Thousand Oaks Golf Club, Grand
Rapids, Michigan.
•
Hurdzan has spent 50 years in
golf course design, construction,
maintenance and ownership. The
author of six books (printed in
English, German, Korean and
Chinese), Hurdzan co-designed
Erin Hills Golf Course, Hartford,
Wisconsin, which will host the
2017 U.S. Open Championship.
His numerous other courses
include: Devils Pulpit Golf Course,
Caledon, Ontario, Canada;
Willowbend Country Club, Cape
Cod, Massachusetts; and Naples
National, Naples, Florida.
By Design
asked each new Fellow about
the value of being ‘lifelong learners’.
“Life-long learning is a natural
by-product of ever-present change,”
Bickler said. “Change invites, and
even compels us to explore new
ideas. In the golf course design
industry, this means we have an
opportunity to be creative in new
ways that never occurred to us before.
“Ancient philosophy has taught us:
‘No man ever steps in the same river
twice, for it’s not the same river and
he’s not the same man’. This wisdom
holds true for rivers, golf courses,
and all of humanity. I believe that
change equals learning, and learning
equals growth.”
Hurdzan also chose to quote the
written word in his response.
“To slightly corrupt a line written
in the 1890s by Robert Forgan, ‘Golf
(course architecture) is a science,
a study of a lifetime, in which you
may exhaust yourself but never your
subject.’” he said.
“Many ASGCA members are lifelong
learners, borne out of the competitive
nature of our business that requires
incorporating new technology in
irrigation, drainage, grasses, green
construction, environmental concepts,
etc. in order to stay competitive.
Hurdzan continued: “We have
seen remarkable attitudes shifts in
what golfers want and expect from
their golf courses, what golf writers
and course raters see as desirable
qualities, and what television
and travel consultants hold out
to be a worthy golf course. It is a
moving target that is as much fad
as fashion, but there are still some
timeless qualities that underlie
even somewhat garish golf courses.
It is the search for the holy grail
of ‘timelessness’ that causes us to
continue to observe, learn and adapt.
“A Lewis Carroll quote from
Alice
in Wonderland
says: ‘Now, here, you
see, it takes all the running you can
do, to keep in the same place. If you
want to get somewhere else, you
must run at least twice as fast as
that!’ That is how I see golf course
design and why I am a committed
lifelong learner.”
•
17
It is the search for
the holy grail of
‘timelessness’ that
causes us to continue
to observe, learn
and adapt
Dr. Michael Hurdzan,
ASGCA Fellow
Erin Hills GC, Hartford, Wis.
La Jolla CC, San Diego, Cal.
Photo: Ron Kobayashi
