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The RolexWORLD’S TOP 1000GOLF COURSESNEWSLETTERS

CONTENTS

The “dream life” of a lady professional golfer

Butch Harmon, a life dedicated to golf

Links or not links: that is the question!

The Modern Golfing Explorer: Mike Keiser

The path to golfing success is education

Women’s golf and its impact on golf architecture

The putting green, an essential component of a Club

Tiger can !

Spring and Augusta forever intertwined

The Great Gatsby: George C. Thomas

Pebble Beach: still room for improvement

Rhythm is everything!

A delight for its members

A wonderful opportunity

Play it as it lies

The art of the routing plan

Thracian Cliffs - a rare new arrival

Tom Fazio

Views on architecture - Interview of Tom Doak

The last great Golf boom

7 to 77...

What took you so long, Mr Immelman ?

Make them play !

The importance of bunkers

Palm Springs a pipe-dream for Europe ?

Tiger Woods a would-be course architect ?

British course, American winner

The tricky business of updating a golf course

The life of a woman professional golfer seems very glamorous on the outside, between globetrotting the world, high potential revenues and the exciting ideas of meeting successful people. However, rea-lity can often prove to be very different than expec-ted.

In order to succeed like top athletes, women pro-fessional must maintain a very disciplined lifestyle. In other words, they must accept high intensity practice sessions while living the life of an ascetic. The tournament calendar along with all the travelling involved (23 tournaments in 17 different countries for the European Tour and 33 tournaments in 14 countries for the American Tour) require an exemplary hygiene. For some it comes quite easily, for others it is more difficult. All the players at that level are talented so what does make a difference is the desire to comply with such a rigor. The improvement in the average score on the LPGA over the past ten years, speaks for itself with a drop of 1,3 strokes on a par 72 and 2 strokes for a par 71 (LPGA data).

Moreover, the tournament agenda does not match the rest of the population’s whose holidays are usually taken during the high golfing season that is to say in the summer time. It is then even difficult to maintain friendships, not to mention a romantic relationship. Engaging in such a relationship is indeed challenging when one is to travel so much and to have one’s boyfriend as a caddie quickly finds its limits. Many women realise the need to swiftly modify that choice not to jeopardize one’s relationship.

Later on to be able to start a family requires a flawless organisation and the perfect babysitter, eager to travel the world. Nevertheless when the children are about to enter school, things change drastically and all of a sudden, the mother has to be home. The great Patty Sheehan, 36

The American player Paula Creamer, winner ofthe 2010 US Open

2015

THE “DREAM LIFE” OF A LADY PROFESSIONAL GOLFER

victories on the LPGA and mother of two, summarizes it well: “ in the end, we have the feeling of doing nothing correctly; we are never there for the family and we do not practice enough either” (Golfweek, November 2014). On the LPGA, only 8 players are still on Tour after 20 years!

Another difficulty to be found in all sports nowadays is the ever younger players turning profes-sional. So fine tuned and eager to go on Tour, they leave school too early to realise only later that education is part of a successful career and an enjoyable life.

In any case, it is important to differentiate the LPGA from the LET since the first one accounts for 61,6 million dollars in earnings while the second one for only 11 million euros. Prize money is different, media coverage is different and the quality of the courses is unparalleled. Mostly because there are many more players willing to access the LPGA, this makes the level of play so much higher.

Hall of famer Nancy Lopez

with victories on Tour; such are American players Nancy Lopez (48 victories), Julie Inkster (31 victories) or Scottish player Catriona Matthew (4 victories including the British Open). Others managed to set their biological clock so that they got pregnant right after stopping their profes-sional career; Hall of famer Annika Sörenstam (72 victories) and Lorena Ochoa (27 victories) among the most notorious. They indeed succeeded in raising a family and starting a new career; the first one in golf course architecture (most recently in Estonia) and the creation of a golf aca-demy and the second one in getting involved with charity back in Mexico.

So yes, it is quite an ordeal for women to juggle family and professional life and in fact this might even be one of their biggest challenge!

D’ALGUE SELECTION16, chemin du golf78860 Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche FranceOffice: +33 (0)5 24 61 67 12 Cell: +33 (0)6 77 26 53 [email protected]

The Scottish player, Catriona Matthew winner of the 2009 British Open, just 11 weeks after giving birth to her second child

2015

THE MODERN GOLFING EXPLORER: MIKE KEISER

After 50 years teaching golf, Butch Harmon is today considered to be one of the best teachers of the planet. 71 years of age, he is the eldest son of Claude Harmon Sr, winner of the 1948 Masters and last Club profes-sional to win a Major. Thanks to his father who was working at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck (New York), he was lucky enough to play regularly with Ben Hogan and Sam Snead. Butch even won a tournament on the PGA Tour in 1971 but his career on Tour was short-lived between

a divorce and alcoholism. He finally managed to pull through with the help of a long-time friend and started a new career in teaching like his three brothers Craig, Bill and Dick (whom died in 2006) to form the most famous teaching family in golf.Not subject to fashion, Butch has been elected the best teacher in the United States by Golf Digest 12 years in a row. Throughout his career, he worked for famous people, from King Hassan II to actor Bruce Willis but the highlight of his career was his collaboration with Tiger Woods from 1993 to 2004 which resul-ted in 8 Majors and 31 tournaments won on the PGA Tour. After Greg Norman’s win of the 1993 British Open, Earl Woods (Tiger’s father) considered that if Norman was number one in the world, it was mostly due to Butch’s work and he wanted him to become his son’s (then 17 years-old) coach. In 2004, their collaboration ended but contrary to other coaches and to his credit, no resentment was ever expressed despite the various occasions he was presented. Accor-ding to Butch, Tiger remains the greatest player that ever lived, he wished in 2008 he had, like Nick Faldo in former times, stopped competing in order to fully rebuild the swing he was drea-ming of. In addition, he believes that the only thing Tiger needs to do right now is to go back on his own to the driving range and hit thousands of balls like he used to, shaping shots (Golf Magazine, 2014). As for Tiger, he often mentions the fact that Butch taught him how to prac-

The Harmon's brothers

tice and to hit all types of shots but more importantly how to hit the right shot at the right time no matter aesthetics (Golf Digest, 2012).But that is not Butch’s only talent, he is also a top-notch TV commentator on British TV Skys-ports, able not only to analyse the golf swing and its evolution over time but also to give a full insight of the players whom he knows very well.

Tiger Woods and Butch Harmon

Butch Harmon’s method…well there is none! Like all exceptional teachers, he is not using one single method for all his array of players. On the contrary, it is his true ability to adapt to each and everyone of them that makes him so special, like his unique expertise to see which is the key element necessary to solve all the other component of the swing. Step by step, he manages to structure the golf swing while keeping it simple for the player. He often says that “less is more” so that each golfer can easily understand what is to be achieved. According to him, he did not revolutionize teaching, “he only learned from the best: Greg Norman and Severiano Ballesteros and while taking care of the best there was, the only thing to do was to let them play as they wish.” (CBS, 2014).Golf’s decline… Butch does not think so with too many young talented players emerging. He has a definitely optimistic vision of golf but believes that American players are often too spoiled to be willing to do what it takes to be among the best…food for thought!

Golf Digest Ranking of the best instructors in the world


2015

LINKS OR NOT LINKS: THAT IS THE QUESTION!

Widely overused for marketing purposes while hardly ever corresponding to the type of course it really is, the word links needs a definition. This type of land was indeed formed during the Ice Age and was the actual link between the high sea and the topsoil. The subsoil is sandy and draining and the exposure to the wind is extreme. Not conducive to agriculture, very few trees are neither present on site. The natural movements result from the weather, the tides but also the animals who lived there and consequently shaped the land over time. Peculiarities are to be

Old course at St Andrews - Scotland

found such as pot bunkers (tiny and deep bunkers modelled by sheeps who were looking for a shelter), ditches and burns, railroad ties (that consolidated the bunkers) and very often blind shots. At that time, architectural principles were not yet established so the number of holes of a course could vary. The Old course of St Andrews in Scotland, for instance, had 22 holes and the 9th hole did not come back to the clubhouse.

As for the strategy to use on a links course, it is one of a kind. The lie is hardly ever good, the wind is usually gutsy and the irregularities of the terrain all contribute to a science far from being perfect, ultimately revealing its inherent beauty. The natural mounds wonderfully ani-mate the terrain with bounces that are extremely firm and fast. A bump and run shot is always the best solution to popping the ball in the air and risking the wind to blow it away. This type of play enables all golfers to enjoy the course since rolling the ball onto the green is somehow easier than having to carry it big distances in order to avoid obstacles. By the same token, the putter can be used all over the course in order to better control one’s trajectory. The golfer has to truly use his creativity and imagine how the ball will end up with the undulated terrain. Pos-sibilities are infinite so the golfer is forced to trust his feeling at some point; nothing is mathe-matics, everything is to be sensed. With five victories at The Open, Tom Watson probably best describes the links: “one should not try to fight them but rather try to understand them fully to grab their subtleties.” (True Links)

Royal County Down - Northern Irland

Today’s renewed interest worldwide for this type of courses corresponds to a desire to better manage resources and to respect the environment on a larger scale. The 2006 British Open at Hoylake in England when Tiger Woods won, led to a rising awareness of the public; people understood that a rolling ball can be more fun not only to play but also to watch and all of a sudden yellow became the new green!

Royal County Down - Northern Irland

Today out of the 32,000 courses on the planet, less than 1% of them are true links. The Old Course at St Andrews or Royal Country Down in Northern Ireland are indeed true links but Pebble Beach in California cannot be called a links. No wonder why the discovery of this pro-mise land remains forever the dream of a lifetime for all architects.

Pebble Beach - California, USA


2014

THE MODERN GOLFING EXPLORER: MIKE KEISER

Sports are probably one of the latest human adventu-res. Down in history, trend-setter men changed the face of their sports. Charles Blair McDonald, the father of golf architecture and the first winner of the US Ama-teur in 1895 was one of them. His idea was to build a course, “National Golf Links of America”, that

would become the reference for golf course architecture in America being inspired by the best holes to be found in the British Isles (among which the Old course at St Andrews and Pres-twick). In 1999, the successful businessman Mike Keiser (« Recycled Paper Greetings ») com-pleted his dream of building a first exceptional course, designed by the son of the greenkeeper of Gleneagles, David McLay Kidd. Like a gold prospector, he managed to find in the far of end of Oregon, a breathtaking site where it was possible to later on build four courses celebrating the Golden Age of Architecture (1920); challenging for the best and yet enjoyable for the least talented.

