The Art of Restraint in Golf Course Architecture
It’s a word that has become increasingly familiar to fans of great golf course architecture. The dictionary says “restraint” involves moderate behavior and self-control, and it’s an important trait for a designer to be able to call upon. Tom Doak says it is “deciding not to do something which is just as active a decision […]
Golf’s Greatest Reveals
A round of golf usually includes some memorable moments—a birdie at your nemesis hole; a sensational sunset; a good laugh with playing partners. Or, perhaps, an incredible and unexpected view that stops you in your tracks. An article about the best reveals in golf could be a dangerous thing, though. Common to the most exceptional […]
An Extremely Fun Makeover for Golden Gate Park Golf Course
The transformation of Golden Gate Park Golf Course—the 9-hole par-3 golf course in the far west of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park—is complete, and if fun, quick, inexpensive golf on eye-catching and architecturally stimulating holes is of interest, then this is most definitely the place for you. The eight-month project was led by architect Jay […]
12 Great Golf Reads This Christmas
From absorbing and educational to sentimental and hilarious, here’s a dozen great golf books for Christmas and beyond. Two Ruddy Ducks and a Partridge on a Par Three Clive Agran This 160-page paperback might be an inexpensive stocking filler, but it could turn out to be the highlight of your Christmas. Agran has a very […]
My Favorite Public Golf Holes in America (Back Nine)
After previously naming my favorite front nine public golf holes in America, the back nine reveals some definite biases. There are only three par fours, which might suggest that while most of the world’s holes are par fours (and two of those listed are among my favorite holes anywhere in the world), it’s the threes […]
Modern Classics: Wild Horse
Another beauty in the Nebraska Sandhills, but this one is open to the public—and very affordable It’s unlikely any public golfer hoping to get the most bang from their buck will ever find a better option than Wild Horse Golf Club in Gothenburg, Neb. Okay, the fact it’s in Gothenburg—not the easiest place to reach, […]
My Favorite Public Golf Holes in America (Front Nine)
Being asked to name your favorite 18 holes in America is something of a dream assignment for any golfer. Until, that is, you begin to second-guess yourself, at which point you soon realize this is going to take way longer and induce a lot more anxiety than you’d originally anticipated. A lot of golfers could […]
Thad Layton Starts New Design Business as Arnold Palmer Design Folds
Until early September 2023, when it was announced that the Arnold Palmer Design Company would be shutting its doors, Thad Layton, a senior architect for the firm, would go into meetings knowing Arnold Palmer had his back. No, the great man might not have actually been present for the last seven years (can it really […]
Q&A: Golf Course Architect David McLay Kidd
It’s almost 25 years since David McLay Kidd burst onto the scene with the design of Bandon Dunes’s original and eponymous course. Since then, the Scot, who now calls Bend, Ore., home, has established himself as one of the leading architects of his generation with a number of top-ranked designs both public and private. At […]
Great Public Golf Courses Around Seattle
In his 1962 travelogue Travels with Charley, John Steinbeck wrote of his shock at seeing the rapid expansion of Seattle. He’d thought of it as a “little city of space and trees and gardens, its houses matched to such a background,” but it was now a place of eight-lane highways with traffic that rushed with […]
