Bones of a Golf Course

A recently published article about routing a golf course.

Me & Perry

I'm off to the Golf Inc. conference in Phoenix. Above I'm sitting on a panel with Perry Dye at Doral this spring. Perry tells good stories about Pete.

Auggie & Robert - Thank you.

Thank you CPS and especially Auggie & Robert (pictured outside my office).  Power is back after 13 1/2 days! I learned a lot about linemen today.  Ike was very big - Center Point Energy had thier hands full.

A few funny signs were in the neighborhood this week too:
Free Beer for Lineman.
We Love CPS and Billy.
Hot Wife wants lineman!!

I do have to thank Don and Wayne - they helped get the office running for a couple days this week - a real life Rube Goldberg - sending e-mail and blogging with gasoline.

Peace to all:  Red Cross.

Course Set Up

"I just set a really great pin on the 15th green" Don said enthusiastically on the phone. "Front left of the green. I also put the 14th tee up a little as it is planing downwind -- give 'em a chance to go for the green in two." Don told me he always enjoyed setting up his courses, but never as much as at Wolf Point. There are so many more variables - the tees can almost be anywhere and the greens are so irregular just a few feet can change the optimum strategy.

Above is the 7th green - with a very front pin.

You can learn a lot about a course if you follow a skilled individual set one up -- better yet -- ask Don.

The 10th green complex

Above is a picture of the 10th green complex looking back towards the tee. The humps are in play if you go too far left -- away from the lake. It is the shortest par 4 on the course.

It's Gone Goodbye...

Yankee Stadium that is (Wolf Point fared Hurricane Ike great - more to share later in the week). Tonight is the last game at Yankee Stadium. There is a very good article in Sports Illustrated this week. Sadly I won't be watching -- we don't have power yet -- and I don't know how much I'd like to watch anyway.

This game however was a most memorable game for a fourth grader with his father. Coincidently Tom Doak was at this same game too -- we weren't sitting together.
R.I.P. Yankee Stadium.
Cheers

I Like Everything.

Last week I played a round with our client. When we got to the 13th tee I asked how he thought the bunkers were turning out. His reply -- "I Like Everything."

Wow.

He hasn't missed a day on the course while in town. Why should tomorrow be any different? So has a tee time tomorrow with a different partner -- IKE. Don will be there too, I'm not sure if he'll be caddying for him like Carl did for the Father.

Here's to a career round that doesn't get spoiled by lightning.
Peace

IKE!

It has been a year since I wrote about the weather. I hope this is the last time I do and the last time I see Port Lavaca on a national map. Peace.

The Tortuous Path

This picture is taken from the middle of the 3rd fairway. The right side of this par five is "The Tortuous Path". The green is receptive to play from the left side of the fairway. I played my 2nd 18 hole round last week - I have lots of new images to show - please note the new banner image.

One of my favorites is easy...

I love the 15th hole. Above is a new picture from the tee. It has played pretty easy. There is lots of room to bail right on the safe side and then it is a pretty straight forward up and down. Although if you check the last scorecard you'll see I made a mess here too. I'm looking forward to playing soon. The 15th is ranked 15th for handicapping purposes.

I really like site visits

An adventure to some place new is always a great trip - as a job requirement it is one of the most enjoyable. I prefer a site plan or topographic map so I can visit with a preliminary routing sketch. If the land dictates something different - I can ignore the routing. Some elements turn out better than anticipated and some not as good. And I also look to see how well my ideas would work. I have heard a good number of stories of scares happening to architects on preliminary site visits - so I am a little cautious - but it is hardly uncharted territories. I have gotten pretty good at avoiding spiders....

I never know what I will find.