Wordle Proposal

The above image is a compilation of words from a recent proposal. The more times a word is used the larger it is in the image.  It gives a flavor of what is involved in a project - lots of construction and maintenance issues.  

Nuzzo is tiny and in the middle of it all.

It was created at Wordle.

"What makes you think you can design a golf course?"

When I first started my journey from working as an aerospace engineer to golf course architect there were quite a few naysayers, bad advice givers and mostly those that didn't respond to calls or e-mails - all understandably so.  And eventually there were many who were more than helpful - thank you.

On Friday a young man from Texas A&M met with me in my office about his potential future in the golf design business. I think some would say "Don't even consider it!" and would probably be accurate - it will be a tough road for anyone for the next few years. But I do think there is certainly room for an excellent project for me, just like I think there would be some opportunities for this young man to find an start. He didn't know what questions to ask yet, but I'm sure glad I was able to offer some suggestions with potential.

Pictured above is proof that even a small bunker can create a big penalty.  It is me trying to hit the 2nd green.

The new birdie balls are here, the new birdie balls are here.

If you haven't gotten a birdie ball in the mail before - please ask - the new version is here. It has a nice little picture of the 6th on the side.

This is the modern version of the golf wiffle ball. This one draws, fades and makes a neat sounds when you hit one with your club. Yes they don't break and go about 40 yards in the back yard.

Cheers

Juilliard's Golf Program

I recently got a wonderfully flattering e-mail from a post-graduate student from Juilliard wanting to persue his other passion of golf course design.  It is an extremely competitive market for projects and for those that want to enter the business.  I've heard many architects tell prospective applicants not to even bother - it is just too hard today - which is very good and accurate advice.  I try to be a little more optimistic - doubtful - but still optimistic.

His message was inspiring for me and I'm honored to be its recipeint and better understand how lucky I am to be in the position I am.  Thank you.

Pictured above is the 18th green from above.  Sometimes the clouds make the picture too.

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.

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

Bob Labbance Golf Historian & Writer

There is a great fund raiser going on this week in New Hampshire for golf historian and writer Bob Labbance. He has authored a number of great books and is a continual contributor to various industry magazines including a regular historical article in Superintendent Magazine.

Amazing Fun!

While a playoff round on a U.S. Open course doesn't usually equate to fun - this picture sure tells a different story. If they can have fun here, why not let everyone else have fun on thier own home course - instead of making them too difficult.

It was riveting competition!

My third round at Wolf Point

It appears as if our client has been improving way faster than I expected. There is definately a significant home course advantage. One new birdie for him - he hit driver off the deck to make a birdie on the tough par five 3rd (currently our 2nd)

The picture above is of the $20 I lost today.

What a great week...

The crew had planned a barbeque, so after my round at Wolf Point I got to also enjoy a great meal. What a perfect day.

Have a great US Open week - please grill all your meals.

Memorial Day

I took this picture today. It seemed very appropriate for our recent Memorial Day.

Winter

Winter has been a little wet - not unusual. The course has had a great deal of infrastructure work done over the last two months - including the maintenance roads, fences and clubhouse. The fences look very good - they are rustic cedar posts with a fair bit of barb wire to keep the cattle off the course. They fit the setting perfectly - both the cattle and fences.

Don reports that many fairways are being cut at fairway height. And the course is still mostly green. It has been several weeks since my last visit - I'm looking forward to getting down very soon. Should be lots of new pictures.

With my 100th post comes my first blog award...

The following quote is from an esteemed friend at Golf Club Atlas.

Golf Blog of the year

The Naffy goes to-------- >Tie (Ian Andrew's Caddy Shack and Mike Nuzzo)

People who read blogs, really don't like reading. In reality I think they just require visual stimulation first. As a rule, I stay away from blogs full of self promotion or those that are trying to highlight themselves. It is part of the reason I don't have a blog, why listen to a hardbag winge? Ian Andrew is a bloggist who is not afraid to shoot from the lip and moreover he's a wonderful writer and golf architect. Ian's lists and the rationale behind them are fodder for many a discussion over a few beers. If I've learned anything from him, it is this--Truly it is heinous to rank anything in the golf architecture business but a necessary evil that I cannot like Jessica Alba keep my eyes off of. His compilations are superb.

