Golf Digest's 50 Most Fun Courses

I don't usually get too excited about a new list but Golf Digest's 50 Most Fun is one that could actually have a positive impact on the game. It never hurts given I've only been associated with two courses that were created and built from scratch working with Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, to see Rustic Canyon (#30) and The Horse Course at Prairie Club (#10!) making the 50 Most Fun publics.

Peter Finch explains the thought process for the 50 Most Fun in the September Golf Digest, and there is a slideshow of the diverse group of courses selected. (As an aside for architecture geeks, there is also a recent Joann Dost aerial shot of Cypress Point showing the restored fairway bunkers on the 17th hole.)

The 50 Most Fun Privates, the 50 Most Fun Publics, and the most fun of Great Britain and Ireland.

Coore And Crenshaw On Pinehurst A Year Later

Nice Q&A with the architects on the restoration, how it's evolved and where it's headed, including news of a new practice area on the No. 1 course's old 18th green. It will be a key practice area for players at the 2014 U.S. Opens.

DVR Alert: Golf's Grand Design

Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News reviews the new golf architecture documentary set to air on most PBS stations in the primo slot of Friday at 10 p.m. during August in an Olympic year.

Hey, we'll take what we can get.

Here's a preview.

More On Harbottle's Career

Todd Miles expands on his initial report about the sudden passing of golf architect John Harbottle.

One of his last renovation projects was underway at the course where he grew up – Tacoma Country and Golf Club, which flew the American flag at half-staff Friday in his honor.

Along with Tacoma course superintendent Joel Kachmack, Harbottle came up with a design to significantly alter bunkering, giving it a jagged-shaped, fescue-lined, classic-style look. The first phase has just been completed.

Harbottle was at another work site this week, and set to return home Thursday in time to sit on a First Tee of South Puget Sound board meeting Friday.

Apparently he was waiting for a layover flight at Los Angeles International Airport, and complained about pain in his neck and shoulder, Tacoma Country and Golf Club’s Friend said.

He went over to be worked on at a nearby chair massage and spa business in the airport terminal. Shortly after sitting down, he abruptly died. The cause of death has yet to be determined.

R.I.P. John Harbottle III

The golf architect was just 53.

Todd Miles with the sad news.

Update on 2012-05-25 16:40 by Geoff

**From the ASGCA:

John Harbottle III, ASGCA, dies at 53

BROOKFIELD, Wis. – John Harbottle III, an American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA) Member and president of John Harbottle Design of Tacoma, Wash., died May 24, 2012. He was 53.
 
Harbottle was nationally recognized for his commitment to environmentally-sensitive design. His award-winning layouts included Ridgecrest Golf Course, Nampa, Idaho; Stevinson Ranch, Stevinson, Calif.; The Olympic Course, Bremerton, Wash.; and The Golf Club at Genoa Lakes, South Lake Tahoe, Nev. All were designated "Best New Courses in the United States" by “Golf Digest.”
 
A landscape architecture graduate from the University of Washington, Harbottle began his career with ASGCA Past President Pete Dye, with whom he collaborated on projects throughout the world. Harbottle became an ASGCA Associate Member in 1992 and a Regular Member in 1996.
 
Extensive travel to Scotland allowed Harbottle to study golf’s traditions and form the basis for many of his own designs. He described his design work, especially its noted sensitivity to the environment, when he said, “Our goal is to create natural looking golf courses with a links touch; timeless classics that fit the terrain as if they have always existed. The indigenous character of the links courses makes them not only appear a natural part of the landscape, but also allows them to function as a sustainable part of the ecosystem.
 
“Great courses possess natural beauty, strategic hazards and variety – not only in overall design, but also in the ways to play each hole,” Harbottle said.
 
Harbottle is survived by his wife, Teresa, and children, Johnny and Chelsea.