Like most architects, Steve Smyers has a deep reverence for the classical era and the strategic brilliance of Harry Colt, Alister MacKenzie, George Thomas and others. However, as an elite player as well as a veteran designer, he realized the basic strategic precepts that have existed since the early 1900s and have guided much of…
Drew Rogers hung out his own design shingle in 2010 after working 18 years with the firm of (Arthur ) Hills & (Steve) Forrest. While working for Hills he gained extensive expertise building new golf courses, albeit it to the specifications of Hills and his clients. Today, Rogers’ own architectural point of view is evident…
Rees Jones has spent nearly 35 years preparing, modifying and remodeling golf courses for major championship events. In addition to the 100 original courses and dozens of renovations he’s orchestrated, he’s infused his vision into such venerable American tournament courses as Pinehurst No. 2, Oakland Hills, Medinah No. 3 and The Country Club for the…
Kye Goalby, one of the most accomplished design and shaping specialists in the construction business, is at the top of the call list of just about every A-list golf architect when exceptional feature work is needed. For the last 20 years he’s worked on some of the world’s most unique projects alongside Gil Hanse, Brian…
Ah, it’s that time of year—the flowering trees, the treacly theme music, crippling pollen and the lamentation of everything Augusta National gets wrong with its golf course. For many historians and a large sector of architectural observers, criticism of all that Augusta National has lost or surrendered over the decades, including the original design intent…
There is no point in trying to “rate” Augusta National. Putting an evaluation or rating on the golf course would be like doing a contemporary movie review of “Star Wars.” It doesn’t matter. Commenting seriously on Mark Hamill‘s flat delivery, the anti-intellectualism of the “Force” or the cheapening effect of Han Solo‘s dues ex machina arrival in the…
Tom Mackenzie joined with Martin Ebert to form the golf architectural firm of Mackenzie & Ebert in 2005. They each began their careers designing golf courses for Donald Steel, and their business is very much a continuation of the elder architect’s practice. Like Steel, Mackenzie prefers to design naturally, altering landscapes as little as possible…
Let’s get one thing out of the way — the greater Atlanta area in one of the weakest golf markets of all major American cities. Which is ironic because, for many people, Georgia represents a very specific type of American golf ideal. Most of that feeling, of course, is tethered to the fantasy of Augusta National. It isn’t so…
Peter Kessler was the face and voice of the Golf Channel when the station first went live in 1995. Over the next seven years he commanded the show, mastering ceremonies and interviewing virtually every important figure in golf and instruction. In the course of that time period, and for years following hosting his show on Sirius XM’s PGA…
Peter Kessler was the face and voice of the Golf Channel when the station first went live in 1995. Over the next seven years he commanded the show, mastering ceremonies and interviewing virtually every important figure in golf and instruction. In the course of that time period, and for years following hosting his show on…