When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
It seems The Donald is threatening to take his sensitive linksland development ideas to an undisclosed location in Ireland.
“I do have an option on another piece of land in another location,” he said. “It is not an option I want to exercise because the first choice is Aberdeen. I believe it’s the finest piece of land in the world for a golf course and my loyalty is to Mary Trump, my mother, who was born in Scotland.
Thanks to reader John for a pair of John Paul Newport stories in the Wall Street Journal's Weekend Report. The first looks at golf architecture as an art form, and includes a nice plug for GolfClubAtlas.com:
These days the best talkin' about golf aesthetics is done by course-architecture buffs, particularly the crowd that congregates online at GolfClubAtlas.com. (If you aren't familiar with the Web site, I recommend it.) In course reviews and forums there, a consensus has developed about what makes for the best courses: holes that blend naturally into the landscape, a variety of strategic options off the tee, routings that ebb and flow in pleasant ways, and occasional eccentric features that bring luck into play.
So naturally the story then includes a photo of the complete manufactured, strategy-free Shadow Creek, with this caption:
The Art of Golf: Golf-course designs (like Tom Fazio's Shadow Creek, top) can tap into some of the same emotions as landscapes like Cezanne's.
The other Newport story focuses on Trip Kuehne's life as an amateur golfer, and includes this motivational quote I know you'll all be jotting down for your whiteboards:
Mr. Kuehne, 34, has a compact, muscular build reminiscent of Bobby Jones's and wears his hair in a fifties-style crew cut. On the day we met last week, he was wearing corduroy trousers with a long-sleeved black pullover shirt, and sat at his desk in front of a large whiteboard scrawled with company "battle plans," client call lists and motivational messages such as "Master the ability to move people -- control the mood, mindset and pace."
Oy. And this claim is a bit hard to believe:
To balance work and golf, Mr. Kuehne is ruthlessly organized. He plays in only seven or eight tournaments a year, chosen for their point-generating impact on the amateur rankings and for promoting his selection to international teams such as the Walker Cup. Between October and April, he rarely picks up his clubs.
Although some, such as Mr Bennett, have vowed to resist the initiative, most appear to have been won over by Mr Trump. A detailed study of the development’s impact on the environment, and the public backing of Jack McConnell, Scotland’s First Minister, is also likely to head off concerns over the future of the many birds that breed in the 2½ mile stretch of sand dunes where the courses will be built.
Indeed, it seems that the main threat to Trump International Golf Links is from a source that the billionaire may have overlooked: weather. In winter, snow can drift up to five feet deep, and a typical day includes 70mph winds. When Mr Trump arrived for a fleeting visit this year, his comb-over haircut was given a battering by a moderate gale as he stepped off his jet. He appears not to have taken the hint.
Even in summer the sea haar — a fog that rolls in from the North Sea — can reduce visibility to just metres. Mr Bennett, 43, said: “We lose an average of two days per week from June to September from the haar.” His wife, Anne, 40, added: “It can be so bad that I’ve written off a car in daylight before.”
Whether anyone at Aberdeenshire Council has mentioned the weather to Mr Trump is not clear. One local said: “He’s going to need luminous golf balls or 40ft-high fans to blow it all away.”
...Or whatever it's going to be called. Here's his Guardian story. Warning, I'm quoted. Sort of.
Reader Smitty shares this Naomi Patton story on the Huntington Woods City Commission approving a proposal to designate the Donald Ross designed Rackham Golf Course a historic district.
Huntington Woods residents and Rackham supporters applauded the vote, but they should expect a legal challenge from the private developer that plans to purchase the property.This is an interesting bit from Jennifer Chambers' Detroit News story:
Arthur Siegal, attorney for Premium Golf LLC, called the vote "politics at work," and said, "The main event is the litigation."
The 123-acre course, designed by Donald Ross, is one of the earliest integrated golf courses in America, starting from the early part of the 20th century. Its clubhouse, an Arts and Crafts structure with a heavy Prairie and Romanesque revival influence, is a 1924 state-of-the-art building with a tile roof and a long, sweeping veranda with Pewabic tile.
Robert Thompson recently posted a fun rant on modern golf course development...
The iseekgolf discussion board is trying to get architect Tony Cashmore to reveal another of these mysterious Alister MacKenzie items that only he has seen (Cashmore also claimed to see Seth Raynor's routing of Cypress Point).
Ian Andrew is celebrating the joys of the short par-4.
Ian also went looking for photos of Riviera and several were posted on GolfClubAtlas, including No. 10's new Orlando themed look.
**An Orlando reader asked me to please clarify the reference to his hometown in the above post. It's in reference to the whirly giggly, excessive cape and bay, desperately trying to be retro, Palmer-style bunkering commonly found in that cultural haven of central Florida. And sadly now found on the 10th at Riviera, a hole that we all know was in dire need of alteration (In the photo note the jacking around of the far left aiming bunker too, but alas, no Orlando added to that one...)
...on Monday for the world's greatest course in Scotland. I really don't care, I just wanted an excuse to link this photo of him in a sky cap.
Just imagine what happened when he took the hat off.
Now posted is my Golfdom essay on schlocky catch basins and how the old architects handled drainage artfully.File this under the you can't make this stuff up file. It's Robert Trent Jones Jr. trying to channel Desmond Muirhead in the pre-round chats at the Grand Slam of golf:
ROBERT TRENT JONES JR. (Poipu Bay Golf Course designer): The weather can be changeable here. You can have very strong winds or you can kind of have mild winds and of course, the mild winds are kind of like a lamb. In the strong winds, it takes a Tiger to beat a tiger.
Okay, all together everyone, on three, one, two three, "Oy vey!"
