I wanted to pop in and thank all of the FEGC members for their support over the years, many of you are among our earliest and biggest fans. We wouldn't have been able to do any of this without you and I am eternally grateful for you support.
I hadn't really thought much about the 10 years until yesterday afternoon when I sat down to write the newsletter and have been surprised at how many memories and emotions have flooded in. It has been a dream to build this company and community to the point we have today and I CANNOT wait for some of the projects we have been working on to come to light.
I'd love to hear your favorite memories and content from the past 10 years and things you would like us to explore the next 10 years if you have time or thoughts.
I wanted to pop in and thank all of the FEGC members for their support over the years, many of you are among our earliest and biggest fans. We wouldn't have been able to do any of this without you and I am eternally grateful for you support.
I hadn't really thought much about the 10 years until yesterday afternoon when I sat down to write the newsletter and have been surprised at how many memories and emotions have flooded in. It has been a dream to build this company and community to the point we have today and I CANNOT wait for some of the projects we have been working on to come to light.
I'd love to hear your favorite memories and content from the past 10 years and things you would like us to explore the next 10 years if you have time or thoughts.
Tom Doakchecked in from Punta Brava Golf Club in Baja California, where he is making his final construction visit. "The goal is to grass it before Christmas!" he wrote. "I took tons of photos yesterday — the place is spectacular — but photos can't really do justice to the scale of the mountain and the rocks offshore.... So, no more photos here. Honestly, I don't think you are ready for them."
Clayton, DeVries & Pont have been hired to consult at Appleby Golf Club, an 1883 moorland course designed by Willie Fernie in Cumbria, England.
Architect Thad Layton posted a very cool time-lapse reel of himself painting the fifth hole at English heathland gem West Sussex Golf Club. This is a talent/skill that baffles me. It's like magic.
Tom Doakchecked in from Punta Brava Golf Club in Baja California, where he is making his final construction visit. "The goal is to grass it before Christmas!" he wrote. "I took tons of photos yesterday — the place is spectacular — but photos can't really do justice to the scale of the mountain and the rocks offshore.... So, no more photos here. Honestly, I don't think you are ready for them."
Clayton, DeVries & Pont have been hired to consult at Appleby Golf Club, an 1883 moorland course designed by Willie Fernie in Cumbria, England.
Architect Thad Layton posted a very cool time-lapse reel of himself painting the fifth hole at English heathland gem West Sussex Golf Club. This is a talent/skill that baffles me. It's like magic.
Pinehurst Resortposted some photos of Coore & Crenshaw's in-progress design at Pinehurst No. 11, next door to Tom Doak's No. 10 course. The property — which contains remnants of an old sand mine as well as a few abandoned hole corridors from the Pit Golf Links — looks gnarly, knobbly, and unpredictable.
Will this be the most unconventional-looking course Coore & Crenshaw have designed since... I don't know, Talking Stick? We'll see.
One constant, however, is C&C's architectural philosophy. "We don't plan to move a lot of material," Ben Crenshaw said in an interview posted by the resort. "We very much like to let the holes and the land speak for themselves, and do little things."
Pinehurst Resortposted some photos of Coore & Crenshaw's in-progress design at Pinehurst No. 11, next door to Tom Doak's No. 10 course. The property — which contains remnants of an old sand mine as well as a few abandoned hole corridors from the Pit Golf Links — looks gnarly, knobbly, and unpredictable.
Will this be the most unconventional-looking course Coore & Crenshaw have designed since... I don't know, Talking Stick? We'll see.
One constant, however, is C&C's architectural philosophy. "We don't plan to move a lot of material," Ben Crenshaw said in an interview posted by the resort. "We very much like to let the holes and the land speak for themselves, and do little things."
First discussion topic and first post all baked into one! If Harris English is correct and the "new" PGA Tour will have open weeks/gap weeks, why not make Monday Qualifiers matter? Pre-1983 or so, there were only 60 exempt players and the rest had to either finish top-15 the week prior or Monday qualify. It wasn't for one or two spots, it was for many. If the new Tour will have off weeks before and after some, many or all of the PGA Tour events, why not make the week start on Monday with a robust Monday Qualifying event from which 20 or 30 or 40 players qualify? That could be a great kick-off to the week, especially if there isn't a tournament the week before. Thoughts?
