(Design concepts) Architects' influences

The phrase “horses for courses” describes players likely to win at a certain venue. It also applies to selecting golf course architects to be successful on particular projects because each one is unique. Most designers have a style, and most clients pick them based on previous work. You’d hate to hear your golf course architect say, “Hold on, I want to try something new.” Beyond investigating the past work of your proposed architects, consider the underlying conscious or subconscious influences of their designs as a barometer for how they’ll perform. These influences might include personality, mentors, training, artistic influence, golf and professional background, and critics.

Personality
I’ve taken personality tests and have a classic designer profile. If I had never played golf, I’d be a city planner, furniture designer or landscape architect. But not every golf course architect has a designer personality. It’s not required to obtain a landscape architecture degree. Nondesigners designing courses tend to have less flare. That might be fine if you need practical design, but it usually isn’t.

Mentors
I’ve been influenced by classic courses I’ve played throughout the world and learned there are different ways to design golf courses. A well-traveled architect is usually a better choice than one who isn’t interested in learning from others, but an architect’s mentors usually have the biggest influence. I still do many things similar to my mentors who ingrained these ideas in me:
• If it can’t be maintained, it won’t last.
• If it can be built, it can be drawn.
• If it can be drawn, you can predict a budget, which doesn’t have to be huge.

While much has changed, I still draw plans, estimate and usually opt for maintainable designs. While I never would have coined a name like minimalism to market my services, I came of age in the minimalist tradition of grading fairways only where required for vision, creating surface pitch for drainage or to flatten the fairways to playable slopes. Architects with different training strip more topsoil and move more earth, but nice golf courses can be built by moving less than 100,000 cubic yards of earth.

If you have a budget, consider an architect who’s also done that with good results. Architects with other training might draw on napkins, never meet a budget and disregard the cost of maintenance. Many are famous for doing that.

My beliefs came from my mentor’s mentor, who owned golf courses during the depression. His courses required only two maintenance workers – one for greens mowing and bunker raking, and another for gang mowing fairways. Like him, I’m influenced by career timing, having entered the profession in 1977 when golf economics were similar to today. I welcome the return to practical golf. Architects entering the industry in better times, apprenticing under famous architects or with bigger construction and maintenance budgets probably view those times as normal and the current need for practicality a nuisance.

Training
To become a golf course architect, I had the traditional training of studying landscape architecture, surveying, aerial photography, agronomy and drainage.
Training is important because new courses require accurate plans and quantity calculations to meet environmental standards. Architects coming from other backgrounds might have to learn on the job but hopefully not your job.

If you want a course that looks and functions as well as it plays, consider someone with landscape architecture training, supplemented by a lengthy apprenticeship at an established firm.

Perhaps the greatest lesson learned in my apprenticeship is there are no bad golf course design projects. Once, I lobbied for a high-budget project over a lower-budget one to show off my skills. I was told if I couldn’t do a superior design on a lower budget, I wasn’t the designer I was thought to be.

Artistic influence
My artistic approach is influenced by my landscape architecture education, which taught me general art principles, but my courses most closely emulate those of 1950s architect Dick Wilson. Why? Because my mentors consciously emulated his design style to change their image from their mentor. I picked up that style, slowly making my own changes to distinguish myself from them.

Golf background
An architect’s golfing ability influences his design less than most people think. As a recreational golfer, I design for playability and interesting features. I’ve learned about shot values for great competitive players by collaborating with pros. Conversely, many good players consider their caliber golfers first but work to reduce difficulty for others.

A golf background might play a bigger role in design style. I was introduced to golf at a country club by a neighbor, but despite several membership drives, my father never joined, and I was soon golfing on public courses. I love public golf course design, knowing that turning budget or other limitations to a client’s advantage is fun, and generally helps the game of golf more than projects with extravagant budgets.

Some golf course architects refuse public course design projects, others don’t feel comfortable in a private-club setting, and some turn down small or technical projects.

Professional background
Throughout 20 years, I’ve realized good golf course design requires us to be forceful in our demands for golf course acreage – when housing developers or land planners don’t consider the golf course to be as important, or when club members don’t want to spend the proper amount to complete a project correctly. While being agreeable is generally a good thing for an architect, sometimes it pays to have someone with the experience to tell you no when needed.

Critics
Critics, magazine rankings and Internet discussion boards influence architects, too. An architect who’s been pummeled by critics more than usual might be more conservative, while one who has never experienced bad reviews might be overly aggressive. Usually, neither is good. An architect who has progressed through his career with an upward trend is a good barometer. You want one who can think outside the box but not take wild chances.

When interviewing architects, delving into these areas might give you a better picture of how your relationship will turn out, and more importantly, how your project will turn out. GCN

Jeffrey D. Brauer is a licensed golf course architect and president of GolfScapes, a golf course design firm in Arlington, Texas. Brauer, a past president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, can be reached at jeff@jeffreydbrauer.com.