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Outgoing ASGCA President Bob Cupp,
along with Tom Fazio, ASGCA, Chris
Cochran, ASGCA, Rees Jones, ASGCA Past
President, and Jim Engh, ASGCA, all of
whom have designed courses at Reynolds
Plantation, shared a panel that started by
discussing the venue itself, but quickly
diversified into a general brains trust on
the future of golf design.
“Every young golfer now, male or female,
hits it far, both far long and far wide,” said
Fazio. “That is a big issue from a design
point of view.”
“Shorter holes are more tactical than
longer holes,” said Cupp. “More people
can enjoy a shorter hole than can enjoy a
500 yard par four.”
“We’re trying to fool the public into
believing they’re playing a 7,000 yard golf
course when actually they’re playing 6,300
yards,” said Cochran.
“The Creek Club, which opened in 2007,
is the only private course at Reynolds
Plantation,” said Engh. “I was told by
the client ‘we want to do something very
different’; well, having a client ask me to be
a rebel is pretty much a home run. I believe
a golf course should be an adventure and
a learning process. If you put unique land
forms out there the golf will become more
interesting. Two things matter: intrigue and
fun. We’re doing projects with fairways that
are 300–400 feet wide, but only 75 acres or
so of irrigated turf.”
Incoming ASGCA President Rick Robbins
closed the discussion. “We need to focus
on designing from the green backwards,”
he said. “Forget the idea of everyone using
the same landing zone, because even if
they do, their approach shots will be very
different. Let the green dictate the strategy
of the hole.”
DESIGN BRAINS TRUST
Jim Engh, ASGCA was asked to produce ‘something very different’ at Reynolds Plantation
In separate presentations, Kellie
Jerome of the Golf Environment
Organization and Ryan Aylesworth
of Audubon International outlined
their groups’ visions for the future of
golf’s sustainability efforts. Jerome
said: “GEO aims to bridge the
conversation between communities/
governments and golf developers.
We’re framing the discussion in
positive terms to enable positive
conversations between architects and
clients. Officials, whether planners or
environmentalists, are nervous about
golf. It is their job to ensure only
good projects go forward. Our goal
is to help the other side of the table
feel more confident about saying
yes. We need to frame discussions
differently–not just ‘we’re not going
to do damage’, but also ‘we’re going
to do good’.”
Aylesworth told delegates that
AI is currently engaged in a major
review of all its existing programs,
which it expects to complete this
summer. “All our programs will
have a precious metals rating
system–bronze, silver, gold,
platinum,” he said. “And we are
developing an online platform to
make the certification process less
onerous while maintaining rigor.
There will also be a final site visit
by third party verifiers to alleviate
potential bias.”
BUILDING SUSTAINABILITY
Stuart Hackwell of ASGCA Major Partner Rain
Bird shared some of the company’s latest product
developments with the meeting. 2013 is Rain
Bird’s eightieth anniversary. Hackwell told
delegates that small-scale wind turbines could
prove a significant benefit to golf courses. “We’re
talking turbines rated at 50kW, producing around
200,000 kWh of electricity each year,” he said.
“Generally speaking, they have a payback period
of around five years. Electricity that’s captured can
either be used on the course itself, or fed back into
the network if supply exceeds demand.”
WIND POWER