First discussion topic and first post all baked into one! If Harris English is correct and the "new" PGA Tour will have open weeks/gap weeks, why not make Monday Qualifiers matter? Pre-1983 or so, there were only 60 exempt players and the rest had to either finish top-15 the week prior or Monday qualify. It wasn't for one or two spots, it was for many. If the new Tour will have off weeks before and after some, many or all of the PGA Tour events, why not make the week start on Monday with a robust Monday Qualifying event from which 20 or 30 or 40 players qualify? That could be a great kick-off to the week, especially if there isn't a tournament the week before. Thoughts?
I've booked a foursome for this Saturday at the par 3 course at Olympic if anyone is interested in joining. I think the guest fee is $45 and if you're a member just shoot me a note and I can update the tee time and add you.
If we get more than four people interested and have another member we can book multiple times.
The weather looks nice and mid-afternoon has been the most pleasant to be outside over the past week or so.
I've booked a foursome for this Saturday at the par 3 course at Olympic if anyone is interested in joining. I think the guest fee is $45 and if you're a member just shoot me a note and I can update the tee time and add you.
If we get more than four people interested and have another member we can book multiple times.
The weather looks nice and mid-afternoon has been the most pleasant to be outside over the past week or so.
This was a pleasant addition to my Wednesday routine last summer but seemed like a short lived experiment. Are there planes (or even an opportunity) to do it again?
This was a pleasant addition to my Wednesday routine last summer but seemed like a short lived experiment. Are there planes (or even an opportunity) to do it again?
Doing a wishlist secret santa with my family this year so I needed to put in some gifts I would wish for. Got me thinking what gift ideas do you have or want as a golf nut / architecture nerd?
Doing a wishlist secret santa with my family this year so I needed to put in some gifts I would wish for. Got me thinking what gift ideas do you have or want as a golf nut / architecture nerd?
Thoroughly enjoyed the SGS nostalgia trip of early life beverage choices. Keystone, Natty, Smirnoff - these are the universal experiences that will bring our society together.
Thoroughly enjoyed the SGS nostalgia trip of early life beverage choices. Keystone, Natty, Smirnoff - these are the universal experiences that will bring our society together.
The family had gone to bed last night, and I found myself with a quiet house. Having not seen much of Royal Melbourne ever, I was excited to turn on the television and watch a bit of the tournament.
what I was treated to was roughly an hour of guys putting. That’s it. Putts. A few bunker shots. Then miraculously there was a digital flyover of a hole after about 45 minutes, and someone hit an approach shot. And then right back to putting.
i’m curious if anyone else has watched the coverage and seen something better. I was disappointed to say the least.
The family had gone to bed last night, and I found myself with a quiet house. Having not seen much of Royal Melbourne ever, I was excited to turn on the television and watch a bit of the tournament.
what I was treated to was roughly an hour of guys putting. That’s it. Putts. A few bunker shots. Then miraculously there was a digital flyover of a hole after about 45 minutes, and someone hit an approach shot. And then right back to putting.
i’m curious if anyone else has watched the coverage and seen something better. I was disappointed to say the least.
40 y/o, married with kids, no interest in fighting!
I'll be in the Sarasota area over the holidays (week in between Christmas and New Years) on a family vacation and I'm looking to sneak out for a round or two. Any recommendations in the area? I'm looking at public courses, but I'm a member at a club in Chicago so any private courses that are accessible with the old pro phone call approach are also a possibility (have had mixed success with that in the past).
I'm looking for a fun and playable vacation round - I don't really care about conditioning or non-golf course amenities. University Park and the Ross course at Bobby Jones were the options that seemed to pop up most via google.
40 y/o, married with kids, no interest in fighting!
I'll be in the Sarasota area over the holidays (week in between Christmas and New Years) on a family vacation and I'm looking to sneak out for a round or two. Any recommendations in the area? I'm looking at public courses, but I'm a member at a club in Chicago so any private courses that are accessible with the old pro phone call approach are also a possibility (have had mixed success with that in the past).
I'm looking for a fun and playable vacation round - I don't really care about conditioning or non-golf course amenities. University Park and the Ross course at Bobby Jones were the options that seemed to pop up most via google.
We pushed out a few forum updates today and hopefully you've already noticed but if you haven't:
We added the comments feed that has historically lived in the Clubhouse to the homepage of the Forum. (note: we have not finished this update for mobile yet but should have it done in the next day or so at the most)
We added a new Sort By options for posts. If you'd like to sort posts by the ones with the most recent comments you can do so by opening the dropdown near the search bar in the forum home page and selecting the option for Recent Activity. This will sort order posts based on the timestamp of their most recent comment (sorted newest to oldest).