From the start, Mike Keiser had a very clear idea of what he intended to achieve and forwarded all his directions to his old friend, Howard McKee. On a simple sheet of paper all the criteria for a dreamlike course were indicated: ocean views, breathtaking beauty, minimum size of the property, preselected geographic location, type of soil, natural movements of the terrain, qua-lity of the ecosystem, environment diversity, possibility to build at least two courses, budget… For $3,000 per month, Howard McKee accepted that bold mission! However this golfing dream is the result of an intense study of golf architecture. Very quickly Mike Keiser unders-

tood that playing golf was just one component of the game and that the various factors that make up for an outstanding golf course could also be fascinating. He then decided to play and study all those legendary courses both in the United States and in the British Isles to better com-prehend their subtleties. The courses from the 1920’s stood out for him as the best way to let nature dictate the course and its strategies with very little human intervention.

Cabot Links-Hole #16

With all his study and travels Keiser got a clear vision of the type of courses he wanted to build and today’s minimalist movement, even though it is quite simplistic, was the closest modern architecture style he wanted to achieve on his property. What mattered to him was sheer talent rather than marketing illusions and that is why he went to look for David McLay Kidd whom was quite unknown at that time in order to build the first course: “Bandon Dunes.” His reasons were simple: “he was Scottish so he had to know the links, he was young so he should be liste-ning to me and finally he should be easy to fire if he was reluctant to follow my instructions!” (Dream Golf). For his second course, he had long heard of young prodigy Tom Doak and was eager to let him express all his talent at “Pacific Dunes” and more recently at “Old MacDo-nald.” As for Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw (widely acclaimed for their most recent renovation of Pinehurst n°2 hosting both US Opens this year), they were chosen to take care of a very diffe-rent piece of property in the forest with no seaside holes and here was “Bandon Trails.”

Golfers had to find something drastically different at Bandon and to rediscover the joy of playing golf; a very different approach from commercial resorts. Likewise the clubhouse had to provide all the golfers’ needs and to blend into the landscape. Buggies were also forbidden to better feel the course and not to damage the architects’ work with car paths all over; an offense to their work!

After Bandon, Mike Keiser invested in 2012 in “Cabot Links” located in Nova Scotia in Canada. Then this year, he has announced the creation in the long-term of four courses in Sand Valley (Wisconsin); the first course, being built by Coore & Crenshaw, should open in 2016. There his idea was a little different with 200 Founding Members, “ambassadors of the pro-ject.” A building pioneer, Keiser keeps on building exceptional courses in the most remote places that will resist the test of time having said that: “companies do not last forever but golf courses do!”

Pacific Dunes-Hole #4


2014

THE PATH TO GOLFING SUCCESS IS EDUCATION

The famous Harvard university in Cambridge, Massachusetts was created back in the XVIIth century, in 1636 more precisely and until recently few people in France were aware of that system that combines academics with the highest amateur golf level. Only a few French youngsters* had indeed crossed the Atlantic to take up that challenge. Today the French Federation has broadened its spectrum and understood the assets to be found in American colleges where the best French players are now sent. There are indeed about 30 of them there; Céline Boutier and Julien Brun being the best, ranked 5th and 10th according to Golfweek Magazine for the 2013/2014 season.

One can find many advantages associated with American colleges among which a later choice in life after graduating at 22, instead of 18 years of age. The French educational system is such that it is quite difficult to pursue studies while competing internationally so then youngsters are inclined to turn professional too early without being totally ready for it. Discovering a new country, learning a foreign language and competing against the best develop a higher concen-tration capacity and definitely quicken the maturation process.

In addition, college players enjoy almost the same schedule as professionals with about 15 tour-naments hosted per year. In the best universities, it is even required to qualify week after week to be part of the team (except if the previous tournament has been won). The practice facilities are also hard to believe in most places. At Stanford in California for instance, the home course was designed by William Bell and George C. Thomas (the architect of Bel Air, Los Angeles CC and Riviera). And the Stanford team can play on a regular basis at the Olympic Club (2012 US Open) or at San Francisco Golf Club; one of Albert Tillinghast’s masterpiece that was recently revamped by Tom Doak. Moreover, the facilities designed by Robert Trent Jones II were built to create all types of playing conditions, with all types of lie and grass. As for coaching, the technical aspect of the swing is usually left out to a panel of teachers to choose from with the

Michelle Wie graduating at StanfordStacy Lewis and Michelle Wie

during the 2014 US Open

No wonder why most of the top 20 players on the PGA Tour have attended at some point college in the States. Among the ladies, the winner of the 2014 US Open, Michelle Wie gradua-ted in Communication from Stanford in 2012 while Stacy Lewis got her degree in Finance from Arkansas in 2008. As for the older players such as Jack Nicklaus (Ohio State), Phil Mickelson (Arizona State) or Tiger Woods (who attended Stanford for two years), they all agree that those were their best years. On the amateur level, the number one player, the American Oliver Schnie-derjans, is a senior this year at Georgia Tech and has declared that he truly intends to graduate in Management before turning professional. In any case, optimizing one’s golfing talent while getting an education can only be beneficial whatever the future lies ahead: mens sana in corpore sano!

*Kristel Mourgue d’Algue won both individually and with Arizona State the National Collegiate Athle-tic Association (NCAA) in 1995.


coach’s main goal being to maximize his players’ potential, developing positive thinking and team spirit. However, the coach also teaches his players to mingle with the sponsors of the team during various fundraisers; again a taste of professional life…

Last but not least, an academic background cannot be underestimated and reduces significantly the pressure with a leeway if the expected golfing success does not come down the road. Gra-duating is definitely a true-life achievement that can only reinforce the player’s self-confidence.

2014

WOMEN’S GOLF AND ITS IMPACT ON GOLF ARCHI-TECTURE

Historically, women’s game was little regarded with no women being accepted as members in most Anglo Saxons clubs. Of course, this proved to be twice harder for them to perform at the highest level but despite it all, they still succeeded and managed to get also involved in golf rela-ted professional careers.

While men’s game kept on improving over time so did women’s game with new teaching techniques, better physical and mental preparation along with a better understanding of nutrition. Great ladies champions emerged, able to compete as amateurs or professionals, while enjoying a family life. Women were then definitely starting to play an important role on the golf scene.

The two most influential ladies on golf architecture were probably Marion Hollins and Alice Dye. The first one, winner of the 1921 US Amateur and Captain of the first Curtis Cup in 1932 (biennale amateur match between America and the British Isles), was an amazing champion but also an outstanding businesswoman. She was responsible for Pasatiempo Golf Club in Califor-nia, one of Alister MacKenzie’s masterpieces along with the most beautiful par 3 in the world, the 16th at Cypress Point in California. As a matter of fact, MacKenzie wished for it to be a classical risk/reward par 4 but while driving the green over the water, Marion Hollins said to him: “If I can do it, it ought to be a par 3.”As for Alice Dye, she is called “the First Lady of architecture” and rightly so. To this day, she has designed in collaboration with her husband, Pete, 17 courses and was decisive in the buil-ding of the “dye-abolical” par 3 16th at TPC Sawgrass in Florida which is supposed to wel-

Marion Hollins

come 200,000 balls per year in its surrounding pond! According to Tom Doak, the actual refe-rence in golf architecture whom first started working for Pete Dye, “no decisions are taken without Alice’s full acceptance; her intention being to build courses playable and fun for women.” In former times when it happened that women tee boxes were available, there was only one set of tees and the par was adjusted accordingly. The British Ladies Amateur was then frequently played with a par 76!

Today according to Angela Möser, one of Tom Doak’s European Associates, different distances are proposed to women to correspond to various levels of play, enabling them to carry the main obstacles should they hit a good shot. Likewise they are not able to generate as much club speed as men and therefore cannot spin the ball with the same intensity, definitely restricting them in the shots they can deliver. Here again a clever tee box positioning is primordial.

Today according to Angela Möser, one of Tom Doak’s European Associates, different distances are proposed to women to correspond to various levels of play, enabling them to carry the main obstacles should they hit a good shot. Likewise they are not able to generate as much club speed as men and therefore cannot spin the ball with the same intensity, definitely restricting them in the shots they can deliver. Here again a clever tee box positioning is primordial.

Paula Creamer during the 2013 British Open at St Andrews

As for Mike Davies, the Director of the USGA, he was remarkable in his managing this year’s consecutive US Opens at Pinehurst in North Carolina. For the first time in history, it was possi-ble to actually compare both games in about the same playing conditions; for instance, green speed was identical both weeks at 3,80 meters on the stimpmeter while the greens were just 10% softer the second week. The USGA even went to propose $550 to the caddies to find out precisely which clubs the ladies were hitting into the greens on every hole. Marshalls were also posted near the greens to calculate the number of balls which landed on the greens and the ones that landed short. A true mathematical analysis was undertaken in the utmost respect for women’s golf!

D’ALGUE SELECTION16, chemin du golf78860 Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche FranceBureau: +33 (0)5 24 61 67 12 Portable: +33 (0)6 77 26 53 [email protected]

By the same token ever since 2012, the famous club of Augusta National in Georgia has been accepting charismatic women as members, such as the former American Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. And the Royal and Ancient of St Andrews, one of the two governing bodies of golf with the USGA, with the help of his Secretary, Peter Dawson, is seriously discussing the possibility to welcome ladies in its very exclusive club. If one believes that golf growth is in jeopardy at present times, may be women are the future of men after all!

Condoleezza Rice during the 2013 Masters at Augusta National, Georgia

2014

THE PUTTING GREEN, AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF A CLUB

On May 21st was the official opening of one of the biggest putting greens in the world (150,000 square-feet), the “Punchbowl”. Designed by Tom Doak and Jim Urbina, it is located in the prestigious resort of Bandon Dunes, Oregon. Historically the “Himalayas” built in 1867 and situated next to the Old course of St Andrews was one of the oldest and probably the most famous one. In the summer 2012 another prestigious resort, Pinehurst in North Carolina which will host one after the other the Men’s and Women’s US Open this coming weeks, unveiled the “Thistle Du” (or “This will do”); an 18-hole putting green. There is today a real trend for resorts worldwide to build vast putting greens for the greater pleasure of their clients while in the past, they were too often misregarded by architects.

