The only course that will remain difficult under all conditions will be one that is designed and kept for golf of a stereotyped, monotonous character, and this makes a most uninteresting proposition. BOBBY JONES
Available via Amazon (US): Golf Architecture For Normal People
Barnes And Noble (online and in stores)
Bookshop.org option to support local independent bookstores.
Reviews:
"Golf Architecture for Normal People . . . should be required reading for those who are not ashamed to admit they know little about the subject, and for those who think they do . . . . Golf course architecture geeks have trouble slimming their thoughts down to bite-sized chunks, but Shackelford has achieved a remarkable success here." —Independent (Ireland)
"From the relative newcomer who’s slowly getting hooked to those that have played the game for most of their lives and think they know a thing or two, Golf Architecture for Normal People provides a solid and sober perspective that will help everyone recognize why some golf courses are worth playing more than once while a single trip around others is all you’re ever likely to want or need." —Links Magazine.
“It’s a wonderful book. An easy read that arrives just in time for your summer reading list. If you’ve never thought about how an appreciation for course design could heighten your enjoyment of the game, you must check this out.”—The Peterborough Examiner
"As in his prior publications, in his newest book Shackelford shows a deep appreciation for what can be done to create a golf course that appeals to the broadest possible golfing audience…Shackelford’s prose is succinct, often witty, and accessible."—Cape Gazette
"Author, blogger and golf architecture expert Geoff Shackelford, who helped Gil Hanse design Rustic Canyon and restore 2023 U.S. Open host Los Angeles Country Club, taps into his passion by creating a guide that helps every golfer understand the nuances of course design. Published by Tatra Press, the 164-page hardcover book is a must-read for every golfer to better understand the game they love." —Golf Pass
"Shackelford provides an informative picture [and]...sprinkles in history lessons about those who planted the game's architectural roots, defines common terms and helps you hone your eyes when it comes to identifying some of the tricks of the trade."—FORE Magazine
"This new book does a great job demystifying golf course design ideas for average players, but can also be a beneficial read fro PGA Professionals and other golf course employees to get a better understanding of their home courses." —PGA Magazine
With the Presidents Cup past I finally got to savor Bill Fields' gallery of black and white images from a recent visit to the embattled Alister MacKenzie public course outside San Francisco. It's well worth a look and a reminder of just the kind of place golf needs more of, and yet, the effort to save the place has not been joined by any of the game's national organizations.
I also forgot that the Save Sharp Park folks got their day in court with the Wild Equity zealots on November 18. Fields filed this update on what went on.
A nice twist in the Sharp Park saga: two San Mateo County supervisors penned an op-ed for the SF Examiner advocating saving Alister MacKenzie's embattled public course and say the county would be happy to take on the burden of operating a potentially fantastic, profitable and environmentally important public course. Go figure!
Carole Groom and Adrienne J. Tissier write:
However, Sharp Park does not have to become the philosophical moonscape of trench warfare, where slogans and sound bites obfuscate reasoning. Sharp Park can be a place where golfers from all socioeconomic strata successfully co-exist with sensitive coastal species.
Actually, San Mateo County and Pacifica already have the framework of a plan to do exactly that. The golf course can be reconfigured to support the endangered snakes and threatened frogs, while recapturing some of MacKenzie’s original layouts. Additionally, San Mateo County has already identified private sources willing to underwrite most — if not all — of this proposed peaceful co-existence.
This is good news for golfers and ultimately, the entire facility and environment as the desperation move by the extremists at the Center For Biological Diversity speaks to the state of their case to get the Alister MacKenzie course shut down.Granted, it was done--as Ron Kroichick reports--by getting the Harding Park superintendent reassigned to Sharp Park and paying for their own guy to run Harding in order to get it ready for this year's highly anticipated Schwab Cup. But at this point, Sharp Park will take any help it can get.
Thanks to reader Dean for Rachel Gordon's SF Insider blog entry on the SF Park and Recreation report release (Friday-at-6:30 pm!!) recommending the salvation of Sharp Park as an 18-hole course, with some pricey design changes to accommodate the endangered species.
The entire report can be read here.
Wayne Freeman of the San Francisco ABC affiliate filed this report:
C.W. Nevius provides another high-profile endorsement for saving MacKenzie's Sharp Park as a golf course as a significant Park and Recreation recommendation for going forward is about to be released.
Richard Harris and Bo Links pen a GolfClubAtlas.com In My Opinion piece analyzing the history and evolution of Alister MacKenzie's endangered Sharp Park. And for more of the past coverage here on the Sharp saga, check out the archives.
Nancy Wuerfel, "a fiscal analyst by profession," is on San Francisco's Park, Recreation and Open Space Advisory Committee. And yes, its acronym is PROSAC. Anyway, nice to see another common sense op-ed piece on the Sharp Park situation as major decisions are about to be made.
This was the most refreshing point, something I touched in my Golf World story and something that the extremists have been fudging the truth about for some time:
Claims that city golf courses lose money are just not true. I analyzed the financial information for the first six years of the city's Golf Fund. The Recreation and Park Department's accounting practices have created the appearance that Sharp Park golf course is losing money when it is not. These findings were submitted to the Recreation and Park Commission and the Recreation and Park Department.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
