The Banksy of Golf Course Architecture

[Ronald Montesano]

Considered while traipsing across @BBC this morning, simultaneously inhaling strong coffee ...

Is/Was there a Banksy of the golf course architecture universe?

Is there a need for one?

What would the output involve?

Forget the anonymity of it, although let's be honest ... the debut of a new golf course sans the name of the architect, would set our little world a-blaze. Anyway, forget the anonymity of it. Just the paired satire/celebration is what intrigues me.

[Jeff Schley]

Ron are you OK?  I can't follow your thought there. Tough night celebrating?

[Ronald Montesano]

Ron are you OK?  I can't follow your thought there. Tough night celebrating?

Jeff, I would have sent that comment in a DM. Making it public is apparently your way of mocking me. No boozing last night, and I thought everything out before I posted it. Perhaps a reread will clarify it for you.

EDIT: Jeff did contact me via DM, and we sorted out our differences. I am grateful for that effort on his part.

[Colin Sheehan]

Ronald,
I've been (not entirely jokingly) kicking around this idea for years. To do a project and keep everything/everyone under wraps and just let the course open and when asked the obvious first question on everyone's mind, just say, "We don't know who did it. Just judge it for what it is." It is a bit of response to the reductive nature of one person's name/reputation driving all assumptions about projects. 


Of course, on a related note, talented shapers are doing uncredited work on great projects every day. Tom does a very good job of attribution to his associates, shapers and interns, but whether they are carrying out his orders or taking liberties, there's rarely a specific element or feature that gets associated with such a person. Yet so many features great and small on a golf course are the equivalent of a Banksy artifact--a knob, contour, roll, bunker, etc--that you as the golfer get to experience and appreciate its artistic value and contribution without directly knowing who did it. 

[Craig Sweet]

How does one disrupt hundreds of acres of land over a period of months, without being found out?  If Banksy is a single person then only his ego is involved and maintaining the mystery is easy. I would think developing a golf course involves too many egos to keep a secret.

[Colin Sheehan]

Craig,
I don't disagree it is an unrealistic daft/crazy idea. I never suggested it was practical, however, all sorts of works of art are done with anonymity, especially books published under pseudonyms. And there are these things called NDAs...just ask everyone involved in the Yale restoration.


Of course, the first step would be to get past Rudovsky's privacy-invading website.


The point is it would be nice---as many have discussed and lamented here--if courses could just open without fanfare or promotion or prejudgment.

[Matt Schoolfield]

There isn't going to be a Banksy of GCA because GCA costs millions of dollars to create. If you're looking for GCA architecture that parallels a type of expressionist art, I would explore the user designed courses on PGA Tour 2K23. I think b101 design makes some really interesting stuff.

[Tom_Doak]

FWIW, there is a new 12-hole course at Arcadia Bluffs that just opened, and they have never mentioned the architect anywhere.  I'm not that interested in the course but I am curious if they are pursuing this exact marketing tactic.


If the course turned out really good, though, there would be too much at stake for a young architect not to claim it.  The only way the anonymity would be maintained is if it was done by a big name who got paid enough to be anonymous.  I was approached with that idea once, but did not pursue the discussion.

[Matt Schoolfield]

If the course turned out really good, though, there would be too much at stake for a young architect not to claim it.  The only way the anonymity would be maintained is if it was done by a big name who got paid enough to be anonymous.

I mean, I think the openness of the secret is part of the way this type of thing works. Anyone curious has been able to know who Banksy and Daft Punk were for nearly their entire careers, with a very wink-and-nod "probably." It has always seemed, to me, like a good way to generate clients who actually care about the work, and not the name. But, I mean, you actually have to demonstrate excellence in the first place for it to work.

[Peter Sayegh]

Of course, the first step would be to get past Rudovsky's privacy-invading website.


The point is it would be nice---as many have discussed and lamented here--if courses could just open without fanfare or promotion or prejudgment.

Such a project would be BEYOND nice.

Most new courses are not criticized on this board.

[Thomas Dai]

Banksy is supposed to be from Bristol.
I believe there may be a Bristolian golf course architect who posts herein.
Atb

[Colin Sheehan]

I realize my concept wasn't analogous with Banksy's work which debuts unexpectedly but there's no mistaking the attribution. I was thinking about a course that opened without sharing attribution. Or like Bob Dylan using the name Jack Frost or Elston Gunn, a fake name could be used.


