably a very good bet"

I just talked about that same theory on a podcast over last  thanksgiving weekend, golfers want to be informed, they dont want any surprises, they want to get some sort of preview before they go. Kind of like a restuarant review, 4 out of 5 stars , some golfer feedback.


What if on my next new design I suggested no photos be released, no instagrams shots, no promotion,  you just showed up and experienced the golf course like a new reveal. And, what if I told you after the round to go play it again, try different angles, play a different set of tees, different pin locations.  By doing so you can really experience the golf course as the designer who spent a year or more dreaming up his ultimate challenge to all levels of players intended.


You as a golfer can't dechiper that in a 4 hour round of golf, NO WAY!

You can't play Crooked Stick one time in a 4 hour round of golf and cast your stones, Same can be said for NGLA or Pinehurst # 2 Great golf course require more study then just 1 round of golf.

So as Mackenzie suggested,
"A good golf course is like good music or good anything else; it is not necessarily a course which appeals the first time one plays over it, but one which grows on the player the more frequently he visits it "

[Adam Clayman]

As with the varied fields we play, the dynamics and variables that go into anyone's opinion, are too wide to accurately quantify into a theory that explains them.
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[Tim Gallant]

  A quote yesterday from Andy Staples, which I love. When asked how many rounds it takes to get a good assessment on a course:


'I’m an 80-20 kind of guy... about 80% of my instincts are from the initial review. I find myself learning the 20% as I play and understand the course more. I find fitting my summary around how people actually use the course is the interesting part'


How does this fit with the theory? Do you appreciate the 20% more, and thus form a liking to a course on more plays (or possibly dislike if you get to know the 20% really well)?

[Lou_Duran]

I tend to be in the "familiarity breeds contempt" camp.  As a former real estate professional, I could not emphasize more strongly to clients not to fall in love with their property.  I seldom succeeded in doing so, which through time, prompted me to work only on deals that were priced with some resemblance to reality.


Part of this psychology might be reflected in the old joke that "you can mess with my wife and drink my liquor, but never badmouth my home course", which, I guess, speaks to how people value and prioritize things.  Don't know why, but I find that superintendents and architects are among the most resistant professionals to criticism and suggestions.       

[Kalen Braley]

At the end of the day, I think its both.

Some things we like right from the get go and decades later we still have a flourishing like/love relationship with it.  Other things we have a fascination with for awhile until we've had our fill and that's it.  And I don't think anything is really excepted from this:  relationships, career pursuits, music, food preferences, religion, sports, politics, etc.

[Ally Mcintosh]

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