Youngsters and beginners usually get first acquainted with golf through the short game and most notably putting where they can enjoy themselves right away. But the putting green is also an essential practice component of the game since half the shots take place on the putting sur-face. In other words, if there is one shot to practice in golf it is truly putting!

The putting green is also the “place to be”, to exchange on the latest form, the latest golfing

Poppy Estate putting courseBritish Columbia, Canada

Punchbowl putting green in Bandon Dunes - Oregon, USA


escapades or merely for a friendly slaughter! Usually located in front of the terrace of the club-house or by the first tee, the putting green reflects the Club atmosphere and plays definitely a unifying role.

Ideally the putting green has to resemble as much as possible the greens the golfer will discover on the course and therefore include the same type of undulations and speed. What matters is to have slopes that are not too steep so that one can have fun putting. It is also important to make it big enough to allow for traffic and in the worst case scenario, it is then easier to reduce its sur-face than to increase it. In order to keep it in good conditions, maintenance has to be identical to the actual greens.

Anyhow nothing compares seeing the ball disappear at the bottom of the cup and for any addi-tional fun what about reintroducting the good old “stymie”* to putting contests!

*the stymie was an old match play rule which evolved and which definitely disappeared in 1952. At some point, it enabled a golfer to leave one’s ball on the putting surface if the other golfer whom was putting wanted to, without incurring a penalty.

Poppy Estate putting course - British Columbia, Canada

Over and over again, we keep on reading in the Press that Tiger will never reach Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 Majors (to this day, Tiger has won 14). Have we forgotten that we are dealing with the most outstanding player whom has ever lived? The extent of his talent is such that when he wins 5 tournaments in one year, we are told that he has not had a great year. Of course, he did not win any Major in 2013 but what a brilliant year it has been with the victory, among others, of the “5th Major” in Sawgrass. Jack Nicklaus himself declared recently on CNN that “Tiger will win four or five additional Majors.”

Tiger Woods will break that record for a few reasons. First of all, his unparalleled genius combined with his abi-lity to transcend himself when pressure is paramount.

2014

TIGER CAN !

Tournament after tournament, week after week, Tiger won, won and won again… One of his most amazing victories probably came in 2008 at Torrey Pines when he was playing on one leg.

More recently and despite personal problems, he demonstrated once again an unwavering desire to win even though he has already been on Tour for 18 years. With 105 victories under his belt all over the world, Tiger keeps on practicing more than anyone else at 38.

On the other hand and should we calculate a little differently, Tiger beat Jack’s record with 8 Major victories and 3 US Amateurs, for a total of 11 Majors at 26 years old, while Nicklaus only won 9 at the same age. Tiger is also the only player in the history to have won all four Majors at the same time (“The Tiger Slam”); Bobby Jones winning the Grand Slam when it was composed of the British Open, the US Open, the British Amateur and the US Amateur, before the creation of the Masters. In 1997, Tiger Woods became the youngest winner of the Masters at age 21. In 2000, he won 11 tournaments all over the world. In other words, Tiger has always

Tiger Woods' US Amateur victory

smashed all types of records (except the number of Majors won and the number of victories on the PGA Tour with 79 while Sam Snead had 82).

Golf is also that wonderful game which enables a long career should one keeps fit. Proofs of that possible longevity are the Golden Bear’s 3 Major victories while being over 40, and most notably his 1986 Masters victory at age 47.

John Hopkins from the Times recently wrote that tournaments are just not the same when Tiger is not playing. Of course, Bubba, Rory, Jordan Spieth and consorts are the next amazing gene-ration but nothing is the same when he is not there to get out his claws. “Tiger can!” that is what can be read on a fairway sprinkler located about 300 yards away from the green of the “East course” at Verdura (Sicily). Today Tiger’s challenge is probably the management of his physical conditioning but out of an extraordinary character, only the extraordinary can be expected. After nearly 20 years, much excitement is still to come thanks to Tiger, the Prodigy!

Jack Nicklaus au Masters en 1986


The Masters at Augusta always competes with the sound of bird song to be the harbinger of spring. The clocks have gone forward, buds are bursting into flower and warmer days lie ahead. For the golfer the sight of Augusta dressed for the first Major of the year is wonderfully familiar. Yet for the first big golf tournament that was ever played continuously over the same piece of ground, Augusta National has never stopped changing almost from the day it was first played. To start with, scarcely a year or so after creation, they swapped the two nines; the 10th used to be the first and visa-versa. Bob Jones (as his friends and club members always refer to him) quickly realised that on the odd frosty morning the greens on what is now the front nine got the sun a good half an hour earlier than those such as 10, 11 and 12, so golf could start sooner playing that way round. Right from the start nothing was carved in stone; thereafter change has been a regular occurrence.

Don’t believe me? Then go to a wonderful web-site that came out a couple of years ago – www.golfdigest.com/golf-courses/georgia/augusta-changes - and see for yourself; these have not just been a tweak here and there but sometimes dramatic overhauls. For example the tiny 7th green started life without any greenside bunkers, now you can hardly walk onto the green for sand.

2014

SPRING AND AUGUSTA FOREVER INTERTWINED

Bruce CritchleyD’ALGUE SELECTION16, chemin du golf78860 Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche FranceOffice: +33 (0)5 24 61 67 12 Cell: +33 (0)6 77 26 53 [email protected]

Hole#10 - 2011Hole#10 - 1934

Many of you will know that strange bunker in the middle of the 10th fairway – out of reach from the tee and not remotely in play for the 2nd. In 1932 the green lay just to its right and, with the 100ft drop down from the tee, it was sometimes driven, even with the antiquated equipment back then. That too was moved within a year or two of construction.

Augusta of course has always had a big date in April with the world’s best players and has had to stay competitive; it has also had the money to do so, latterly from the enormous proceeds the Tournament generates. Other truly iconic courses in the country behave like the likes of the Old Course and Muirfield; very little has changed at Shinnecock, The National and Pebble Beach, though Pebble had a brand new 5th hole along the cliff top when the club was finally able to buy a cottage there that had offended them for years!

Then there’s the 16th, that wonderful looking short hole all across water. Back in the 1930s it started life as a one-shotter across a diagonal stream with the water on the right of the green. Hole#16 - 1934 Hole#16 - 2011

2014

THE GREAT GATSBY: GEORGE C. THOMAS

tecture.” At that time, architects enjoyed sharing views and GCT was even asked by Bob Crump and Hugh Wilson to participate to the creation of legendary Pine Valley in New Jersey.

His talent did not reflect just one theory but rather was the result of a very inventive mind that can be witnessed at Riviera Golf Club on holes such as number 6, a par three with a bunker located in the middle of the green, or number 10, a short par 4 which exemplifies perfectly the risk-reward strategy and drives crazy even the best whom are tempted to drive the green but very often end up with a bogey or even a double bogey. And what about number 4, the first Redan* hole West of Mississippi.

Whenever in Los Angeles, California, if you played three courses that all started with a par 5 there is a good chance George C. Thomas designed all of them…One of the most flamboyant American architects, George C. Thomas (GCT), was born in October 1873 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He came from an aristocratic family and from an early age developed many passions among which, botanic, fishing and… golf architecture. Three exceptional courses located in California emerged from the latest one: Riviera (which hosts the Northern Trust Open in February), Los Angeles Country Club (which will host the Walker Cup in 2017) and Bel Air. Three masterpieces built for free by a cha-rismatic designer, whom survived three plane accidents during the First World War. Self-educated, GCT also wrote a book in 1927 entitled “Golf architecture in America: its stra-tegy and construction” which is considered by Tom Doak “as one of the finest and most concise book ever written on archi-


Here was an amazing architect that did not follow just one theory on architecture but rather let his sheer talent express itself wherever it led him to build courses that were varied, strategic and very fun to play. As Alister MacKenzie would put it: “the more one plays a great course, the more one discovers its subtleties”. These few words perfectly summarize GCT’s courses. To this day, very few modern architects have reached that level of creativity, a pity for the golfers!

* originally a redan hole is a par 3 with a bunker on the left side, that slopes front to back and right to left, located diagonally from the tee box

Hole#6 at Riviera

2014

PEBBLE BEACH: STILL ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT?

Every year, we are stunned with the same outstanding pictures of the AT & T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, the first week of February. Out of the three courses, Pebble Beach built in 1919 by Jack Neville and Douglas Grant, stands out and is probably one of the most picturesque and fun courses in the world, especially when conditions are toughening. Of course the greatest amateur and pro-fessional events have all come here (even though the US Open came for the first time only in 1972).And yet… more and more people are now saying that the course should undergo some renova-tion, especially hole number 7 where Chandler Egan back in 1929 intended to integrate dunes. Hence dunes where built behind the green to give the green more contour; the result was extreme and difficult to maintain but quite superb!

As for the 17th hole, down the years with the erosion and the sand splashing out of the bun-kers, the green shrank to the extent that now even the pros are complaining about not being able to stop the ball on such a small surface. Back in the 20’s, the green was bigger and much more open from the right side leading to a variety of potential strategies.

As for pace of play, something really needs to be done since it is not rare to spend 6 hours on the course. Pebble Beach Golf Links along with the USGA is looking at better training staff on that matter but that is not where the problem lies. Indeed on such a course, a minimum handi-cap should be required otherwise it is just not feasible to complete the round in less than 5


hours. In addition, bringing back qualified caddies and forgetting golf carts would speed up pace of play and enable golfers to better enjoy the outstanding landscape.

Last but not least, if for whatever reason should it be fog, rain… a game has to be stopped even after one hole, no reimbursement is to be awaited; disappointment is then paramount…

In the end, in order to age properly, should not evolution be a permanent goal? Pinehurst, is a great example of a successful restoration with its course number 2, the masterpiece of Donald Ross. Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw achieved a remarkable renovation while keeping the origi-nal spirit well alive and next June course number 2 will host back to back Men and Ladies’ US Open… another great challenge ahead!

Hole #7 in 1929 Hole #7 today

2014

RHYTHM IS EVERYTHING!

The golf bodies are trying to fight slow play while leading national campaigns such as the USGA’s “While we’re young: Golf’s pursuit of a new paradigm for pace of play.” The same goes for most Federations and of course simple things could be done to improve pace of play right away. Teeing off from tee boxes that do correspond to one’s handicap instead of systematically teeing off from the tips could be one; “Play it forward” in the United States is a good example. “Ready golf” is another worthy initiative or even the traditional foursome format which remains the favoured game at Swinley Forest or Muirfield in the British Isles. Informing golfers on the exact time they have actually spent on the course could raise awareness of the matter as well. By simply posting this type of information, Troon Golf has managed to improve by an average of 15 minutes the pace of play of a fourball. Increasing the gap between groups to 10 minutes should also be mandatory even at public courses. As for the rules, reducing from 5 to 3 minutes the time allocated to look for a ball would significantly improve the pace of play.

