By Design – Issue 51, Winter 2020

19 Ballyshear and he loved it.” Perry Maxwell incorporated template holes into his designs too, but with a more natural style. “Maxwell’s use of template concepts was always employed within the context of the natural environment,” says Ty Butler, ASGCA, who grew up playing on a nine-hole Maxwell layout in Kansas. “I don’t think you’ll find an instance where Maxwell unnaturally manufactured these concepts outside the lines of what the site had to offer. And when natural features were lacking, Maxwell was an expert at embellishing a site, so it looked and felt natural. “He adhered to a natural approach to design and used the environment to its fullest. This creates tremendous strategic value in each hole and maximizes the beauty of his courses. He was a master of using the terrain to form each hole and it is this approach that gives all his courses a distinctive appearance, as well as a high degree of strategic values. “Maxwell’s incorporation of the natural systems into design and letting site characteristics dictate all aspects of the design is what most appeals to me. I strive to follow this design tenet with all my designs.” Whether natural or man-made, Rogers says that the courses of these Golden Age architects respected the ground. “Their designs were always well thought out and they had a very good understanding of strategic elements, of balance, and the greater impact of certain accent holes throughout the intended experience sequence,” he says. “Those architects had an absolutely superior use of subtlety along the way. They were not shy about a few bold strokes here and there, but the magic of their work was subtle features and their impacts to golfers, especially the mental side. “I focus much more now on the ground game because there is no value in designing to keep up with the DeChambeaus. My clients are keen to enjoy a much smaller scale version of the game, length has little matter to most, or is at least countered by more subtle treatments and elements, and a big part of that impact occurs on the ground, not in the air.” • Ty Butler, ASGCA drew on his love for Maxwell's designs when laying out the Kaluhyat course at Turning Stone Casino Resort in New York. Left, Westmoreland CC in Illinois, where Shawn Smith, ASGCA, drew on Macdonald and Raynor’s trench bunkering for inspiration Photo: Ty Butler, ASGCA Photo: Dimpled Rock