The end of one tour marks the beginning of another. Today, I paired up with fellow architect Richard Mandell and we set off on our own “extended tour” of golf courses in England… beginning at none other than Walton Heath, a return to the heathland courses near London. Herbert Fowler designed two courses here, beginning […]
Many feel like golf courses are many times defined by their greens. Whether that is completely or singularly valid or not, this is not for me to decide. But in the case of today's course, Royal Cinque Ports (Deal), the greens and their integrated surrounds certainly played a huge part in the dynamic identity of […]
You know how sometimes you just go along for the ride with something, having mixed expectations…sort of lacking that total emotional anticipation of something great? Today was very much like that for me… maybe because there was such bemoaning about the horrid weather that was forecasted… or maybe because I simply had not done my […]
Today, The Berkshire. Hebert Fowler crafted two courses here…the Red and the Blue. We enjoyed the Red Course, which gains it's reputation not only as a fine heathland test, but also because of the arrangement of holes. The Red Course features 6 par 3's, 6 par 4's and 6 par 5's…which I must say, is […]
Wow. Sunningdale proved to be heathlands golf at its finest. The weather today was something on the line of a complete washing machine cycle. Sun, then wind, then driving rain… then sun, and repeat again. We played Sunningdale, the New Course… which is hardly such, but nonetheless the newer of the two courses, designed by […]
To Heath and Links Study Tour is now underway in England. Today found us all arriving to London, getting our bearings and making a refreshing and insightful tour of Sunningdale Golf Club and their noted “Lost Holes” by Harry Colt on the New Course. Without getting into complicated details, a number of holes were repositioned […]
Recently my marketing manager (wife) remarked to me that I have not been diligent with my blogging efforts… and she is right (she’s always right). And to her credit, she suggested that I post daily blogs during my upcoming tour of England’s finest golf courses – just check in with some details from the day […]
In an era where golf courses have fallen defenseless to the almighty length of touring professionals, we’ve seen fairways narrowed, bunkers added, trees planted, higher rough, conditions firmed up and green speeds lowered to the point that balls roll well beyond the tolerance of designed contours. Why? Because yes, “these guys are THAT good”. So […]
If you’re living most anywhere in the Eastern US, chances are good the winter of 2014 has been a long, cold and entirely forgettable stretch. The Mid-South has also endured more than it’s share of snow, ice and record-cold temps. The Upper Midwest and much of the Northeast have been nothing less than arctic, hence […]
As you might imagine, architects get pressed quite often to profess our opinions about what makes one golf course better than another. And while I think that is more an individual preference (or left to magazines), there are some courses that stand out among the rest. But why? Is it their great beauty? Is […]
Human beings are creatures of habit, are we not? We certainly have a tendency to cling to the proverbial status quo. We also fear what we don’t know. For many things in life, routine and comfort can be good. In golf, however, we can easily get our boots stuck in the mud to the point […]
September signifies the beginning of late season renovation work in northern climates. There’s always the challenge for Club’s with such plans to squeeze in those last few golf events before things get dug up and messy… time is precious with colder weather only weeks away. The mad dash has begun! We’re busy this year […]