In any case, nothing will be truly efficient in the long run if professionals do not show the way and the younger generations get educated. Whatever happens professionals will always be the role model and stroke penalty instead of fines is the only solution. It cannot be satisfactory to learn that at the 2013 US Open in Merion, groups took 5h05 to complete a round while it took them 5h16 to do so the year before at Olympic!As for the youngsters, they are the ones that can be taught from an early age the beauty and advantages of keeping up a good rhythm. The famous Sports Psychologist, Bob Rotella keeps on repeating “Look and react” as they are the keys for good playing: maintaining a high energy

It is now unquestionable…slow play is the main reason for the number of golfers in the world to decline. Speeding the pace of play has become vital and in theory professionals like amateurs are ready to do so. According to an American survey, 91% of golfers would rather play on a course where there is a marshall keeping track of time than where there is none.


level while developing feel. Former Masters Champion and one of the best putter on the PGA Tour, Zach Johnson, has declared two weeks ago that fast putting is a key element to success in order to keep feel paramount.

Should a fourball play again in 4 hours, there would definitely be more people walking down the fairways, having more fun and playing better. A recent Golfweek survey indicated that while playing quicker, not only is the score getting better but the mood is also going up… What are we waiting for!

2014

A DELIGHT FOR ITS MEMBERS

Located in the northern part of the New Territories, and about 40 mn from Kowloon, Hong Kong Golf Club (also called Fanling) which was founded in 1889, is the second oldest golf club in Asia after Calcutta in India. The Club enjoys three diverse and most enjoyable layouts (Old, New and Eden) situated in a hilly park and remains one of the most exclusive clubs in the world, even though it welcomes over 30,000 visitors per year. Everything there breathes golf, its tradition and its values. It is one of the most remarkable examples of a Club which managed to stand the test of time while passing on the golfing traditions to generations of members.

Understatement is the key word and respect is everywhere to be found from the introduction to the Club with a member (except for the Old course) to the halfway house to report to so that players follow the allocated time to complete the round. The icing on the cake is probably the quality of the upkeep with the speed of the greens close to the ones found in Oakmont, Pennsyl-vania, especially after the Hong Kong Open in December.

Away from boiling Hong Kong, Fanling is definitely an invitation to step back, look around and enjoy the opportunity to play in a peaceful park. Do not be fooled however by the surroun-ding beauty since the Club has welcomed the HK Open ever since 1959 to the sheer pleasure of the pros, among which Miguel Angel Jimenez whom won there 4 times (two in a row) to become the oldest winner on the European Tour. Hong Kong Golf Club has managed to open its gate while remaining true to its values and never changing the original layouts of its courses to better suit the pros whom come there only once a year. The enjoyment of its members has remained paramount and rightly so!


2014

A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY

Not so long ago amateur caddies could be found everywhere on the golfing planet. Today only resorts and very exclusive clubs have managed to maintain such a wonderful activity.

According to its definition, the caddie’s mission is limited to carrying the bag for 18 holes and providing advice when requested. In reality, such is not the case. The caddie is a true companion to the golfer, delivering his expertise and supporting its client during the whole round. For the Club, caddies provide an additional service to its members or visitors and they are also a way to convey the Club’s history and to keep it very much alive. Wonderful stories have been told throughout the years, among which the one with the legendary caddie from Portmarnock Golf Club, near Dublin, Peter Maguire... One day his usual client, a former captain of the Club decided “to dispense with Maguire’s services and take a battery-operated trolley cart. So they go out and there’s Peter caddying for another fella in the same four-ball. Well, the man with the trolley sprayed his ball on the 4th. “Where did my ball go, Maguire?” he shouted. “Did you see where it went?” Maguire scowled at him. “Ask you feckin’ trolley,” he said and walked off” (extract from Legendary Golf Links of Ireland).

From the architect standpoint, caddies’ come back would mean no more golf carts and car paths that damage so much the aesthetic of its work. Mike Keiser, the owner of Bandon Dunes in Oregon, recently declared in one of the latest issue of Golfweek that buggies have literally killed the job of caddying!

As for the caddie itself, he is able to make a decent living in a pleasant and fun environment. Jack Nicklaus himself never misses an opportunity to defend such an activity since for him youngsters are able to meet successful people whom are respectful of the values and the tradi-tions of this game. Young people get acquainted with golf in the most natural fashion and then become eager to learn it thereafter. Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson are famous examples of former caddies (Glen Garden Golf Club in Texas) whom became legendary players.In 1930, the Western Golf Association was the first entity to create a scholarship, the “Evans Scholarship” so that caddies could go to university. Of course, they had to caddie for two years,

to demonstrate a strong personality, and need financial support. This is an example of what should be done to create new golfers, respectful of the values and traditions of this wonderful game.



2013

PLAY IT AS IT LIES

Today in France players are using the preferred lie rule almost all year long. It was certainly not the case fifteen years ago when damp weather and a clay subsoil were the requi-red conditions to apply such a rule. Golfers got easily used to it but it is the evolution of the green-keeping methods along with the quest for the ever more green aspect (or “Masters syndrome”) and at the end the comfort found in a much easier lie that led to that situation. Little by little fertilisers have replaced a scattered grass in order to produce a lush green turf.

And yet…nothing is more fun than to discover one’s lie on the fairway, it is that surprise and excite-ment element that outmatches so much “target golf” where everything is so predictable. Links cour-ses are probably the most interesting and fun courses to play due to the natural undulation of the terrain that leave a large space to strategy, creativity and chance. There is a true drama linked to the unknown lie which reveals the golfer’s personality and fighting spirit. The goal of great architects has always been to build competitive holes and not fair holes… Golf then fulfils its mission of shaping one’s character and making one better through adversity. No wonder why so many golf observers believe that those are the main reasons for the Europeans to dominate the Ryder Cup nowadays.

In addition playing the ball where it lies would substantially speed up pace of play at a time when slow play has become a major concern. A more natural fairway would also lead to saving more money and a greener maintenance. Finally the great “Alister MacKenzie” wrote in his book “The Spirit of St Andrews”, that the fairways should not treated like fields required for feeding cattle; its inherent heterogeneity should be an additional component of its beauty. Let’s think about it!

2013

THE ART OF THE ROUTING PLANVisualising the routing plan (or course itinerary) is probably the most delicate phase in the construction of a golf course. The architect must imagine how the holes are going to unfold while at the same time giving rhythm and consistency to the layout. Like a painter the architect has to find the necessary inspiration in order to figure out how the holes will follow one another in the most natural fashion. It is not enough to benefit from an exceptional site, knowing how to use it while keeping the golfer of all levels interested during 18 holes is fundamental. The site must be tackled as a whole and the high points identified as potential tees and greens locations. Tom Doak wrote in his essay “Design by eye” that the architect must be able to utilise and reproduce the undulations found on the site in order to create a homogeneous result; sometimes even great holes will have to be sacrificed to reach that goal. Hence spending enough time on site is required in order to grasp all the subtleties and to contemplate all the potential options offered. As an example, Tom Weis-kopf lived about a year in Loch Lomond to be able to build that course in Scotland. And finally very few architects are skilful enough like the golfing father in the United States, Charles Blair MacDonald who wrote in his book “Scotland Gift-How America discovered golf”, how he could from the start visualise all the classical holes (Alps, Eden, Sahara) at the National Golf Links of America he was buil-ding. His vision was unique and so was his talent!

2013

THRACIAN CLIFFS - BULGARIAA rare new arrival

Goodness knows how many new courses have been created in the last 40 years, but safe to say the number worldwide may have doubled during that time. Inevitably there is considerable uniformity in much of the construction, particularly in view of the desire of many developers for yet another huge ‘Championship’ course to occupy the shop window of their schemes.

Wonderful then to come across a new course, in a new golfing country, that is none of the above. On a recent trip to Bulgaria for the Volvo World match Play Championship, the venue – Thracian Cliffs – was an absolute delight. Pitched on a grassy ledge halfway down the aforementioned cliffs – some 100 meters from the top and anything from 50 meters above the waves to tees and greens right at the water’s edge – this 18 hole course is astonishing.

Gary Player in his 6 decades of travelling the globe will have seen almost everything and only that expe-rience will have enabled him to see that a course could indeed be built here. At first sight the strip of land on offer might have allowed for 9 holes running in just one direction, with only a boat or bus needed to take you back again. Yet Gary saw differently; he found a way out and, almost treading on those outward holes, he found a way back. The result? A good course with both nines along the seashore.In an era when limitless money and modern equipment can bend any piece of land to the designer’s whim, the ground at Thracian Cliffs dictated where and what shape the holes should be. Hence there are consecutive par 5s followed by consecutive par 3s, but no one complains; they are too busy gasping at the awesome views and tackling glorious seaside holes one after another. And it is one of the par 3s, the 8th, that will linger for ever in the minds of those lucky to play here; 175m, but with a drop of 30m to a green tucked down at the water’s edge. Signature hole? Never! There are just too many superb links holes, both out and in for any one to dominate.

Also astonishing then that such a course should be found in a country with little or no connection with golf. A few courses have existed for some time around the capital, Sophia, but they are 300kms away. No, this is the brainchild of wealthy Bulgarian, Krassimir Guergov – big in telecommunications and media – keen to broaden Bulgaria’s appeal to the outside world and attract tourism; and of all the cour-ses created with just that in mind these past 40 years, Thracian Cliffs is by some way the most spectacu-lar.


2013

There was a chance at the recent Masters Tournament at Augusta National to talk with Tom Fazio, now, one could almost say, a veteran of the golf architecture business. He was there because, for the past 28 years, he has been design consultant to a club that has played host to the world’s top players for more than 80 years. The challenge has been to preserve the course that Bobby Jones left behind as his enduring legacy while at the same time helping it retain an edge when the best compete over the hallowed ground each spring.

Mr Fazio is the expert who helps the club walk this awkward tightrope, though only the Chair-man of Augusta may talk about what has been attempted and what the aims of the club are. That the winning score is still well within sight of ‘old man’ par and the course is still unques-tionably Augusta National, it would seem both are doing their job competently. The club certainly thinks so, as 28 years continuous service demonstrates.