I disagree with Matt's comments that it isn't possible to bring a project to opening day without everyone knowing all about it. All it takes is an ownership group that doesn't need outside capital, which could apply to a number of projects past and present.


The idea I was kicking around originally presumed the architect would remain anonymous only for the first year or two. Eventually, it would get out and whether or not it was someone who was an established veteran or newcomer, it would be nice if it had a year or so for people to play it and indulge in the parlor game of whodunit.

[Blake Conant]

The idea of an architect working anonymously on a project is intriguing, but far from a parallel to Banksy.


The first difference being Banksy isn’t anonymous, he’s pseudonymous. The distinction is wanting some level of identifiability. He doesn’t want to be completely obscure because of his message.


Second, his medium is highly visible i.e., public spaces, street art (illegal) with a political or social message. That’s why he’s prolific and why his art matters.


Using an anonymous architect to build a high end club with a high end private membership for a well off client does start an interesting golf conversation about how we currently critique golf architecture, but it’s far from anything Banksy is doing.


To answer the original post, the Banksy of golf might manifest itself as a rogue golf architect or golf group “installing” small, pop-up forms of golf in urban areas, vacant lots, abandoned lots, etc. Creating a space for golf that’s not encumbered by yardage, acreage, par, using golf clubs, etc. Make it sort of a Ship of Theseus for golf. How many of the traditional elements of golf can you remove while still making it recognizable as golf? Maybe a developer wipes it out after a day, maybe it exists in a vacant lot for years or transforms after it’s initially built.

[Sean_A]

I think of a Banksy gca as someone who alters courses by night. Maybe stick a bunker in there and remove one from here. Kinda like what the Woking Junta did all those years ago 😎 Alter a pre-existing gca landscape in a small, but meaningful way.

Ciao

[Ira Fishman]

Ronald,
I've been (not entirely jokingly) kicking around this idea for years. To do a project and keep everything/everyone under wraps and just let the course open and when asked the obvious first question on everyone's mind, just say, "We don't know who did it. Just judge it for what it is." It is a bit of response to the reductive nature of one person's name/reputation driving all assumptions about projects. 


Of course, on a related note, talented shapers are doing uncredited work on great projects every day. Tom does a very good job of attribution to his associates, shapers and interns, but whether they are carrying out his orders or taking liberties, there's rarely a specific element or feature that gets associated with such a person. Yet so many features great and small on a golf course are the equivalent of a Banksy artifact--a knob, contour, roll, bunker, etc--that you as the golfer get to experience and appreciate its artistic value and contribution without directly knowing who did it.

I don’t know who shaped the greens for Tom at Te Arai North, but Banksy makes an appearance with the 4th green.

[Niall C]

Ron asked us to ignore the secrecy part and focus on the satire element to Banksy's work. With that in mind I ask if Desmond Muirhead's work has an element of playfullness if not satire ? I've never played any of his courses so can't really say. Also did Jeff B not have some feet shaped bunkers on one of his courses ? Imagine if he a number of them so that from space it looked as though a giant had walked across the course.


Then there is the infamous pond on the Eden course. The gca's there were surely having a laugh but not necessarily with a view to sharing the joke with the public, but then it was before anyone thought of google earth.




Niall

[Charlie Goerges]

Does the Banksy of golf architecture have to be an architect? Do we know for certain who Far and Sure was? And even if we do, what if we didn't, could someone like that be the Banksy of golf architecture? I guess they could be more like the Banksy of golf architecture criticism.


I could imagine someone pulling something like that off pretty easily.

[Ryan Book]

Apropos of something for those well-versed in Banksy discussion boards, Massive Attack recently turned down an invitation to play Coachella, with Robert Del Naja noting that it made no sense to host music festivals, or golf courses, in the region.   

[Tom_Doak]

I don’t know who shaped the greens for Tom at Te Arai North, but Banksy makes an appearance with the 4th green.

 


I am Banksy!


I shaped two of the greens there.  You can probably guess the other one if you think about it.


But I also shaped two of the greens at Pinehurst #10 and it seems they are not so easily identified.

