"Thistle Dhu" Opens At Pinehurst

Bill Fields files a Golf World Monday item (with great photo) on the Himalayas-style putting green that opened at Pinehurst resort, paying homage to a 1919 miniature built in the area.

The resort has also posted this YouTube video of the green's opening. It is free to play for resort guests.

Now if we could just build about 1000 of these around the country...

Brandel: "Society has changed, and golf has to adapt."

Bob Young captures the highlights of a Brandel Chamblee ad campaign for Scottsdale Golf. He touches on a variety of topics in his usual way, including Tiger and the state of the game.

"There is a lot wrong with where golf has gone. The game has become too expensive, in my opinion. And golf-course architecture is responsible for a lot of that. Courses are too ornate and difficult.

"People fell in love with golf architecture that makes the game no fun. Courses should be interesting, not hard. They should be for enjoyment and competition.

"We should be building courses with three- to six-hole loops so people can come out and pay to play three holes or six or nine or 12."

"And there needs to be a more aggressive campaign to get more women and juniors involved in golf. I think larger holes cut on the opposite side of the green from the other hole is a way to do that, and building junior tees 150 yards from the green would do that.

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.