So little discussion about Augusta – little was changed for this year’s Masters – but the opportu-nity to find out about the next Major of 2013, the US Open at Merion in June. If 28 years is a sterling endorsement of quality work over a long period, then 40 years doing much the same for the Merion Golf Club is further evidence; not to mention 30 years with Pine Valley, just the other side of Philadelphia. Three of America’s leading historic golf clubs cannot all be wrong; Tom Fazio is simply the best.

That Merion is back on the US Open rota surprises many. When David Graham won back in 1981 most thought that would be the end of Championship golf there; the place was simply too small. Just 125 acres – and that had to include clubhouse and car park – meant there was no room to stretch this hallowed course to keep pace with time and progress. This family friendly club would not have been that concerned; they had done their bit as 17 US Championships – Opens, Amateurs and the Ladies – testified. Yet the club did not want their course to become a museum piece and they had Tom Fazio on hand to show the way.

TOM FAZIO ON PREPARING MERION FOR THE US OPEN 32 YEARS AFTER IT WAS LAST PLAYED HERE

In the late nineties they asked him to ‘evaluate the East Course to make sure it was not being lost to modern equipment, so it could keep up with the way the game was going.’ A piece of adjacent land was acquired and what had been at its longest 6500 yards, became nearly 6900 off the very back.

‘If a player from back then came and looked at Merion today’ says Fazio, ‘I doubt he would see any changes, the holes are the same. All lengthening has been done from the tee backwards and a few bunkers moved to keep them in play. The aim has been, where possible, to keep the target area the same as it was in 1981 and 1950, the drive getting to the same spot; sure the second shot will be played with shorter clubs, but the challenge will be the same.’ That was good enough for the USGA; the US Amateur came in 2005 and the Open follows this year. Once again it will be fascinating to see if a course now more than 100 years old can be so nurtured as to provide a proper test for the world’s best while never losing its initial style and intrigue – and pleasure to play for the members both before and after this year’s Open. If so, Tom Fazio will once again have worked his magic.


2013

1) WHAT ARE YOUR GENERAL VIEWS OF WHAT MAKES A GOOD GOLF COURSE? To have a good golf course, the two essentials are to have a course that drains well so that it is easy to maintain in proper condition, and to have a good routing that allows one to enjoy the flow of the round, instead of a series of 18 holes with breaks in between. (The latter is why slow play is so annoying.)To go from good to great, the course needs to have a wide variety of holes so that each player will find something appealing to his tastes. If there is one "signature hole" that everyone agrees upon, the course must be deficient.

2) DO YOU AGREE WITH THE IDEA THAT IF A COURSE IS GOOD WITH THE MAIN EMPHASIS BEING ON STRATEGY (AND NOT LENGTH), IT SHOULD "STAND THE TEST OF TIME" AND ONLY UNDERTAKE MINOR ADJUSTMENTS?

I do feel that if the skeleton of the course is correct, only minor adjustments should be required over time. I believe that the golf business in general is much too distracted by tournament play and the perceived "need" to modify courses to accommodate the best players in the world. Those elite golfers are not the customer for 99% of courses, and even for the courses that do host them, they are not the most important customer.

3) WHEN YOU VISIT A NEW SITE, DO YOU HAVE A VISION RIGHT AWAY OF WHAT SHOULD BE DONE, OR DOES YOUR VISION GROW AS YOU WORK?

I never have a vision right away, except perhaps for a particular hole or two. Design is a process, and the course gets better the more time we spend on the ground getting to know it. Some of the best holes I've built were conceived almost at the last minute!

4) DO YOU HAVE GUIDELINES FOR THINGS TO STRICTLY AVOID ON A GOLF COURSE OR DO YOU JUST SENSE WHAT IS PROPER AND WHAT IS NOT?

We are always trying to build a course that is special, and the most important thing is

VIEWS ON ARCHITECTUREInterview of Tom DOAK, Renaissance Golf Design

for it to have a character of its own. There are many things we try to avoid -- too many blind shots, long transitions between green and tee that interrupt the flow, too many opportunities where you might lose your ball, etc. But, I think you would find that even my best courses occasionally include one of these elements if it helps to make the pieces of the course fit together. For instance, from the 11th to the 12th at Pacific Dunes is a fairly long walk ... but that walk allows the fourth hole to exist, and since you can enjoy the view of the ocean while you're walking, it's really not so bad!

5) IS TODAY'S ARCHITECTURAL WORLD DIVIDED IN TWO: THE MINIMALIST SCHOOL WHICH OPTIMISES AND PROTECTS THE SITE AT HAND WHILE FOCU-SING ON STRATEGY AND ON THE SKILLS OF THE PLAYER, AND THE EVER IMPRESSIVE/BIG BUDGET SCHOOL WHERE LENGTH SHOULD BE PARAMOUNT AND EARTH MOVING AS SPECTACULAR AS POSSIBLE? OR DO YOU SEE ANOTHER EVOLUTION OF THE ARCHITECTURE?

I think this division is prominent in golf course design in America, but not so much in the rest of the world. In Europe few developers think about massive earthmoving (and if they do, they hire an American designer from that school of thought). Meanwhile in Asia, nearly every project is completely graded from one end of the site to the other, and they do not consider an alternative approach because they aren't looking for the right sorts of sites to build golf courses on in the first place. So, there is clearly a dichotomy around the world, but it's only in America where you see the two camps fighting head to head.

If there is a revolution in design to come, I predict it will be a reactionary one -- that the cost of the game and its declining popularity will cause a few designers to throw out convention, and build shorter courses that are geared toward fun rather than testing low-handicap players. I am amazed that we haven't gone further in that direction yet, but I have underestimated the degree to which developers feel bound not to stray too far from conventional wisdom -- and it doesn't help that all the rankings of great courses are biased toward difficulty and toward courses which have hosted big tournaments. But, in that vein, I'm not surprised that two of my best courses (and most fun) are the two that were built for developers who were not really golfers -- at Barnbougle Dunes and Ballyneal.


THE LAST GREAT GOLF BOOM

Of the three great eras of golf course construction – the formation of the Links and the Golden Age in the early part of the 20th century being the first two – the latter years of that same cen-tury and on into the 21st will unquestionably have produced the greatest number. As for com-parable quality, well, the jury is still out.

The impetus for more golf came on several fronts. Arnold Palmer and coloured television pro-bably started the whole thing going in America as the Western World slowly recovered from two world wars and the Great Depression. That recovery eventually led to more people having the time and money to pursue leisure interests, golf very much being one of them. The econo-mies of scale soon made golf more affordable to a wider audience, its appeal understandable; golf was glamorous and those who played it, effortlessly elegant.

Elsewhere, Japan winning the Canada Cup in 1957 sparked a frenzy of interest just as that country was hitting its commercial stride after wartime devastation; no nation has ever got rich faster with the world baying for its products. Once again the exclusivity and class of golf put it at the top of every wish list. Europe had more to do to recover from WWll and took longer, but there too, by the 1980s there were not enough courses to go round.

The only survivor from course construction pre war was Robert Trent Jones. He quickly learnt that corporations – particularly real estate ones – could be the new developers of an industry that had hitherto existed for one or more wealthy private individuals. He then mastered the art of giving them what they wanted in the shortest possible time. When RTJ handed over a course and its surrounds, it was the finished article and ready to play. He and the property guys inven-ted the business of golf being the shop window for real estate development.

With modern equipment RTJ, and latterly his sons RTJ II and Rees, built a design corporation that spanned the globe; its base was America but its reach was universal and for a time they were the only players in the field. They mastered the art of putting courses almost anywhere. In the old days the 18 holes would command the best land, the most beautiful vistas; that now was where the houses would go, the Jones having to make best use of what was left. The course itself had to be eye catching and attractive. In time Jones and his boys became the Capability Browns of the golf design business, landscape gardeners as well as creators of interesting holes.

Old RTJ showed how to manufacture courses where in the past they had been sculpted out of the ground in which they found themselves. The land he got had to be improved upon, move-

ment had to be built in, character established, beauty imported. He developed a formula – long straight narrow tees, large bunkers raised either side of the fairway (though many without much in the way of ‘lips’ so almost any club could be used), and large, undulating greens offe-ring many places to put pins and so as to accommodate the many thousands of rounds that the business plan indicated would be needed.

He claimed to be the one who invented ponds and lakes within his courses as the ultimate punishment for errant play. He’d been around when Gene Sarazen had invented the sand wedge with its wide sole, eliminating much of the terror from bunkers; water close to fairways and greens brought that back. His long straight tees gave many different distances at which a course could be played, so providing the option to test the pros while still having a course playable by all.So, post war, golf became a business tool, often the shop window of some residential or com-mercial development. The courses weren’t necessarily great, few holes particularly memorable, but they looked good and were ready to play even before the buildings were up. They became the centrepiece of resort and holiday extravaganzas emerging to attract ever increasing numbers as leisure time and wealth increased.

It became a huge market and one increasingly looking for unique features; enter the big name golfer turn designer, enter Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and to a lesser extent, Gary Player. Of these Nicklaus became the pre-eminent player/architect, to this day putting his name and design style on courses round the world. Palmer and his partner Ed Seay left courses in many parts of the world, but his many other business interests meant he never quite matched the output of Nicklaus. Player, being South African, didn’t have first pick of the American market and had to ply his trade overseas, which was slower to come to the party.

Nicklaus, and subsequently his sons, became a vast enterprise, his reputation as the best golfer of all time being the ultimate calling card/imprimatur when a new course was seeking kudos and glamour. Initially it was just Nicklaus and he was the top of the range; latterly as he became that busy – and still playing some competitive golf – so his sons came in and became designers in their own right, servicing clients under the Jack Nicklaus Signature banner.

A Nicklaus course was much like the man and his golf, no shot could be hit without maximum attention to detail, anything less probably leading to problems. Also in his early days he seemed to design courses that would play to his particular skills – smallish targets (often specific parts of larger greens) that could best be reached with towering long irons or woods. As time went by so his design philosophy seemed to broaden. Almost universally he has left behind long, strong, tough courses; not for him a gentle 18 holes that some later giant might visit and threa-ten to break 60! That said there are always plenty of different tees so golfers of all sorts can get round, trouble tending to be either side rather than just off the tee.

