John Mayhugh,
1. Have you been able to do things in south America that wouldn't work here due to environmental restrictions?In many of those countries the environmental laws are much tougher than ours....so we build them about the same as here and you hope they will maintain them the same....
2. You seem to take pride in building courses that offer a great deal of sublety and therefore lots of enjoyment for repeated play. Do you think this means your courses will age well? Do you think this hurts single play assessments, including rating?I hope they age well and I feel it could hurt some ratings etc..but I just can't dwell on all of that....guys like me are not hired on ratings or marketing appeal anyway....
3. Mike asked about the advantages of building courses with different grasses. If you were to build a course in northern Michigan, what sort of features would you like to use that you haven't been able to do in the south? (I know you have partially answered this already, but would like a bit more
same types of features would be used but the grasses would perform differently in the overall strategies of the course.... whispy fescues can give a look and be played in Michigan but in the south you cant find the ball....bunker surrounds can be "shaggy" yet played from where long bermuda around bunkers here for the look is almost impossible....
4. Favorite classic and modern courses (Golfweek definition). Classic I would say Merion, Crystal( cooler not to say Downs), Shinny
Modern- Pine Tree in Boynton Beach, the Bandon experience as a whole, Forest Dunes, Secession
5. Best book on golf course architecture?I have no idea....I enjoy golf Architecture in America and I enjoy Anatomy of a Golf Course.....but the Hurdzan book from a few years back has a lot of good stuff in it also.....
6. Biggest mistake you made when you first started designing courses?I made a bunch....but the biggest was probably not standing up to owners when you knew what they wanted to do was not going to work...you end up getting the blame whether guilty or not....
Lou,
1)
Do you consider playing ability to be a great asset in your work? I think so...not that I am any good but have done it long enough and have been in a situation were I could not breathe or take the club back....so that can make you appreciatre certain shots under pressure....
Can the heart and the mind overcome a hole in one's soul? Hey that sounds sort of gay...is this a trick..
I don't think we are meant to overcome holes in souls....I think those holes make us what we are....check this out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppqb0t_B0KY2) What are the advantages and disadvantages in working in places like Costa Rica and Nicaragua vs. the U.S.?
it is much harder to get materials and permits....skilled labor must be imported and must be accustomed to the living changes...but overall is much the same except that many of the owners do not know what to expect when they open and need much help with maintenance conditions etc....
3) In marginal areas where bent and bermuda can both be used such as Atlanta and Dallas, assuming you had similar budgets to maintain both in very good playing conditions, which would you prefer using on a course you designed? If bermuda is your preference, which strain would you use in Atlanta?Bent is a better surface wen it is good but most of the golf season in those climates you mention takes place in bermuda weather. I would keep bent greens feasible....if using bermuda I would go Champions...seems to have been around a little longer and most supts can live with it....
4) Relative to personal hygiene and golf course design, holding everything else equal, are the psychological factors which predispose a knowledgeable architect to a high maintenance, mostly hairless regime help or hinder his work? Would the otherwise well-coifurred architect's work reflect similar close attention to detail, cute little design features, aesthetics, and an orientation toward nuance and mind over force?