16 / 24
2006
‘Life cycle’ chart for golf
courses first published
2010
First issue of
By Design
magazine published
2012
ASGCA Design Excellence
Recognition Program introduced
2016
Golf & Water: Case
Studies in Water
Stewardship
published
the profession of golf design to speak
with one voice on important issues,
whether it’s licensing or environmental
regulations or technology. I’ve also
witnessed first-hand the networking
that occurs at ASGCA annual meetings;
these are rivals who can still be
friends. Amazing. It’s an example that
Washington politicians could do well
to observe and copy.”
Great friendships
Such friendship among competitors
has become a distinguishing feature
of the Society, notes ASGCA Past
President Dr. Michael Hudzan,
ASGCA. “When I think of what
ASGCA means to me,” says ASGCA
Past President Dr. Michael Hurdzan,
ASGCA, “I think of the Dr. Seuss book
titled
Oh, the Places I’ve Been!
and to
that I would like to add ‘the friends
that I’ve made.’ Not because of fantasy
worlds or weird-looking characters—
although ASGCA has taken me to
fabulous courses and allowed me to
meet some real characters—but rather
it is because of history.
“Being a part of ASGCA is being
part of history of the profession.
Actually, it means ‘living’ the
profession that I care so much about.
I was born too late to have spent time
with Ross, Tillinghast, MacKenzie
and other past masters of our craft,
but through ASGCA I made friends
with the Jones’s, Dyes, Nicklaus,
Palmer, Cornish and a host of others.
My life is richer because of these and
so many, many more priceless friends
that I was able to make because of
ASGCA. My professional life would
be dull without my ASGCA network
of friends, and experiences, that has
expanded my world and made me
proud of my accomplishments.”
ASGCA members are easily
identified by the Ross Tartan. “I have
to admit that from a sartorial taste
standpoint the coat is not high on
my preferred style list,” says Bradley
S. Klein,
Golfweek
architecture
editor. “I’m nonetheless envious
of those who wear them because
it means they embody the highest
form of technical experience in
course architecture planning, design
and implementation. It completely
separates them from your average
golf architecture junkie, who might
know about A.W. Tillinghast or
Robert Trent Jones but has no real
understanding of the 90 percent of
infrastructure that’s underground
and invisible to the golfer’s eye and
that really enables the golf course to
function. That jacket is a reminder
that there is a world of difference
between having an opinion about
where a bunker should go and
knowing how to create a bunker that
will endure.”
“ASGCA should not be a
Good
Housekeeping
seal of approval,”
says Hurdzan, “but rather it should
be a gathering of the brightest,
most forward thinking, actual
designers, who deeply care about
the traditions of the Society and
the history of our profession. If
those are our future members, the
Society’s future is bright.”
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16
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By Design
ASGCA 70TH ANNIVERSARY
That jacket
is a reminder that
there is
a world
of difference
between having an
opinion about where
a bunker should go
and knowing how to
create a bunker that
will endure
Brad S. Klein
Golfweek
architecture editor