Where Nicklaus trod Greg Norman – and to a lesser extent Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros and Bernhard Langer – followed. In terms of scale and reach though, only Norman (and later still

Ben Crenshaw) approached Nicklaus and, because Norman came from Australia, was prima-rily active in the southern hemisphere. His timing fitted perfectly with the late 20th century golf boom in Asia and the bulk of courses built at home during this time came from his drawing board. Having grown up playing that great collection of Australian courses from the Golden Age – the Melbourne sand belt being the pinnacle – you can see the broad sweeps of sand that typified a Mackenzie bunker, you will come across the attractive but dangerous short par 4, and he was often able to capture the visual beauty of a well-designed hole.

So two distinct groups of golf course designer grew up alongside one another; the true, fully trained golf course architect and the Major Champions who turned their hand to design as their playing days wound down. There was a rivalry between the two, the younger Robert Trent Jones on one occasion stating – rather sniffily - you were either a serious architect or a big name golfer selling real estate. While the big name players initially got their foot in the door of course design because of whom they were, there can be no doubt that several, particularly Nicklaus, Norman and of course Crenshaw, became fully qualified in the art.

On the non-golfing side a few individuals moved up alongside the Trent Jones. Some came from that stable, most notably Kyle Phillips of Kingsbarns and The Dundonald fame and Cabell Robinson in Southern Europe, both making names for themselves as architects in their own right. In America, though, the best were Pete Dye and Tom Fazio.

Dye will not leave behind a massive oeuvre, but what he may lack in quantity he will surely make up in quality and individuality. A relative late starter, he would accept a project and then go and live on it till – usually – a remarkable course emerged. Often accompanied by his wife, Alice – a much better golfer and with the top player’s eye for a hole – he went to the most unli-kely places and often produced wholly memorable courses.

Crooked Stick (1964) in Indiana was probably his first layout of real distinction and led impor-tant clients to his door; it would also be his first course to host a major championship, the US PGA Championship of 1991. More than anyone he could meet the bill when asked to devise a truly difficult course, none more famous than Sawgrass in Florida, where he ‘conjured’ a golf course out an alligator infested swamp for the then US Tour Commissioner Deane Beman. It is now the home of the prestigious Players Championship, for many Americans the 5th Major.

PGA West in Arizona (1986) and The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island (1991) enhanced a repu-tation that led some to name him Pete Dye-abolical and that period of the 1980s and 90s were a time of amazing landscape adventure. Whistling Straits for Herb Kohler up in chilly Wiscon-sin possibly came at the end of that era, and there he was asked to create a links course on a pair of old USAF runways on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. Folk-law has it that he brou-ght in 300 old railway carriages, laid them on the tarmac, covered them with sand and sculpted a stunning ‘faux’ links along the lake shore and with possibly the best collection of short holes to be found anywhere.

Fazio, like the Trent Jones, came from an architectural dynasty, Uncle George being the foun-der. Tom though will be the most well known and will leave behind a raft of beautifully crafted courses, all of which are a delight to play, but none of which will have the astonishing attention grabbing unique qualities of those from the imagination of Pete Dye. For thirty years he has been kept busy within the United States and many a fine resort or residential community is thrilled to have a Fazio layout in its midst. For much of that time he has been design guru for Augusta and Pine Valley, leaving behind a remarkable 11-hole short course at the latter, which is a complete re-enactment of some of the second shots to holes on the main course as well as complete replicas of the short holes.

No review of this late 20th century period would be complete without a mention of Ben Crens-haw and Bill Coore. As selective as Dye in what they would accept, they have put together a small but hugely rated collection of courses set deeply within an old British style. A number of them are shrines for the avid golf traveller, none more so than Sand Hills, out in the middle of nowhere in Nebraska and where they laid out a spare 18 tees, fairways and greens amongst vast prairie dunes.

Also well worth a mention is Tom Doak, someone who first came to golf’s attention with a self-published, amusing and at times acerbic analysis of the world’s top courses. A central theme was how great were so many of the older courses and what horrors had often been per-petrated in more recent times. It made as many enemies as friends, but there was no fence sitting. Since putting his design skills on show, he has remained true to his beliefs – that many of the older concepts were the best. So far, from a global perspective his co-operation with Australia’s Mike Clayton in the northern wilds of Tasmania – Barnbougle Dunes – may be his best known and now that there is a Coore/Crenshaw creation alongside, a golfing safari there is very much in order.

Two brand new golfing destinations of quality also emerged, three if you count the two Mission Hills separately. The pick though must go to Bandon Dunes, a most inaccessible stretch of Oregon coastline several hours drive from the nearest airport. One course might have had mo-mentary fame, but under the watchful eye of visionary developer Mike Keyser, the amalgama-tion of glorious shoreline and the best architects has created a collection of brilliant courses that make such a journey not just worthwhile, but essential.

The Mission Hills story is more mind-blowing engineering than glorious architecture. That said, the names Dr Chu assembled to brand his initial dozen courses an hour or so west of Hong Kong came right out of the top drawer. When asked if he might not be exceeding local demand when laying out so many courses close to one another, he pointed out that 180 million people lived within a two-hour drive! Nicklaus, Norman, Olazabal, Faldo and Annika Sörens-tam were among those who fronted the individual courses, though the construction work on most was carried out by the Schmidt-Curley design team from Scottsdale, Arizona. Not content with this epic, ten years later, Dr Chu embarked on a similar project on Hainan Island, some 200 miles out in the South China Sea; another 10 courses were laid out simultaneously, again

by Schmidt-Curley, several of them over an extinct volcano lava field.

One other feature of this latest and quite possibly last great golf boom has been the renovation, restoration or rearrangement of some of those early, great old courses. This really got going at the height of the old RTJ years, the fifties and sixties, though modest tinkering with golf cour-ses, particularly in America, had been going on almost from the moment many of them had opened in the first place – a look at the evolution of Augusta National shows that they have been tinkering with the course right throughout its life.

By the early post war years though, the effects of the ongoing refinement in golf equipment – the golf ball going ever greater distances – were making many courses ‘out of date’. Jones as the man of the moment arrived to make adjustments and not only lengthened courses and repo-sitioned bunkers, but put his highly personal stamp on many of them; it was always clear that ‘Jones had been here’. Often, the course route was changed, holes realigned or even rebuilt enti-rely; the style of bunkering was changed and maybe ponds or lakes added.

That was fine then and was after all only an escalation of what had been quietly going on for years. A good example would have been Oak Hill in Rochester, New York. A Donald Ross creation from 1923, it was chosen as the site for the 1956 US Open and RTJ came in to make it suitably difficult to provide a proper USGA challenge. That he did, but in the process much of the original Ross course disappeared. Subsequent majors have come and further alterations carried out so it is now very different to how Ross left it. Still a great course and a serious chal-lenge for the best when they come, but not an obvious Donald Ross course anymore.

These changes to match the passage of time continued until older courses started to become ‘venerable’. Golfers became more itinerant, started to travel in search of new golf experiences and where possible play some of the by now legendry courses worldwide. The likes of Donald Ross in America and Harry Colt in Britain became more widely known and their work venera-ted, the brilliance of what they did back then – often with minimal resources and equipment –measured against the modern, much of which was beginning to seem humdrum and repetitive.

The mood changed. Instead of taking these courses and ruthlessly bringing them up to date to meet the modern challenge, it now became an exercise in reintroducing the features of the old masters, finding their old drawings and bringing these fine old layouts back to their original look. Yes, they would be longer and bunkers might be in different places, but the look would be as was originally intended, the style of bunker and shape of green would be authentic.

Some great restorations took place. East Lake in Atlanta was where Bobby Jones grew up and hit his first shots. The area had changed dramatically post war, the wealthy moving north and the Atlanta Athletic Club with it. The course deteriorated and the clubhouse burnt down not once but twice; East Lake, the district, became known as Little Vietnam. In the 1990s all that changed. An awareness of the club and course’s history – after all it was another Donald Ross creation too – led to total restoration, the neighbourhood being dragged upwards demographi-

cally with it.

At much the same time an old A W Tillinghast masterpiece, Bethpage Black, in the eastern suburbs of New York was brought back to life. Part of a large public facility, it too had sunk into disrepair through neglect and lack of funds. Ever on the lookout for somewhere suitable to hold their Open Championship, the USGA knew of its existence and brought it back from the brink of extinction. What emerged was a handsome, powerful, glorious 18 holes where two subsequent US Opens have been held, both sadly in vile weather.

Obviously with the vast range of new courses that have emerged these past 40 years a few fine courses and a lot of dross has emerged. Will any stand proudly alongside the giants of former years – Augusta National, Pinehurst No 2, Seminole, Cypress Point, Pebble beach and Pine Valley? Elsewhere, will the links of the British Isles, those great inland courses southwest of London – Sunningdale, Wentworth and Swinley – or that clutch of courses on the Melbourne Sand Belt in Australia ever be matched? As we draw breath after a fervent few years it is perhaps too early to say, but it will be fun to watch and see how the golf courses of the world, both old and new, play out in the coming decades.


7 TO 77...

Whenever I tried to share my enthusiasm for golf with my school friends who knew about my early love for the game, they would answer back rather disdainfully with words to the effect of "stop boring us with your old man's game".

Unfortunately, at the time their image of the game was pretty near the truth; there was hardly any junior golf to talk of, as my own personal experience will tell you. I was first selected to represent France in 1955, I was just a few weeks off my 16th birthday but my five other team members were some 20 years older.

In 1979, Bernhard Langer pulled off a brilliant victory at the Cacharel Championship for the under 25s contested by the world's top young golfers. Then, as the most promising youngsters became younger and younger, the tournament lost its shine because the best young golfers pre-ferred to play week in week out on the European and American tours. So, with Jean Cacharel we decided to end a tournament that in sporting terms had been a huge success, putting young golfers like Ian Woosnam on the map and showcasing the nascent gifts of a young Australian going by the name of Greg Norman.

Today, this same phenomenon has reached a new dimension and in recent months our sport has become very much a younger man's game. Today's young golfing heroes are all under 22 years of age. The Italian Matteo Manassero is 17, Ryo Ishikawa from Japan is 18, and Rory McIlroy from Ireland and the American Rickie Fowler are both just 21 years old. They are already pretty amazing golfers, shining lights gracing the fairways of Europe, the United States and Asia. Manassero, who won the British Amateur 2009 and finished 13th at the Open, posted a very respectable 36th place for his first appearance at the Augusta Masters. Ryo Ishikawa very recently carded an exceptional 58 at the Crowns Championship in Nagoya and in doing so set a new world record for an international tour. Last May 2nd at the Quail Hollow Championship in North Carolina, Rory McIlroy gave further confirmation of his huge talent. His last 9 holes were probably the finest and purest piece of golfing I have ever seen on television. Not to be outdone, Rickie Fowler, who turned professional last autumn, has been collecting top-ten finishes since the beginning of the season. Tiger Woods himself is full of admiration for these young Turk performances which he explains in his own clear-sighted way. Over and above their sheer talent that he is the first to acknowledge, he cites "consistent improvements in technology that now enable players to visualize and perfect their swing at a very early age." Such waves of flamboyant youth should disarm the opponents of the noble and ancient game and enhance the image of golf in countries where the game is little known and often ill-considered.