He will tell you he’s comfortable with this particular course and that he’s played it so many times, it’s like Augusta or another course that you know. He has an advantage over player like Ogilvy, who is playing it for the first time. And then again, he’s Tiger Woods.
He’s now gone into the golf course architecture business, so I wrote him a note. I’ve known him since he was 14. I told him now that he’s going into defense, Napoleon defending Paris is a little different deal. If you need any help, call me. We had a little chat about it.
And I'm sure he'll pick up the phone to hear about that whole Napoleon-Paris metaphor.
(Does he view him as a competitor?): No. It’s good for the game. He’s an extremely well-known person, but design is different. To be a professional (golfer), you have to spend five years on the practice tee hitting balls. If you’re a golf architect, you have to spend at least five years in the dirt and on a bulldozer. It takes time to learn the other technical issues. Vive le difference. Every course is different, every game is different and that’s why we keep playing.
Okay, I'm due back on the planet earth now.
The City of Detroit is selling Rackham, its Donald Ross (or what's left of) course.
Jerry Stewart interviews Johnny Miller for the Monterey County Herald. Let's see how long Johnny can go without referencing his 63 at Oakmont.
Q: Recently it was announced that the LPGA will have steroid/drug testing in 2008, do you think that should be the rule on the PGA Tour as well?
A: I guess some women on the tour think that others have an unfair advantage. Who those players are I have no idea. As for the men's tour, it's hard to believe people would take steroids to enhance their game. Then again, there may be a guy on the bubble who wants that extra 20 yards off the tee. Guys already do a lot of things to calm their nerves. Some guys drink and no one really knows about it. Some take legal drugs. I wouldn't be surprised if there were some guys out there taking steroids.
It's hard to believe people would take steroids to enhance their game. I wouldn't be surprised if there were some guys out there taking steroids. Okay.
Q: What are your thoughts on the equipment issue? Are guys too long off the tee?
A: I don't see a real issue here. Even with all the new equipment, a 63 is still a heck of a score. I managed to do it in an U.S. Open.
If you had question 2 in the pool, you won!
You still have 18 tries to make it into that little hole. I look at it that if a guy wants to bomb it 320 yards off the tee, he is trading off the chances of getting in more trouble. You still have to hit your irons and make the putt. While players may be emphasizing length, there is still room for players like (former pro) Calvin Peete, Fred Couples and Mike Weir. Guys who focus on accuracy off the tee. You don't have to hit it nine miles to score. You still want precision and accuracy.
Wait, did he just put Fred Couples in the same category as Calvin Peete? Because Freddie hits it so short, you know.
Q: What about the question regarding square grooves and irons?
A: Actually, the irons that are used by players today aren't much different than the ones we used back in the 1970's. The square grooves (which allow more spin) on today's irons do, however, help the players. It may help half-a-shot a round, but that's two shots per tournament which could add up. In my day, we had to worry about the ball jumping off the clubface. Today's players don't have to worry about that. In my opinion, the PGA Tour and USGA should roll back where, during competition, all players have to use V-grooves.
And you may get your wish.
Q: What do you think of Tiger's venture into the world of golf course design?
A: It sort of shows his creative side.
Oh? Don't you have to have designed a course before we know if there was some creativity involved?
Obviously, it's also a money making venture and shows that he's already thinking about life after golf.
Because Lord knows, he could be low on cash someday.
I'm sure some people like the Tour and Nike are scared that he may not stick around too much longer as a player. Tiger still has a lot of years of playing golf in him, but who knows? I've designed over 30 courses and it's fun. It's like going to a party. You show up and everyone's ready to go.
Kind of reminds you of something Bobby Jones would say, doesn't it?
A couple of notes from Steve Elling's piece on Tiger getting into the design business. One, that it will be "based out of his primary business offices near his home at Isleworth Country Club," and...
Woods will chair the firm himself and it will have no ties to the design firm run by his sports-management agency, IMG.
That's good news.
Elling also had this quote from Tom Marzolf, who not surprisingly, had little to add.
"Everybody in the industry has been waiting for this day," said Tom Marzolf, past president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects. "This could be wonderful for the design business."
"America, it is just very much the same every week and I am bored, I get a little bit bored with it and I feel like I am playing the same golf week in, week out," he said.
"Whereas if you come down here and play or in Europe, you are playing different golf shots every week."
Lawrence Donegan in The Guardian writing about Tiger's design career:
An announcement is expected shortly, although it is safe to assume the financial details will remain secret. Woods enjoys his privacy, leaving others to speculate. And in this instance there has been no shortage of speculation, with figures ranging from $10-35m being bandied around. One leading course architect said yesterday that he had been told the world No1 last year turned down an offer of $20m (£10.5m) to design a course in the US. If this is the case, it has to be assumed that Woods' decision to embark on his new career has been prompted by an offer in excess of that - a sum not even a man with his bank balance could refuse.And...
"Whatever Tiger is asking for, I hope he gets it because his fees will make mine look reasonable," laughs Tom Doak, an American architect. "Twenty million would be worth it if there was just one Tiger Woods golf course. The fee can just be written off as marketing budget for the next 50 years because the developer will have something that is unique."
The assumption that a great player will automatically be a great course designer is misplaced, argues Greg Turner, a former European tour player who has embarked on a design career since retiring from top-class golf.
"Just because you've played thousands of courses around the world doesn't necessarily mean you know what makes a good one for the average player," Turner says. "When you play a course as a professional you are looking at it from a single-minded viewpoint - how does this fit with my game? Elite players need to be selfish if they want to prosper. They don't have time to take in aspects of a golf course that might affect other people."
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
