Bar Run

[Matt Schoolfield]

Since we always talk about the new lists that come out, I thought we should throw some attention over the course profiles they have over at Club TFE. I've decided an interesting one to discuss would be Bar Run (link to paywalled profile), since it is just different than a ranked list entry would be. Now, I know their profiles are behind their paywall, so I don't want to just copy-paste, but I'll throw in a blurb that I think gives Garrett's general thoughts (obviously, if the folks there aren't cool with this, just hit me up and I'm happy to take it down, no worries) . I just think this was a super interesting take:

I wish it were more common for a golf architect to go into a project with the knowledge that the end result won’t be a top-100 masterpiece. This mindset can be liberating.

I think that idea is reiterated here:

...the project’s limited potential seems to have freed Hixson up. More than any of his previous original designs, Bar Run is experimental and whimsical. The greens and their surrounds are riven by unpredictable contours, alternately wavy and jagged. Several holes feature angular mounds that suggest both the sharp edges of the site’s industrial elements and the outlines of the surrounding mountain ranges. The course’s single boldest hole, the par-4 sixth, imitates the famous “Pit” hole at North Berwick, but instead of playing over an ancient, crumbling property enclosure, Bar Run’s version boasts a new wall constructed out of materials provided by the Guido family’s own concrete service. Strategically, it’s a decent match for the original, though some may be bothered by its artificiality. (I think it’s enjoyably strange.)

Whether you find such quirks entertaining, as I do, or off-putting, the rationale behind them is clear. Bar Run is not trying to be the Citizen Kane of golf courses. Its ambitions are more along the lines of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: rewatchable (or replayable), if less likely to impress the panelists of the Sight & Sound (or Golf Magazine) ranking.

I've not been able to get up there yet (though I probably will this year), just wondering what other people's thoughts are if any of you have been.

[Tom_Doak]

Matt:


I've not been to Bar Run, but I absolutely agree with Garrett's point that not having to aim for the Top 100 can be very liberating.


That sounds crazy to most, because the top 100 is really out of reach for most projects, and even when it's within reach, everything has to go great from start to finish, which you don't control.  But with the budgets for new courses so high, there is nearly always a hope about making the rankings, because you almost have to make it win order to imagine you're going to recoup your construction costs in your lifetime.


I think probably half of my clients sincerely believe I am going to build them another top 100 course, or are strongly hoping that I can.  But I do get some clients who can afford not to care, or who have other goals in mind.  The Lido was not predicated on making the top 100, though it did.  Sedge Valley was not predicated on making the top 100, either, but Wild Springs Dunes probably is, because it's the anchor of a new resort and not an add-on piece.


We are certainly open to more of these type of projects, if they allow us a chance to do something different.  Trying to build a top 100 course every time out is impossible, and ultimately disappointing.

[Matt Schoolfield]

Maybe nobody here has been able to get there to play so I'd thought I'd throw in some videos so people can see what Garrett is talking about:

Golf Crack hits Bar Run | Roseburg, Oregon

Enjoy, Oregon // Ep. 008 TRUE linkswear

[Kalen Braley]

Matt,

Here is a prior thread on the course.   https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,66971.0.html

P.S.  As a lover of quirk and the unusual, enjoy seeing projects like this

[Craig Sweet]

Don't you think they meant Golf Craic?