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Golf Course Design Today
RICHARD MANDELL: Golf Course Design Today mayor
China: Golf, Noodles, and Quarantine (Part 3)
I am stuck in a hotel room in China, watching a TV show about China on National Geographic channel (thinking about how I would love to actually see that...) while simultaneously keeping tabs on my radio show in Pinehurst. It's a very bizarre world situation. China is actually right outside my window, beyond the huge smokestack that dominates my view.
China: Golf, Noodles, and Quarantine (Part 2)
All I do is eat and sleep in my warm little womb. When mealtime comes, the real treat is the free A/C where they dish out my food. Greeted by masked gastronomists, I'm treated to grunts toward some of the best Chinese food I have ever had in my life (a compliment) and then I find myself begging for two waters at the end. My request is summarily dismissed. The next day I ask for some from the refrigerator: My second dismissal.
China: Golf, Noodles,and Quarantine (Part 1)
I, a golf course architect, am reaching the end of my first day, with three more to go, as a guest of the People's Republic of China, with possibly no chance of seeing the Great Wall, sitting in a hotel room in Beijing with zero air conditioning. So you want to be a golf course architect? Be careful for what you may wish. And she is somewhere in Sichuan Province, wherever that may be. Here I am in the Yanxiang Hotel and she's not.
Bethpage Black: From Asphalt Bunkers to the U. S. Open
When people ask me what my favorite golf course is, I unhesitatingly respond, "Bethpage Black" and then I describe the anomaly of the Bethpage experience. See, Bethpage Black is such a great piece of ground that a future golf architect would describe the following as a great experience of life while others may consider the sport of fingernail removal by pliers as more palatable.
Grow The Game From The Ground Up, Not From The Top Down
The health of the game would not be in such critical condition if more golf courses were built from the ground up rather than the top down. If golf courses had less forced carries and penal hazards as a result of trying to create a dramatic landscape and the promise of living along the toughest golf course on the block and more opportunity for a new golfer to advance his or her game properly, less people would be walking away from the game.
Eliminate The Bells and Whistles
Suggestion number four to help balance the game and the business of golf is to eliminate the bells and whistles! Very few times is a cost over-run really a necessary evil. Too many times it is increased hand-waving by the architect (and often times the owner), yet just as many times it is because of the extraneous construction details that someone thinks is necessary to attract business.
Stop Building Golf Courses Solely To Sell Back Yards
Did you know that, on average, no more than 40% of all people who live on a golf course actually play the game? Is it any wonder why the golf business is in freefall when the majority of golf courses built in the last few decades were built primarily as an amenity to sell surrounding real estate?
Ensure Golf Is Not a Secondary Proposition
A golf course is where people come to play golf, a restaurant is where people go to eat - simple concept. Does one think that the Morton's Steakhouse people consider a golf course as an amenity in case someone may want to play a few holes between the French onion soup and the ribeye? No, so why should the opposite be true?
Does The Golf Industry Deserve an Economic Bailout?
I'm torn. In one way, I would love my industry to be the recipient of some economic stimulus. On the other hand, I think the long-term health of the game would be much better if left out of the handout business. Who would even get the money and what would they do with it?
Nigeria: Kidnapping Golf Architects (Part 3)
This is the final installment of my experience chasing a multi-course golf development project in West Africa that was a little more intriguing than one in my profession is usually accustomed to. Never did I think my safety could be at issue.
Nigeria: Do Your Due Diligence! (Part 2)
For Tony, our relationship was all about trust. Right out of the gate, he spoke of trust being the cornerstone of our impending bond. As altruistic as that may seem, I have a more basic philosophy. We agree on terms and sign a contract. You wire money into my account, and I do the work. Repeat until contract is fulfilled.
Nigeria: The Next Golf Hotbed? (Part 1)
In my business, the number of "tire-kickers" far exceeds the ones who are genuinely serious about pursuing a golf course project. Of that number of tire-kickers, many will go to great lengths to play the part.
President Obama's Need for Change Applicable to the Golf Business
Just like other industry sectors such as banking and automotive, the golf industry needs change i order to survive. For years, or industry has been spending freely and not looking toward the inevitable downturn where unprecedented spending often leads. The bottom line is that golf costs too much for the average golfer, and we need change. So, where do we start as proud stewards of a game we love and abusiness that is a major provider of not just recreation, but jobs as well?
Golf Architecture Is Design?
A relevant definition of design is "to prepare the preliminary sketch or the plans for (a work to be executed), especially to plan the form and structure of." My personal definition of design is "problem-solving." Whether I am charged with a new project or a renovation, the design charge is the same: Solve the problem of placing golf on the ground that works.
Golf Architecture Is Art?
When applying art to golf course architecture, the focus is on aesthetics more so than strategy or playability. Over the past few decades, a push away from enhancing nature and more toward a focus on aesthetics has dominated the golf course architecture field and put a premium on an ‘artistic flair' among designers. As a result, more dramatic features crop up in golf landscapes. The beauty of nature is not the same as art and as such, takes a back seat. The fact is strategy derived from the ground just doesn't photograph well and rarely makes an intriguing magazine cover.
Golf Architecture Is Environmental Science?
The most intrinsic quality of the game of golf is communing with nature, even when it may be "cart parth only." For the golf course architect, the impact that golf course design has on the environment shall be minimal, yet the imipact the environment has on golf course design shall be at at its maximum.
Golf Architecture Is Engineering?
When most people think about golf course architecture, the specific engineering discipline which is most applicable is civil engineering. An egotistical golf architect may respond to the above question with “a bunch of formulas and a bunch of straight lines everywhere.” But a realistic golf architect may respond with “a vital component of golf course design that ensures proper drainage” because the greatest golf course features in the world are irrelevant if muddy conditions dominate the ground.
Five Reasons to Give Thanks for This Economic Meltdown
Thanksgiving is a time of reflection (as always) and this year the reflections are bittersweet for the golf industry. Recent events have only intensified the already in progress' meltdown of the golf industry over the past few years. The bottom line is the golfer does not need gigantic clubhouses, a valet pulling up in the parking lot, GPS, and our own personal wet bar in our cart. We don't want to pay for it and the operator isn't making money from it. We just want good golf!
What is Golf Architecture?
What is golf architecture? Is it just simple design? Or is it art, environmental science, engineering, land planning? Golf Architecture is not only a merging of disciplines; it is a dynamic process which requires much more than a good iron-game or a prevalence to make many birdies.
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