Cabot Cliffs In 2014?

Brad Klein reports that Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw are completing the routing for a second course at the Cabot Links development to be constructed by 2014. From what I've seen in photos making the rounds the site is stunning. Of course, the first course looks pretty great in these trailers, too.

Anyone been this summer?

Pete Dye On Building Crooked Stick

Dan McFeely talks to Pete Dye about Crooked Stick's backstory as the PGA Tour visits for the BMW Championship.

Both story and accompanying video include Mr. Dye talking about how the course was created and stories about negotiations with Mrs. Kerns over purchasing her farm for the course.

Fun stuff as only Pete can tell it both in McFeely's written version and in the video.

"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.