By Design – Issue 53, Summer 2021

27 One bad feature can ruin a hole, and every bad hole reduces your golf enjoyment by at least 1/18th and possibly your entire round, or day. Who needs that from golf ? Everything on your course is designed, either well or badly. If you start with the idea of building something merely functional, “functional” is the most you will get. “Functional” results are hard to justify when almost any change to a golf hole is an opportunity for a talented designer to create something that is “inspirational” and satisfying for very little extra up-front cost. A bad design costs just as much – or more – to build than a good one. That’s why every feature on your golf course should be designed, not just built. If a green dies, you might think you are simply rebuilding an “object.” Golf course architects think in terms of “creating a space” to maximize enjoyment. Yes, golf course architecture is a pretty big deal; without it, there is no golf. Golf course architecture starts by organizing nature sufficiently to allow golf, but that function is just the first task. The architect simultaneously weaves artistic expression with that function. Every green, tee, bunker and even cart path is an opportunity to create naturalistic beauty and inspire emotions, including delight, serenity, joy, as well as doubt, despair and anger. Yes, architects really do think this way. While golfers do intuitively know good golf course architecture by being inspired or bored, they are rarely versed in the principles of the art. Only golf course architects know how to make every piece of ground the best golf experience inherently possible. The fact is, if you want to create something of beauty that inspires golfers and is better than merely functional, you need a golf course architect. When you have a chance, don’t shortchange your course when it comes to maximizing its long-term prospects. As mom probably told you (more than once), “if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.” While she probably never mentioned it, this also applies to golf courses and golf course architecture. • To read more, order ‘ Designs on a Better Golf Course, ’ produced by the ASGCA Foundation, from Amazon Golf course architecture is about creating satisfying experiences, says ASGCA Past President Jeffrey Brauer, whose recent projects include the redesign of Tempest Golf Club in Gladewater, Texas Photo: Hugh Hargraves