The Wall Street Journal had a nice story about golf course architect, Bill Coore. He is described as a “minimalist” designer who favors letting the land, in effect, tell him where to route the holes. This makes for a much more interesting round from a player’s standpoint. Cookie cutter courses, which are pretty much the norm, have been created in a sort of brute-force manner. To me, cookie cutter equals boring.
In the video, Mr. Coore said, “The best (courses) are the ones that reveal themselves slowly.” They are the ones that every time you play you learn something.
Regarding working with what nature gives him, he remarked, “The human capability for imagination is vast, but it’s nowhere near as vast as nature’s in terms of variety, randomness and surprise.” Mr. Coore believes a good course will fit seamlessly into the landforms the site provides.
His partner in golf design is Ben Crenshaw, a two-time Masters champion.
I will keep my eye out for courses these two have designed for sure.
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