By Design - Winter 2018

16 | By Design CREATIVE FREEDOM footage of bunkering to ease maintenance. “The simple solution was to make sure every square foot of bunker had a definitive strategic or visual purpose and every unnecessary square foot was value engineered out of the scope of work,” says Davis. “We spent a good bit of time working with the superintendent to get his perspective on what would be most cost effective for them to manage relative to style.” The balancing act Clients sometimes make requests that could, in the golf course architect’s opinion, lead to an inferior golf experience. How do they manage these potential difficult situations? “My process to nearly any design request from a client—we do get them—would be to first try my level best to design a good hole under their criteria,” says Brauer. “If nothing else, I know it will be an original design! Then, if I still feel it needs some other change back towards ‘my way,’ I present it to them using sketches and 3D and usually we work something out. “Form follows function, so unless the owner’s requests are totally unrelated to their function, or represent too much of a compromise between one needed function and another—such as a great view over safety—it is usually most beneficial to work them in.” “Unless an owner has unrealistic expectations,” says Fought, “I try to educate them about the best way to build the golf course. Many years ago, I had an owner who told me I could not use a certain type of bunker sand and that he wanted to limit the irrigation in the rough areas. I asked him to accompany me to one of my golf courses that I knew he loved. As we toured, I let him tell me how great the bunkers looked, and I simply told him they are great but that his project couldn’t have that type of sand. He quickly changed his mind on the bunker sand. I then let him view the beautiful native-looking rough areas which he also loved. I told him it was a shame he couldn’t have that look with the limited irrigation plan. Obviously, he wanted the rough areas like that on his course and we got that put back into the budget. All I did was show him what he needed, and he then understood and let me help him get what was best. “The owner is a friend of mind and he was great to work with,” says Fought. “I took one walk with him over part of the property and I discussed what I thought would work well and he basically said do what you think is best. I never had a design agreement, nor did he interfere in anything we did on the project. He is one in a million!” “The result of this project was a site that played host to the Accenture World Match Play for two years shortly after it was open. The two winners were Henrik Stenson and Tiger Woods. The PGA Tour could have picked any course in Tucson, but they chose The Gallery South.” The Gallery Golf Club (South course) Marana, Arizona I always respect the owner’s desires, keep in mind that there are always multiple ways to design golf courses John Fought, ASGCA Tripp Davis, ASGCA, was given creative freedom at Old American Golf Club near Dallas. He still made efforts to understand the client's business objectives Photo: Lonna Tucker