Forrest Richardson: The Innovative ASGCA President
He’d never say it, never hint at, or even joke about it. He’d reject the idea absolutely, in fact, and ask that you never repeat it. But technically, in a manner of speaking, it could be argued—quite convincingly actually—that Forrest Richardson is currently the highest-ranking golf course architect in America. No, he’s not the best-known […]
5 Myths About Golf Course Design
Golf course architects are the artists—the ones who are able to take a vision, move a ton of dirt, and create a masterpiece for golfers to enjoy. Their work can be quite grueling and tedious—Rome wasn’t built in a day, just as any renowned layout wasn’t imagined and constructed overnight. To dig a little deeper […]
Personal Bests
The big-name architects designed courses that anyone-including you-can play. Here are the best from each of them. One of the great things about golf is how many courses are open to the public. Another terrific feature is that so many different individuals brought their aesthetics and expertise to the task of designing courses. Put those […]
The Buck Club Finds A Site for Its New Course “The Tree Farm”
“It’s very real! Time to get it on!” The excitement in golf course architect Rob Collins’s voice could only be relatable to someone who has been able to blend their career with a life passion. Someone like PGA Tour pro Zac Blair. Blair, Collins, and Tad King, the other half of King-Collins Golf Course Design, […]
Advice from the Architects: How to Approach a Trip to Bandon Dunes
Over the past two decades, Bandon Dunes Golf Resort has built quite a base of loyalists—some of whom return for a buddies’ trip every single year. But the ever-growing golf destination on the Oregon coast also continues to expand its fanbase with first-timers eager for a remote escape and a taste of authentic links golf […]
Mickelson National Makes Its Debut
Five years ago, Kevin Smith, the Director of Communications at Alberta Golf, stood on what was to become the 10th green at Mickelson National Golf Club and held onto a flag in the dirt. It looked more like the moon than a golf course, he said. After half a decade, Smith got to play his […]
Modern Classics: Great Waters
Jack Nicklaus returned to Reynolds Lake Oconee to modernize and renovate his three-decade-old gem Jack Nicklaus has done some great things in the state of Georgia. There are those six green jackets, of course. But Jack also did some pretty fancy tailoring about 100 miles west of Augusta, where he built—and recently renovated—Great Waters at […]
Gil Hanse’s Architecture 101: Greens and Their Complexes
On a visit to The Los Angeles Country Club in preparation for the 2023 U.S. Open, I did something that I rarely do. While walking the course with the superintendent, we putted on every green. And I must say, it was a lot of fun, free from trying to “make” a putt and instead watching […]
Jack Nicklaus at 80
Jack Nicklaus is telling stories. He’s seated on a makeshift stage for the reopening of the Great Waters course at Reynolds Lake Oconee, a design he originally built in 1992 in the picturesque, golf-mad community between Atlanta and Augusta. Back then, Nicklaus convinced the ownership that instead of building a string of McMansions along the 90 miles of lakefront, they should take […]
LINKS Exclusive Q&A: Course Architect Keith Rhebb
By Adam Stanley What a life it’s been for Keith Rhebb. A life, he says, he couldn’t even imagine in his dreams. Rhebb got his start in 2002 after working for a construction company in his hometown of Lincoln, Neb., and has made a name for himself working alongside Bill Coore and Ben […]
