Richard Mandell’s golf design practice has taken off over the last 10 years. He entered the business in the early 1990’s and paid his dues for over a decade working singular jobs while learning how to build and renovate courses with a minimal amount of of unnecessary inputs or accessorization. As a result he gained a…
Ron Forse was an engineer who made a jump into golf course architecture in 1989, working on a project in West Virginia in conjunction with Dr. Michael Hurdzan. Though not necessarily his intent, he began taking jobs consulting with a number of historic club, guiding them through the process of renovating their old courses. Since…
Trying to describe the essentials of good golf course routing calls to mind Justice Potter Stewart’s old brief about classifying porn — I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it. Bad golf course routings can be spotted miles away but truly great ones can be sublime. You often don’t realize they’re…
The first project Kyle Franz ever worked on was Tom Doak’s masterpiece, Pacific Dunes, a course now recognized as one of the best in the world. That fortuitous turn launched his design/build career where he amassed one of the business’s strongest pedigrees shaping courses for Bill Coore, Tim Liddy, Gil Hanse and others. His big solo break came…
The first project Kyle Franz ever worked on was Tom Doak’s masterpiece, Pacific Dunes, a course now recognized as one of the best in the world. That fortuitous turn launched his design/build career where he amassed one of the business’s strongest pedigrees shaping courses for Bill Coore, Tim Liddy, Gil Hanse and others. His big solo break came…
Mike Nuzzo seemed to have struck gold when he was hired by a wealthy Texas businessman and rancher to build an ultra-exclusive golf course intended only for the client’s personal use. For almost three years, Nuzzo, a first-time architect, and Don Mahaffey, a turf and irrigation specialist, coaxed out a wide, bouncy and fascinating 18-hole…
Mike Nuzzo seemed to have struck gold when he was hired by a wealthy Texas businessman and rancher to build an ultra-exclusive golf course intended only for the client’s personal use. For almost three years, Nuzzo, a first-time architect, and Don Mahaffey, a turf and irrigation specialist, coaxed out a wide, bouncy and fascinating 18-hole…
Golf courses built on sloping terrain usually feature distinct sections or acts, as the land transitions from high to low ground and back. Depending on the topography and architecture, some holes may fit better on the ground and offer highlights other areas can’t match. But the key on such sites is to unify all of it and make…
Architect Jeff Mingay broke into golf course architecture working projects for his mentor and fellow Canadian Rod Whitman. In 2009, after completing a trio of Canada’s most exceptional modern golf courses — Blackhawk, Sagebrush and Cabot Links — he opened his own design business and found immediate success renovating and restoring courses in British Columbia…
Debates regarding the best golf in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia typically revolve around tier 2 and 3 courses, as general consensus exists about the clubs there that are truly elite. Not so Atlanta. Once past Peachtree Golf Club, widely considered no. 1 by knowledgable players and panels (including me), the conversation about what’s good in Atlanta quickly devolves…