We're almost done with Post and Topic following. If you click on a specific post now you'll see a + FOLLOW button in the upper right hand corner of the page. Clicking this will subscribe you to email updates of comments made to that post. Topic following will follow shortly. Additionally, there was a small bug in this feature this morning that should be remedied but if you follow and don't get emails know that we'll squash the bug in short order.
Aside from that, I'll most likely make a change to the Clubhouse later today to make it more focused on members-only articles and course profiles and remove the thread of comments as they now live on the forum home page. Let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.
Cheers!
P.S. We're still working on many other forum enhancements (most notably being able to add images to comments) but as always I'm happy to hear any and all feedback.
We pushed out a few forum updates today and hopefully you've already noticed but if you haven't:
We added the comments feed that has historically lived in the Clubhouse to the homepage of the Forum. (note: we have not finished this update for mobile yet but should have it done in the next day or so at the most)
We added a new Sort By options for posts. If you'd like to sort posts by the ones with the most recent comments you can do so by opening the dropdown near the search bar in the forum home page and selecting the option for Recent Activity. This will sort order posts based on the timestamp of their most recent comment (sorted newest to oldest).
We're almost done with Post and Topic following. If you click on a specific post now you'll see a + FOLLOW button in the upper right hand corner of the page. Clicking this will subscribe you to email updates of comments made to that post. Topic following will follow shortly. Additionally, there was a small bug in this feature this morning that should be remedied but if you follow and don't get emails know that we'll squash the bug in short order.
Aside from that, I'll most likely make a change to the Clubhouse later today to make it more focused on members-only articles and course profiles and remove the thread of comments as they now live on the forum home page. Let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.
Cheers!
P.S. We're still working on many other forum enhancements (most notably being able to add images to comments) but as always I'm happy to hear any and all feedback.
Yesterday, as FEGC member Pearce Barringer noted in his own forum post, TGL announced that architect Gil Hanse had joined the screen-golf league's roster of hole designers. Accompanying the announcement was an awkward, faintly surreal video of a bemused Hanse making a WWE-like entrance into an empty SoFi Center. I'd love to hear the instructions the director of this piece of content gave him before hitting record.
TGL also unveiled one of Hanse's designs, a 590-yard par 5 called "Stone & Steeple." The hole features a few recognizable Hanse motifs: a threatening boundary wall, a lone bunker guarding the second-shot layup zone, and a rambling "Sahara" bunker, strewn with turf islands, cutting across the fairway. The neighboring graveyard even has precedent in Hanse's body of work: in his renovation of Waverley Country Club in Portland, Oregon, he moved the second green about 50 yards back so that it abutted a 19th-century cemetery.
The most striking aspect of Hanse's design is the double diagonal formed by the two sections of fairway on either side of the Sahara bunker. The basic idea, I gather, is that the farther players hit their drives without carrying the bunker, the more to the right they will end up, and the worse their angle into the green will be. On the other hand, if they want to make the long carry over the bunker on the left side and earn a shorter second shot from a better angle, they will need to bring the wall into play.
Classic strategic-school stuff, in other words. I think I'd enjoy playing this hole, if it were real. And you know what? It basically looks real. And that might be a problem.
So far, the reception of "Stone & Steeple" on social media has been chilly. There seems to be an emerging consensus among TGL viewers that the virtual-hole designs, unconstrained as they are by physical and economic realities, should be crazier, more video game-like, more purely inventive. As my colleague Joseph LaMagna put it on X, "TGL's biggest whiff is designing realistic holes. It makes zero sense to play holes like [Hanse's] in the one arena that's free from practical constraints."
That's probably right. The realism of Hanse's hole registers as a bit unimaginative.
But I have a hard time getting worked up about it because — confession time — I don't really care about TGL. I could barely make it through a single match in the first season. And this is not to say that the product is bad or that the people who enjoy it are rubes. It's just not for me. A huge part of what I love about golf is the relationship between the player, the course, and nature. When you strip away nature — the outdoors, the elements, the land — I lose most of my interest.
But what I'd like to hear Hanse address at some point is why he was interested in TGL. In a press release from the league, he said, "Starting with a relatively blank slate for TGL has been liberating. Designing holes for TGL has given us an opportunity to step out of our comfort zone and step into other aspects of golf course design in the virtual world."
As an architect who typically likes to derive inspiration from physical terrain, why was he compelled by the prospect of a "blank slate"? And in what sense did he stretch beyond his "comfort zone" here?
