The Mind of a Golf Course Architect

Filed in archive Golf Business on March 4, 2007

Courtesy: The Caddyshack

First, let me begin this Sunday post by apologizing for not delivering what was advertised yesterday.

I spent a great deal of fumbling around trying to upload a simple mp.3 file to my post and present to you part two of the Sandra Post Interviews.

I have no clear idea what is wrong but I shall persist and I will solve the problem.

In other words, you WILL hear the remaining parts of the interview. I promise you that.

In the meantime, and in order not to leave you all in the lurch, I want to draw your attention to my blogging colleague, Ian Andrew.

Ian, as many will know by now, is a golf course architect. And it's a rare architect, indeed, who is willing to express his ideas in such a public forum as a blog.

He did so with me, recently, and much like Sandra Post, Ian lets you know where he stands at all times. And of course he does so each day with his own blog.

His ideas, in fact, are strong, clear and his own. He is very much in the corner of the amateur player.

This past week, as Ian has quietly celebrated his first anniversary as a blogger, he has posted some fine entries on course design.

Where does a course architect begin when he or she is looking at raw land: a farmer's field, a Rocky, hilly piece of terrain or an area of forest?

Ian answers that question and takes us through his thought process.

As an amateur player, I never really consider the overall playability of a course. I trudge from tee to green to tee , try to keep my ball on the short grass and tip toe by the tougher holes.

All the time, I am walking past the creativity of the architect without recognizing it.

After reading Ian's material, I don't think I'll be doing that anymore!