By Design – Issue 50 // Fall 2020

18 John Fought, ASGCA, (pictured centre) on the new putting course he laid out on a parcel of land alongside the entrance drive to Black Butte Ranch in Oregon is important for these courses to aid in our continuing efforts to grow the game by creating opportunities for players of all skill levels.” Perpetual putting With its two 18-hole courses, Glaze Meadow and Big Meadow, golfers at Black Butte Ranch resort in Bend, Oregon, are very well served in the game’s traditional format. Being conscious that a small parcel of land along the driveway near the ninth hole on the Big Meadow course was not being used, the resort approached John Fought, ASGCA, for inspiration. Fought’s renovation of the club’s Glaze Meadow course in 2012 was named as Golf Inc.’s Renovation of the Year, so the resort’s CEO Jay Head and director of golf Jeff Fought were confident to give him a free rein. “We at Black Butte Ranch like John’s vision and style,” says Jeff Fought. “We sat down with John and told him what our goals were, and we let him go.” “It is an ideal location because all golfers must pass by this site when coming to the golf course to play,” says John Fought. “The property was heavily treed and was not used for anything.” Fought concluded that the space would be ideal for a putting course, a perfect fit for the family-oriented resort. “When I conceived the new putting course, I wanted something that was flexible and could be played differently so players would always want to spend time on the course,” he says. “I also wanted the new putting course to be simple to maintain with a minimal crew and it needed to be interesting, visually. “Based on my experience in designing these courses, I felt like there were two ways to go. The first is similar to the Himalayas putting course at St Andrews in Scotland, and the second would be to design a continuous course that could be adjusted each day depending on the speed of the greens and scheduled play.”