I spent the last four days at an event at Stone Eagle, which is the one course in my portfolio that some people don’t think should have been built, because it’s in the desert, and it’s unwalkable for many golfers.
I won’t apologize for any of that. I think Stone Eagle is some of my best work. It’s certainly the most difficult site we’ve ever built on, and none of the obstacles we overcame are obvious in the finished product, apart from the total elevation change required in playing it. There is nothing else like it that I know of. It would be better for the environment if they didn’t oversees it, but that’s an issue for every course in Palm Springs.
I’ve seen a few places in my time that should not have been built on, and I’ve turned down a couple of jobs on that basis. One famous course was a bird breeding ground, which they solved by burning all the vegetation where the birds nested. But environmental issues should be addressed on a case by case basis, not by some blanket rules. It’s not golf’s fault that people want to live in the desert.