These are not passive-aggressive questions. I'd genuinely like to hear his answers.
Yesterday, as FEGC member Pearce Barringer noted in his own forum post, TGL announced that architect Gil Hanse had joined the screen-golf league's roster of hole designers. Accompanying the announcement was an awkward, faintly surreal video of a bemused Hanse making a WWE-like entrance into an empty SoFi Center. I'd love to hear the instructions the director of this piece of content gave him before hitting record.
TGL also unveiled one of Hanse's designs, a 590-yard par 5 called "Stone & Steeple." The hole features a few recognizable Hanse motifs: a threatening boundary wall, a lone bunker guarding the second-shot layup zone, and a rambling "Sahara" bunker, strewn with turf islands, cutting across the fairway. The neighboring graveyard even has precedent in Hanse's body of work: in his renovation of Waverley Country Club in Portland, Oregon, he moved the second green about 50 yards back so that it abutted a 19th-century cemetery.
The most striking aspect of Hanse's design is the double diagonal formed by the two sections of fairway on either side of the Sahara bunker. The basic idea, I gather, is that the farther players hit their drives without carrying the bunker, the more to the right they will end up, and the worse their angle into the green will be. On the other hand, if they want to make the long carry over the bunker on the left side and earn a shorter second shot from a better angle, they will need to bring the wall into play.
Classic strategic-school stuff, in other words. I think I'd enjoy playing this hole, if it were real. And you know what? It basically looks real. And that might be a problem.
So far, the reception of "Stone & Steeple" on social media has been chilly. There seems to be an emerging consensus among TGL viewers that the virtual-hole designs, unconstrained as they are by physical and economic realities, should be crazier, more video game-like, more purely inventive. As my colleague Joseph LaMagna put it on X, "TGL's biggest whiff is designing realistic holes. It makes zero sense to play holes like [Hanse's] in the one arena that's free from practical constraints."
That's probably right. The realism of Hanse's hole registers as a bit unimaginative.
But I have a hard time getting worked up about it because — confession time — I don't really care about TGL. I could barely make it through a single match in the first season. And this is not to say that the product is bad or that the people who enjoy it are rubes. It's just not for me. A huge part of what I love about golf is the relationship between the player, the course, and nature. When you strip away nature — the outdoors, the elements, the land — I lose most of my interest.
But what I'd like to hear Hanse address at some point is why he was interested in TGL. In a press release from the league, he said, "Starting with a relatively blank slate for TGL has been liberating. Designing holes for TGL has given us an opportunity to step out of our comfort zone and step into other aspects of golf course design in the virtual world."
As an architect who typically likes to derive inspiration from physical terrain, why was he compelled by the prospect of a "blank slate"? And in what sense did he stretch beyond his "comfort zone" here?
These are not passive-aggressive questions. I'd genuinely like to hear his answers.
And a little more background: the course was built in the 60s in MN. It's not top anything. I grew up playing here and it's home to me. I have no idea if it's a good course or not but I never tire of playing it. The owner's continue to play keeping up with the joneses rather than be trendsetters and let the course stand on its own merit.
Very biased because we’re friends with the owner but I’m a huge fan. I’ve had two over the last six years. They’re so well made. And if anything breaks in transit they’ll send you a replacement part.
Discussion Of Affordability On The Last Episode Of Designing Golf
Apr 21
There are plenty of great designers who can and will build to a budget. A big part of the issue with these renovations, though, is that they're being done at clubs that either a) weren't originally built with modern amenities like the irrigation example in the episode or b) weren't originally built with ANY long-term, lower-cost sustainability in mind.
I live in Jacksonville where there are tons of these middle ground neighborhood golf courses. They all have miles of concrete cart paths--both on the holes themselves and most notably for miles and miles in between--plus ailing water features and too many bunkers and bad drainage and all the rest of it. The cost to maintain all of that to minimum standards demands a higher price for membership or public play than they can get away with charging with "aging infrastructure." So they pop for a reno, but then no one wants a reno that takes out most of the cart paths and reduces the size of the clubhouse, and around and around she goes...
I'm pushing 50, and what's most unfortunate I think is that the less expensive aging golf courses I grew up on were all neighborhood courses that were bunched in on maybe 150 acres maximum and all the holes ran parallel and all of that but they were MUCH more sustainable and much cheaper to maintain. The modern version of those aging courses that COULD be accessible entry points for golf are all the subdivision clubs we got in the 90s with miles and miles of non-golfing ground to maintain. They're just the opposite from an expense and sustainability perspective, and we're stuck with them because even 150 acres in a similar area would be too much money in land cost (particularly when you can sell houses instead) to justify building a golf course.