Hergé, the brilliant Belgian author of the Adventures of Tintin, used the expression "7 to 77" to entice people to read his comics. The same is evidently true for golf. No-one who watched the British Open at Turnberry last year will care to argue and they certainly will not forget in a hurry the fabulous pairing of Tom Watson, not too far off his 60th birthday, with Matteo Ma-nassero, young enough to be his grandson. That day, golf showed its true, authentic colours. We can be proud of this game we have chosen, there really is nothing quite like it...

WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG, MR IMMELMAN?

For me, Augusta, the legendary setting for the US Masters, has been the stuff of dreams since I was a small boy. Having had the privilege to play the course several times, I know its pitfalls pretty well, particularly the Amen Corner (holes 11, 12 and 13), where so many hopes have ended up dead and buried. As usual, I snuggled up comfortably in front of the TV for four days to follow the latest outing of this prestigious tournament. The setting was as grand as ever, the course beautifully set up with immaculate greens, and the world’s top golfers were in atten-dance – with Tiger Woods in the front line - , and I sat back to enjoy the wise and witty com-mentating of the BBC’s Peter Allis. While this year’s event saw the crowning of a major talent in golf, the South African Trevor Immelman, unfortunately there was no ignoring the one downside to that final day, the fact that the final “group” took exactly 5 hours to complete the course, and that was just a twosome! Seeing the young South African make 5 or 6 practice swings, then stand behind the ball with club shoulder high extended from his right hand to check his aim not just once but twice and often three times was exasperating, irritating and above all a deplorable example for all golfers. Many of us are hoping that the people who over-see this unique golf club and who alone manage the whole tournament, will stand up and take notice of this issue, and respond accordingly.Slow play is the curse of modern golf and its effects could be disastrous for the future of our sport. In a day and age when time is precious, many players, particularly in the United States, admit to having given up the game because of the long hours involved. State-side, it is one of the causes – there is also of course the current money crisis – for the game’s slight decline in 2007. The players are not the only ones to blame, promoters and architects also have their share of responsibility. In China for example, there is currently no new course shorter than 6,800 metres for a population that is only just discovering the game. How ridiculous can you get?Solutions have to be found, otherwise the game could find itself in trouble sooner rather than later. Here are a few proposals I feel to be of key importance:- reduce the size of greens: 5 pin positions are enough, as approach shots are played faster than a putt;- whenever possible retain the option of bumping and running the ball onto the green, keeping hazards on both sides rather than surrounding the green with water, which means players have to drop (more time lost);- wherever possible shorten the distance between green and next tee;- cut the rough just enough so that players do not lose their ball every time;- avoid placing hazards too much on the right, as most players tend to slice;- provide a choice of tee-box for every level of play and player;- relearn how to evaluate distance by using our eyes, rather than see a 36-handicapper

calculating yardage like a pro down to the nearest yard with a GPS device that does not always work.Last but not least, the one capital point is a change of ball. Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer were already recommending such a move in the 1960s, and it would mean a return to tourna-ment courses of 6,000 metres, less heavy investment, more reasonable maintenance costs and... faster play.These are proposals in the right direction that could certainly improve the situation, but the major about-turn must come from the players themselves. Only they can implement the step back needed to safeguard the game in the long run. So next time Mr Immelman, could you please hurry up!


MAKE THEM PLAY

They are responsible for keeping courses in prime condition. In the United States they are called supe-rintendents, in Europe, green-keepers. In the top-ranking private clubs in America, a superintendent might be supervising a staff of some 40 assistant green-keepers with a maintenance budget in excess of �1.5 million for an 18-hole course. They have to have expert knowledge of grass and the diseases that affect it, know how to manage water facilities – a key issue for the future of golf – be able to manage employees, draw up schedules for each season, work to a budget, purchase the right equipment to keep the course up to scratch, and show an interest in not only golf-course architecture and its future develo-pments, but also the history of golf and its finest exponents. In short, their mind has to be 100% focused on the world of golf.So when I find out that some of them never, or very rarely, even pick up a golf club, I start asking myself some serious questions... there is a link missing in their chain of skills, and any knowledgeable golfer will quickly realise that their standard of green-keeping is not quite in tune with the game of golf. Let me explain: a golf course is not a public park, no matter how well manicured; a course is always moving one way or another. Because it is so demanding, it has to be cherished. It is a life-sharing expe-rience which has to be felt deep-down. When playing once or twice a week, a superintendent will see any number of things with his own two eyes. Let's mention a few classic examples: the tees have not been changed or are not properly aligned, the fairways have been mown unevenly and the greens have not been cut to provide the speed good golfers prefer, the rough needs to be a little lighter here and there, such and such a bunker is short of sand, a tree branch infringes on the flight of a well-hit drive and needs trimming back urgently, the demarcation lines of water hazards and/or ground under repair are hardly visible... etc., etc..As he walks off the 18th green, a green-keeper will convene the people concerned and issue the neces-sary instructions. In this way everything is thought through and seen primarily from the viewpoint of the golfer, and what may seem superfluous becomes indispensable. It is often a question of detail, but details are what build a course's reputation and the joy of playing it. Unfortunately far too many club officials overlook the playing side when hiring their green-keeper, which is why I personally strongly recommend that each employment contract include a compulsory clause stipulating that every green-keeper should play at least 18 holes of golf every week. Managers across the land... "Make your green-keepers play!" You will see the difference and your members will be the first to benefit.


THE IMPORTANCE OF BUNKERS

The technical progress made with equipment, balls and swing techniques means that today's players are hitting the ball further than ever. So courses are regularly being lengthened and a number of recent layouts are bordering on and even exceeding 7,000 metres (7,700 yards). I recently learnt of a par 6 of over 770 yards somewhere in Australia. This is costing us and is dangerous for the future of golf. In a recent newsletter entitled "Gentlemen, Time is of the Essence", I wrote that it is now indispensable that the R & A and the USGA reach agreement with club and ball manufacturers to find one or more solu-tions. Today, if in my opinion the main goal has to be the development of a ball that hits a little shorter, preference should also be given to accuracy over sheer power. In this perspective, bunkers have to become, or return to being, real hazards. On a British links this is what they are. At Muirfield, the front banks of some fairways bunkers are so steep you sometimes need to play backwards to get out of them. There are even little ladders with grass rungs to actually get down to where your ball lies. At Saint Andrews, the bunker on the 17th hole, which is wedged into the front of the green on the left, has been, still is and always will be a graveyard for many a promising scorecard. The Japanese golfer Nakajima, looking good to win the Open in 1984, can tell you a thing or two about that road-hole bunker, as he took half a dozen shots to get out of it...By contrast and with a few rare exceptions, what we see week in week out on the television is a very different picture; the pros make bunker play look trivial; a bunker out from a good lie, 20 yards from the pin, is sometimes easier to play than a long putt, as shown by the high number of holed sand shots. Jack Nicklaus, who was keen to make sand shots a little tougher, decided that for his tournament at Muirfield Village, Ohio, all the bunkers would be raked with long-pronged rakes that leave little groo-ves in the sand. This would considerably cancel out backspin and make bunker outs trickier to control. For the moment, this original idea has not been taken up.As for long bunker shots, it is not unusual to see top players hit hybrid clubs and reach a green some 200 yards away, as the sand lies over a flat surface and there is no lip to speak of. Far too many archi-tects overlook the design of their bunkers and do not monitor the way they are shaped. So bunker outs around the green are legion. Bunkers have to be given the nobility they deserve, in terms of both style and strategy. Robert Trent Jones Sr., who had the advantage of having been an excellent landscape gardener and a scratch golfer before turning into one of the great course architects, said to me one day: "while 50% of a successful course depends on the greens, it's the bunkers that define its character."


PALM SPRINGS A PIPE-DREAM FOR EUROPE?

Imagine yourself in the middle of the Sahara desert, suddenly caught napping by a raging sands-torm. Death stares you in the face, but fortunately your fairy godmother is watching over you and with a wave of her magic wand she sends you to sleep... then wakes you up 70 years later. The sand has turned into grass and you are surrounded by over a hundred golf courses. This is the story of Palm Springs. This Californian desert was originally inhabited by a few Indians and in the 1930s they built a first golf course there. A few famous Hollywood actors and celebrities from LA would come and play it on weekends, and then a house was made available to Presi-dent Eisenhower alongside the 11th hole at the Eldorado Country Club. The place became a fashionable venue, helped in no small way by a very pleasant climate eight months every year.It began to host a tournament on the US Tour, the "Palm Springs Desert Classic", later to be re-named the "Bob Hope Desert Classic", won five times by Arnold Palmer. Courses mushroo-med, all designed to attract tourists but all very private with their fair share of hotels and condos. Today, there are some 250,000 people who regularly live between Palm Springs and neighbouring Palm Desert. The promoters called in the very best architects, names such as Pete Dye, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio, Tom Weiskopf and even the new star of golf course design Tom Doak, the architect of the region's most recent and most spectacular course, Stone Eagle. I was lucky enough to play it for the first time this Christmas in the company of Al Geiberger, or "Mr. 59"*. I had not played with him in 52 years... the last time being in 1954 during a match between the French and United States Junior teams, played at Saint Cloud near Paris. It was an emotional day with some wistful reminiscing, but it was also so very rewarding. Such is the timelessness of golf...