Yet, I will make bold to say, Ian cannot share the Naffy alone. Mike Nuzzo's tag is a horseshoe perhaps not because he works out of Texas but because just knowing him is good luck. Mike can you feng shui my house? I have followed his new project which is the subject of his blog daily. It truly is a wonderful look into what it takes to build a course on a daily basis. If you ever wanted to know how difficult and thrilling it can be at the same time with some one who is on site every day, then read Mike's blog.

Milestone

The crew hit a milestone this week -- all the greens grassed, and just a tiny bit more grass to sprig and sod. Cheers. This is the mini cooler - the full one is to the left....

Happy Halloween

We had a big take on candy tonight. Me and the family had a blast. We even found a haunted house in our neighborhood -- they had tons of decorations and scary monsters.

I very rarely eat candy but tonight I picked out a few of my favorites from the bounty.

The hershey candy above is fantastic, even if the name isn't the best. I don't know what the five things are, but the pretzel, penut butter and chocolate taste great together.

Back from the road....

I’ve been on the road for the past two weeks. My first stop was Palm Springs for the fall Golf Inc. Conference. I didn’t play but had the chance to visit PGA West’s Stadium Course (pictured above). It was designed and built by Pete Dye and his associates. Flying out of Palm Springs it is quite jarring seeing every housing development constrict a golf course. At least the stadium course is single loaded – each hole only has homes on one side. The site was flat and the golf holes were carved out of the desert. The homes are not as prominent as the aerial depicts as well – the holes play towards the center and the homes are set back and on a different elevation.

I didn’t take any pictures but I did get a great guided tour from someone who was involved with the project. The greenside bunker on 16 is very, very deep – 18 feet. It is surprising to see another Pete Dye island green, probably because it wasn’t his idea. Many of the features were quite creative -- and the wayward driver of the golf ball would have a very hard time.

I'm going to share a few of my stops on the road later this week.

Gracias México & Felicitaciones Lorena Ochoa

What a great week for golf in Mexico. There was a great deal of interest in golf this week from the country that borders my home state -- and as can be seen from the above web traffic map there was also great interest for this blog. I hope the game will prosper and grow -- it is a goal of mine to work in Mexico one day soon.

This week was the first ever Women’s British Open contested on The Old Course at St. Andrews. The pictures of all the players on the Swilcan Bridge and in front of the R&A Clubhouse were really great to see, and the following is one of my favorite quotes from the week - "The greens are very strange".

It is an awesome golf course –- I’ve been fortunate to have played there with my father –- both forwards and backwards.

Thank You Infiniti & The Wall Street Journal

Hoping to capitalize on the increased volume of web searchers regarding the recent purchase of The Wall Street Journal by Rupert Murdoch… :)

In Today’s Wall Street Journal Infiniti has run a half page ad, pg. A3, featuring me as an owner of one of their vehicles. I submitted and suggested a photo of my car on site – I have driven it into a few strange places - I guess they liked their very polished version. Maybe I’ll show one when the site equipment series continues next week - actually I think this might be picture enough.

It was really cool to also have the WSJ’s artist create my stipple portrait. It is the image at right under “about me”.

From the Infiniti website: Innovation. Ingenuity. Inspiration. Infiniti is proud to present some of today’s forward thinkers -- and their Infiniti vehicles.

Mott of Live Oaks

Last week I was describing a mott of live oaks on the course to someone – they asked what is a mott? As there are quite a few on the course I thought I’d throw a little vocabulary your way. The “ranch” portion of the course was routed around several motts of Live Oaks. I must say that they turned out quite well in the context of the course - they are beautiful and large. We did very little clearing of trees, it was mostly the Huisatche (bonus word) that we cleared. I did like the Huisatche look – kind of like a spindly gorse and almost as painful – but apparently not everyone is very fond of the stuff.