The best part of my job is when someone asks me where to play, I tell them, and then they go and have a great time. My sportscaster buddy Steve Czaban – a man who knows a thing or two about golf – asked me what course I should add to his Pinehurst getaway weekend. I told him simply, “if you miss Tobacco Road, you’ll be missing the best course...
In an excellent article discussing why Brian Silva is one of the hottest golf architects (hint: its template holes and great greens!), Bob Carney from Golf Digest links to part one of my Brian Silva article in his “Editor’s Blog.” Thanks, Bob…and great piece about Brian. Brian’s template holes (punchbowl green, saddle green, etc.) and...
Now on the tee, Taylor Anderson and his new blog Earth Golf.
Taylor has excellent analysis of golf course architecture and covers all points of the compass, even China. Go get ’em Taylor.
I was having a college sports email exchange with a colleague, Pat Kiser, when I noticed a great quote from William Flynn which he uses at the bottom of his emails: “One natural hazard, however, which is more or less of a nuisance, is water. Water hazards absolutely prohibit the recovery shot , perhaps the best shot in the game.” William Flynn, as you...
My article on Black Mesa Golf Club in New Mexico will run shortly over at Golf Observer. In the meantime, I found something fascinating right after I turned it in, so I’ll share it with you. Click on this picture of the 16th hole, then click on this picture of the 16th Green. Look particularly closely at the green contours. Back already? Good. Here we go, this...
Not only does Geoff Shackelford bring us up to date on Ress Jones’ changes to DONALD ROSS’ masterpiece at Oakland Hills, his commenters bring up the little fact that Rees seems to have missed in his press conference. The course existed before his dad got his bulldozers on it. Now the course is wasp-waisted fairways and center-line/penal architecture...
Here you go. This is what a golf course architect thinks about when he’s designing. It’s Tom Doak analyzing St. Andrew’s Beach. He was aided by Mike Clayton, Australia’s greatest golf writer and my Golf Observer colleague. Note to Donald Trump and Turning Stone Casino: do you see a waterfall? A stained glass window? How bout that line...
I think this is a super idea. Hale Irwin always struck me as being super-intelligent (maybe it’s the glasses or that he solved three tough U.S. Open courses.) But this the is extra tough, Sunday times crossword, join Mensa kind of problem solving that promotes good golf course architecture. The website is here. Then you can click on the thumbnail and see how...
I’ve said on numerous occasions that Black Mesa outside Santa Fe, New Mexico is one of the three most important public golf courses to open in this country since Sawgrass. (For those of you scoring at home, the others are, of course, the Bandon Dunes resort and Tobacco Road.) Black Mesa is more than ready for her close up. She’ll not only be featured in...
Sal Johnson is a genius – you have to see the AMAZING photo he found of Mike planting the Hinkle Tree at the 1979 U.S. Open. While I have the floor, to dispel a myth, Mike Strantz never worked on Tom Fazio’s terrific designs at World Woods. I know it looks that way, but Mike told me in interviews (Part One and Part Two) that he never set foot on the...
Geoff Shackelford, my colleague at Golf Observer slams the recent changes to Riviera. Here are some excerpts: But is the architectural demise really that surprising? After all, the Fazio Design group has a consistent track record of showing little or no interest in classic architecture. Just ask the members at Oak Hill and Inverness. Or even some of the members at...
Jeff Mingay, my Golf Observer colleague and a terrific young Canadian Golf Course Architect has started a new website called…appropriately enough, Mingay Golf! Jeff is a rising star and a super guy to boot. He and Rob Thompson and the rest of the Canadian Club will be integral in my feature coming late this year called “Canadian Golf Awareness...
Since it’s the holidays, it’s time to wind up the year with the Annual “Jay’s Golf Awards” a.k.a. the Jazzys. Today – Best New Private Course. This one was easy. At Ballyneal Golf and Hunt Club, Tom Doak built the O’Neal brothers a brilliant rejoinder to nearby Sand Hills and a terrific sister course to Pacific Dunes. The...
After spending many years working with Pete Dye, Tim Liddy has made waves with some terrific designs of his own, such as The Trophy Club near Indianapolis. Tim took time out to talk about his formative years. Soon, we’ll have some deep xs and os on his Indiana designs. What were your first memories of the game as a kid? I started playing golf with a grade...
Just when you think the Yankees weren’t going to learn from one mistake and were about to make a bigger one, sanity prevails. Maybe Joe Torre played the wrong hunch sitting Giambi and playing Sheffield and Matsui, but who among us thought Matsui (and the rest of the Yankees) would get skunked by Kenny Rogers and Jeremy Bonderman? That was a lightning strike...