The success of Palm Springs has been founded on entrepreneurial resolve, the skills of land developers and the region's extreme wealth, backed by considerable reserves of underground water springing from the Colorado river. Tens of thousands of jobs have been created and the

economic fall- out has been of benefit to California as a whole. With some 7 million golfers, Europe, too, could build its own Palm Springs. Some might say that we already have it with the Costa del Sol in Spain and the Algarve in Portugal, but the two combined account for barely 50% of the number of these Californian courses which, as it happens, have the added advan-tage of all being very close together. The courses on the Costa del Sol and in the Algarve are spread over several dozen kilometres.Launching such a project would require a reserve of land of some 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) and I can see only two regions with the right potential and right climate: the Landes department in southwest France, between Bordeaux and Bayonne, and the desert situated to the east of Almeria in Spain, providing that the latter could call on sufficient water resources.Today, hampered by administrative, environmental and political restrictions, this is probably nothing more than a pipe-dream. Only the unstinting resolve of one country, with the backing of Brussels and a long-term vision, would be able to press forward with a project of this size, led by private international groups. But maybe it is already too late...Gaëtan Mourgue d’Algue* The first player to break 60, on June 10, 1977 at the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic on a course of some 7,249 yards (approx. 6,525 metres).


TIGER WOODS A WOULD-BE COURSE ARCHITECT?

Tiger Woods has just turned 30, his golfing genius is one-of-a-kind and he has been wowing the galleries for 15 years already. It was back in 1991 that the 15-year-old kid won his first tourna-ment in masterly style, the US Junior Championship. He was about to explode upon the world of golf a little like Arnold Palmer did some four decades earlier, except that the fall-out from the Tiger was to be much, much wider. Woods has reached out to each and every social class worldwide, while Arnie's appeal was limited to the WASP* population.

and his discreet but telling generosity has helped to set up "First Tee"**. He has wed a stun-ning Swedish girl and even though his private life is now more and more restricted, the way he conducts himself with the media is quite remarkable.We all know his ambitions, namely to beat all current records and notably the 18 Major wins still held by Jack Nicklaus. This is no pipe-dream and London's bookmakers are already giving the prospect some very serious consideration.

In between time, one question, albeit perhaps slightly premature, crosses my mind: will he one day emulate the likes of Palmer, Nicklaus, Norman and Faldo and move into golf course archi-tecture? And if so, what style of architecture? There is no simple answer, just mere conjecture. So let's take a minute or two and have some fun… Tiger is first and foremost a perfectionist and adding a few million dollars to his already sizea-ble fortune is probably not his aim. I personally feel that after getting a clear idea of the main

Some say, and I must admit I find it hard to disa-gree, that Woods is the most prodigious phenome-non of any sport. The reasons speak for themsel-ves; he has the muscle power of a black athlete, oriental (Thai) finesse, and the American will to win. He represents his major sponsors – Nike, American Express and Accenture – with pure style and profes-sionalism. His foundation has been a huge success

principles governing his thoughts on course architecture, he will make the move but only in the close company of a highly proficient team (engineers, green designers, irrigation specialists…). He will select his projects in the secret hope that within 25 to 30 years one of his courses will play host to the US Open. His love of Irish links courses should prompt him to choose natural sites. Maybe one day he will be tempted by a Gargantuan project such as that recently comple-ted by Tom Doak at Palm Desert, California, or that now underway with Nicklaus just a 10-mi-nute boat-trip away from Wall Street. If he does go down this road, I can easily imagine him heeding the luring appeals of a Middle-Eastern Emir. Why not a "Tiger Woods Golf & Country Club" in Dubai, for example? But in the straight line of his foundation and in keeping with the tradition and integrity of a game for which he holds such great respect, he will also try to deli-ver new ideas and solutions in a bid to build simpler courses and thereby layouts likelier to attract people with lesser incomes. If he were to succeed in such a challenge, golf would indeed acquire a new lease of life which, in my view, it will sorely need in ten or even twenty years from now.

*White Anglo-Saxon Protestants**An association which builds courses reserved for younger players all over the US.


BRITISH COURSE, AMERICAN WINNER

the lunar images broadcast by the BBC. We were far from the manicured fairways, rhododen-dron beds and shady pine trees of Augusta: this was a huge spread of straw mulch dotted with some 95 pot bunkers. In short, a course that spells disaster for any unseasoned golfer.Disaster or not, the course was acclaimed by all those taking part and the 2006 Open went down in history despite the absence of the usual ingredients that come with a British links course, namely wind and rain. This 1869 layout by Jack Morris, today lengthened and moder-nized, stood the test of modern-day technology and equipment. The tee-shot, playing to rock-hard lightning fast fairways enclosed by coffin bunkers - the word has seldom been more appropriate, especially when any sort of foothold proved impossible – was trouble big-time for everyone, even though the rough, a victim of this year's drought, proved to more humane than that lining the courses at Muirfield or Birkdale.There were two opposing strategies: drive it as far as possible, hoping to keep the ball in play, with, if all went well, a medium- or short-iron second shot. Or a more conservative approach by teeing off with a 2-iron or thereabouts.Tiger Woods, who had realized during his practice rounds that he was unable to control his 350 yard drives on slippery fairways which in places were only 28 to 35 yards wide, quickly opted for the second solution. He clearly stuck to his original game plan, only once pulling a driver

After 39 years off the rota, the British Open made a tumultuous return to the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, better known as Hoy-lake, a links course with fond memories for Frenchman Arnaud Massy, who won here in 1907. Having had the tremendous good fortune to play the course a few weeks before the tournament, I was able to better understand the traps and get a clear fix on

Royal Liverpool Golf Club

from his bag. His ball control was admirable, not to say peerless; not a single double-bogey in 72 holes of golf, the largest number of fairways hit and the most greens in regulation. Els, Garcia, Mickelson, Goosen and even Di Marco, quite brilliant at times, found the pace too hot. Tiger, in total control of his iron-play, was the only one to dominate the course, and yet we often saw him hit his second shot some 30 to 50 yards short of his opponents. On the final day, the pin positions were the most diabolical anyone could ever remember at a British Open, and despite the long irons he was having to hit, he was regularly closer to the pin than anyone else. "Hogan-style shot-making," chirped the inimitable Peter Allis at the BBC. Thanks to some exceptional putting and steely resolve, Di Marco came to within a few strokes of the master; some then even thought that we would have a real battle on our hands. But it was not to be. Di Marco certainly continued to play well, but Tiger Woods, like the extra-terrestrial golfer that he is, left his main contender trailing some way behind. Three text-book birdies in a row ena-bled him to approach the last two holes with an easy mind. Tiger had won but Hoylake had shown stout resistance, proving again that to tame this course you need power, certainly, but also all the subtle technique you can muster. The nous of the Tiger, in total symbiosis with the course, will remain forever ingrained in the history of this wonderful tournament.Worth a thought: with six wins in the last seven outings, the Americans have claimed the lion's share at the British Open, undercutting the received idea whereby British players have an unde-niable advantage on links courses.


THE TRICKY BUSINESS OF UPDATING A GOLF COURSE

With the exception of Asia, the number of new courses opening around the world is falling. In 2000, for example, the National Golf Foundation reported 400 new courses in the United States. This year the figure will barely top 120. The same is happening in Europe, where the agenda is now more to update existing courses rather than build new ones. Yet for decades, no-one ever really gave this idea much thought.

Today, it is common practice for the more select clubs to re-lay their greens every 25 to 30 years and at the same time change grass to get more even and faster putting surfaces and check the unwanted spread of poa weed. Over the same period of time, the sprinkler system will also be fully overhauled in order to cut back on the use of water, a crucial factor for the future of our sport. Sand in bunkers is sometimes changed every five years or so and special care is paid to all forms of drainage. This covers the main items of course repair work that are often made in stages and are generally the green-keeper's responsi-bility.

Now for the trickier business of updating a course. In every club, each committee member often has his own idea on the subject. A doctor, a business manager, a lawyer or what have you are suddenly would-be draftsmen. They know what they are talking about because they have a single-figure handi-cap, and even so… If they happen to call in a course architect, they most likely choose without too much soul-searching, caring little for any affinity with the original landscape and layout. The results are of course disappointing and the sums invested just thrown away. As a general rule, courses need to be lengthened if they are to stay competitive. Statistics show that players on the European Tour are hitting the ball almost 35 yards farther than they were 25 years ago. On a different scale, weekend golfers are also hitting the ball longer. So new back-tees have to be built and a number of hazards have to be moved to stay in play. Here is where you have to be careful not to upgrade a course just for the local Tiger Woods. It is sometimes preferable to focus on angles that are hard to negotiate, on new, cleverly placed bunkers, or on greens where the breaks are never as they seem. I can mention two examples of successful upgrading: "La Marache" in Waterloo, Belgium, and "Morfontaine" in France. "La Mara-che" was designed in 1960 by Fred Hawtree and was never anything more than ordinary until his son Martin very cleverly "restyled" it, focusing particularly on the greens, fringes and other surroundings. Now, approach shots, bunker outs and putting are really interesting and especially much more fun. This was a classic piece of work, not extravagant but so very effective. At "Morfontaine", one of Tom Simpson's masterpieces, the restyling work has certainly been on a smaller scale but the new 12th hole, the work of Kyle Philips, is now a real par 5 that members are proud of. It combines length with stra-tegy without destroying the beautiful setting of the old hole.

In Edinburgh, they still teach the course architecture of master Harry Colt, even today, 50 years after his death. On this side of the Channel, the Secretary of the Saint Germain Golf Course (H. Colt, 1922) near Paris, regularly sends his assistant green-keeper to Scotland to "soak up" the spirit of the architect, especially when he is planning on making a few changes. It is his way of protecting the original layout. Food for thought… and inspiration for all course directors, even if they are not lucky enough to have a Colt to work with…


The RolexWORLD’S TOP 1000 GOLF COURSES“There is no more comprehensive guide to the world's best places to play. Don't plan your next golf trip without giving this book a look.”George Peper, Links Magazine

“The best guide book in golf. With it by your side you will always be on the fairway.”“Call yourself a serious golfer? Then this book is for you. Don’t leave home without it. It is invaluable.”John Hopkins, The Times, London

“The spirit of golf is very much alive in this splendid Rolex book. Your duck hook or soaring slice can’t possibly spoil it for you.”Dan Jenkins, Golf Digest

“Each course you play offers a special memory and that is why the Rolex guide is required reading for those who love golf.”“The fun of discussing the Rolex Top 1000 can only be topped by the actual quest of playing them.”Jim Nantz, CBS Sports

“There are three necessities for successful global golf travel: a love of adventure, a robust golf bag and this jaw-droppingly comprehensive and thought-provoking book.”Alex Jenkins, Hong Kong Golfer

“This work will prove to be an invaluable source of information for all those who are intrigued with the dramatic growth of golf in the Asia Pacific.”Spencer Robinson, Asian Golf Monthly

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