[Tom_Doak]

To answer the original post, the Banksy of golf might manifest itself as a rogue golf architect or golf group “installing” small, pop-up forms of golf in urban areas, vacant lots, abandoned lots, etc. Creating a space for golf that’s not encumbered by yardage, acreage, par, using golf clubs, etc. Make it sort of a Ship of Theseus for golf. How many of the traditional elements of golf can you remove while still making it recognizable as golf? Maybe a developer wipes it out after a day, maybe it exists in a vacant lot for years or transforms after it’s initially built.

I saw a thing a couple of years ago about "street golf" where people were playing in urban areas using a different ball that wouldn't break windows . . . but you could still hit people and injure them, which is probably why it was going on in Europe instead of America.  Too many lawyers here!

[Kyle Harris]

To answer the original post, the Banksy of golf might manifest itself as a rogue golf architect or golf group “installing” small, pop-up forms of golf in urban areas, vacant lots, abandoned lots, etc. Creating a space for golf that’s not encumbered by yardage, acreage, par, using golf clubs, etc. Make it sort of a Ship of Theseus for golf. How many of the traditional elements of golf can you remove while still making it recognizable as golf? Maybe a developer wipes it out after a day, maybe it exists in a vacant lot for years or transforms after it’s initially built.

I saw a thing a couple of years ago about "street golf" where people were playing in urban areas using a different ball that wouldn't break windows . . . but you could still hit people and injure them, which is probably why it was going on in Europe instead of America.  Too many lawyers here!

This was a thing in Lakeland during Covid. It was a good group but ultimately the city got too crowded.

[Michael Moore]

For the construction and immediate abandonment of Simapo Island Golf Club, which of course brings to mind Love is in the Bin, I nominate Tom Doak.

[Greg Hohman]

Make it sort of a Ship of Theseus…

Today, thinking about a round at one of my locals, Bonita, south of San Diego, I was surprised to read on its website that the course is “designed by legendary architect William F. Bell. Established in 1956 and relocated in the late 70’s…”

[Blake Conant]

To answer the original post, the Banksy of golf might manifest itself as a rogue golf architect or golf group “installing” small, pop-up forms of golf in urban areas, vacant lots, abandoned lots, etc. Creating a space for golf that’s not encumbered by yardage, acreage, par, using golf clubs, etc. Make it sort of a Ship of Theseus for golf. How many of the traditional elements of golf can you remove while still making it recognizable as golf? Maybe a developer wipes it out after a day, maybe it exists in a vacant lot for years or transforms after it’s initially built.

I saw a thing a couple of years ago about "street golf" where people were playing in urban areas using a different ball that wouldn't break windows . . . but you could still hit people and injure them, which is probably why it was going on in Europe instead of America.  Too many lawyers here!

Erik Anders Lang did one of his golf episodes on something similar to this in Portland. It was organized at a pub and that was their “clubhouse”. They'd play with tennis balls and clubs i believe they had a routing (or each person had their own routing) that started and returned at the pub and went through the streets. Holes where you could ricochet off cars and play under bridges and around corners and off signs. Think they played under the I-5.


It struck me that that’s not too far off from how original links were likely founded.

[Thomas Dai]

To answer the original post, the Banksy of golf might manifest itself as a rogue golf architect or golf group “installing” small, pop-up forms of golf in urban areas, vacant lots, abandoned lots, etc. Creating a space for golf that’s not encumbered by yardage, acreage, par, using golf clubs, etc. Make it sort of a Ship of Theseus for golf. How many of the traditional elements of golf can you remove while still making it recognizable as golf? Maybe a developer wipes it out after a day, maybe it exists in a vacant lot for years or transforms after it’s initially built.

I saw a thing a couple of years ago about "street golf" where people were playing in urban areas using a different ball that wouldn't break windows . . . but you could still hit people and injure them, which is probably why it was going on in Europe instead of America.  Too many lawyers here!

Erik Anders Lang did one of his golf episodes on something similar to this in Portland. It was organized at a pub and that was their “clubhouse”. They'd play with tennis balls and clubs i believe they had a routing (or each person had their own routing) that started and returned at the pub and went through the streets. Holes where you could ricochet off cars and play under bridges and around corners and off signs. Think they played under the I-5.
It struck me that that’s not too far off from how original links were likely founded.

I like the story of how one of the holes on Old Barnwells Kids Course was designed by an 8 year old.
Can you tell us a bit more about how this came to be?
Atb