Winston-Salem, NC: Reynolds Park Golf Course (Maxwell about $25 to walk)
Winston-Salem, NC: Tanglewood Park Championship Course (a solid RTJ)
Asheboro, NC: Asheboro Muni (Ross 9 holer, $10 to walk all day)
Wilmington, NC: Wilmington Muni (18 hole Ross, $46 to walk)
I mention Reynolds Park almost as much as Ben mentions Warren. It's a wonderful Maxwell on some great land. Tanglewood is a fun one with a good short 4's that are unique to my eye (5th and 15th). Two loops around Asheboro for $10 felt like petty theft. It was a delightful surprise. Wilmington Muni is in a coastal town and the city has done a good job maintaining it and restoring it. Gets a lot of play and it's not hard to see why. There's a volcano hole! And a bell!
I was lucky to win one of the bags at the event, so not entirely sure what model it is, but I really enjoy it. I mostly use a push-cast at home, but when I travel every caddie I've had said they love to carry it compared to standard stand bags so a-plus review there.
Denver, Colorado: Common Ground
East Georgia: Arrowhead Pointe
Houston, Texas: Cypresswood
Lexington, Kentucky: Gibson Bay
Louisville, Kentucky: Nevel Meade
Upstate South Carolina: Furman
All of these have some architecual interest and are walkable. I'm not breaking news on Common Ground, but I adore each of the other courses listed. Arrowhead Pointe is the best hidden gem I've played anywhere in the country. Both courses at Cypresswood are solid, but the Traditions course really makes me feel things. Gibson Bay gets lost in the limelight of Kearney Hill and with it being in Richmond, but is a stout test with some greay holes. Nevel Meade is a beacon of light in the otherwise sad scene that is public golf in Louisville. Furman has some of the best greens complexes I've ever seen and makes me understand why Brad Faxon is such a putting guru.
I have the stand model. It’s a very well designed bag. Pockets are perfectly sized and positioned. The fit and finish of the bag is great. However my stand stopped deploying after 5 rounds and the straps broke within a month and I had to replace the clasp and closure system. Other than these issues. I really enjoy the bag and am only swapping to a more minimal bag due to my want to walk more than 36 holes a day regularly.
I really want to check this place out next time I go to Kauai, God willing. The Makai course at Princeville was great but the charm at Wailua was evident just from driving by it on the main road. Forget Poipu Bay, give me Wailua!
I've got one of the older models of the Rye, and I love it. One of the shoulder straps on it broke after two seasons of pretty heavy use playing and carrying my bag, but they offer free replacements. I'd consider it a "no frills" bag, but they look great, are well made, and you're supporting a small business. If something happened to mine, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.
SE Mich: Living in Detroit seems like most of what I view as great value courses are clustered around Ann Arbor but I'd say Calderone, Leslie Park (at the walking rate), and Washtenaw are all good value courses (not factoring pace of play since I've had wildly varying results depending on time of year). U of M at the affiliate rate is also great bang for buck, another win for university courses.
32, married, no kids (yet)
New to the FEGC. Grew up in northwest Indiana where I've put many balls into the waters of the infamous Lost Marsh golf course during that time. Lived downtown for about 10 years but I just moved back to northwest Indiana. I'm a member at Briar Ridge in Dyer, happy to host anyone who wants to get a game in! Would love to meet some guys in the FE community.
Discussion Of Affordability On The Last Episode Of Designing Golf
Apr 21
My club is in this weird middle ground you mention. Very basic, member-owned course built in the 1960's. The course and membership were dying in the late 2010's but were totally revitalized by the COVID golf boom, which enabled them to hire a new super who saved the greens with a larger budget. We had bentgrass that are 30+ years old and were on their last leg. With the COVID boom, the board began entertaining a renovation that is now underway. Through some lucky connections, Beau Welling took on the project. We're redesigning 6 holes, moving the driving range, and then renovating the other 12 holes that'll follow mostly the original corridors. All that to say, the leadership is actively trying to upgrade the amenities into a more luxurious country club. Before we were mostly golf course with a dining room.
We're building a fancy entrance, comfort stations, and a manned bag drop hut in the parking lot. Our initiation fee has gone up 6x and dues increased as well with the debt service for the renovation. I'm very concerned we're out over our skis if the golf craze recedes at all, but we'll see over the next few years.
