Making the Match

Well, I didn’t think it was possible to be busier than I was end of 2020, but as you can tell, we’re halfway through May and you’re reading our first quarter’s newsletter! We’ve dubbed it Q1.5 Time. Is. Flying.

The most interesting thing for me to this point in the year, is the absolute craze around the game of golf! Who knew the game needed a pandemic to show the world (or at least our own country) this game was special. An outdoor health and wellness activity, built-in distancing, and brain stimulation have been what most of us already knew. I guess the only remaining question is will it last?? My sense so far this year is yes, it will, as long as our industry doesn’t find a way to screw it up!

The past year had a lot of “news” for all of us; new priorities, new obstacles, new concerns, many new adaptations. A new thing that happened for me, was the ability to spend less time travelling for project meetings because of Zoom, which took me a while, but as of now am fully embracing. It’s crazy that in one year, we’re all now more comfortable turning on our video to show our dress for the day. I’m still not thrilled with what I look like on the monitor, but who is!?

One project that has been greatly impacted by the recent events is my work with Mount Bruno in Montreal, Canada. Man, this has been a complete drag. I was hired right before all this began, and haven’t been able to make any visits, just conducting all of our meetings via Zoom. I still remember the bumps we went through to get us into the mindset to discuss design ideas, thoughts, and feedback without being face to face. The superintendent Trevor, our committee chair Ian, and the entire committee has shown some great perseverance to get us to this point. We’ve been through the historical documentation phase, along with our first pass concepts, and hope to get on property sometime this year. Knock on wood!

Making the Match

We as architects spend a fair bit of time discussing how golfers should experience courses. One trend I hope to be out in front on is this idea of designing a course specifically for match play. You may have heard of Ohooppee Match Club in Georgia, which is the first to my knowledge in the modern day being designed for only match play. I’ve just finished a 2nd – The Match Course at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. Built on the site of the old Squire Course, I’ve fashioned a concept that converts these outdated 18 holes into a short 9-hole par 3 course, and an 18-hole match play course.

I’m pumped to have the client completely endorse the concept in the heavily traditional golf market of South Florida. As it stands today, stroke play will be forbidden (without using hand cuffs), and specific “house rules” will guide players through the course, with the intention of playing a four ball, foursomes, a team scramble, wolf, you name it! I also hope this course allows more than 4 players, since nothing beats a game of foursomes, with 8 total players in one group!

What's a Restovation?

Golf design has evolved quite a bit over the past 150 years, and one topic that I believe is ripe for more discussion revolves around the topic of restoration, and what that really means. In the truest sense, a restoration “restores” original design features lost over the years, and recaptures the strategy, look, and feel of the original architect. But what happens when a course doesn’t have a good idea of the original intent, and chooses to take a bit more liberty by adjusting bunker locations based on newer distances? Which is why restovation is a term I’m warming to, and increasingly using to better communicate the proper vision to the clients where the term is relevant. Seems fair enough, right??

Some Project Updates!

Regarding PGA National, here’s the latest drone video we put together on the Par 3 from January. The course is growing in great and as mentioned before, construction just wrapped up.

Our bunker renovation project at Pinnacle Peak CC in Scottsdale, AZ broke ground this week, and you may be surprised with what we’ve got in store! I’m really excited for this one and looking forward to sharing our progress in the next quarterly.

Mesa Country Club near Phoenix, AZ is my most recent client and the fourth club I’ll have the privilege to be working with locally since moving to the valley 15 years ago. This 1948 William P. Bell design is likely headed towards a restovation, where we plan to keep the current routing and some of the signature greens in place, but much of the course needs an overhaul in my opinion and will come out much more sustainably in the end, as you’d expect!

San Vicente Golf Resort just had its grand reopening last Friday and the course came out looking great! Prior to our work, this 1971 Ted Robinson designed-course was tired, having remained essentially untouched since it opened. The inconsistent greens, failing bunkers, outdated tees, and poor drainage were all redone, and it’s fun, challenging playability has returned. I’m proud to say this now fast and firm course, which is reminiscent of a classic design you might find in the sand-belt of Australia, should be the new local favorite and a boon to the Resort!

In closing, I want to thank each of you for your continued interest in Staples Golf though the reading of our Quarterly newsletter! The engagement with these continues to increase and I am certainly grateful for the kind words from many of you I receive in response. I really do my best to personalize life from a golf architect's perspective on family, design, business, and whatever else seems to come up! I guess this is kind of like my diary in a way, except I don't put a lock on it and hide it from my brothers, and it's so great to hear it's of welcomed interest.

Well, as always, please take care, I'll see you here next time, and try to squeeze in more golf!