The Goal is Fun
Art Schaupeter
Like any art form, golf course architecture has had its various styles and fashions over the years. In the beginning, Tom Morris and his colleagues simply routed holes through the dunes and over the sandy linksland. When a hole presented itself, they accepted it with little or no changes to the natural topography. The wind formed the bunkers and contours with little help from the designer. As a result, some of the game's most hallowed golf courses break all the rules that have come to define golf course architecture. That's fine, because the only requirement of those early efforts was that you had enough room to play the game with all its crazy bounces, windy turns and breaking putts.
The Golden Age of Golf Design in the early 20th century saw a small army of golf course architects expand the reach of the game from the coastal areas to virtually any kind of terrain. They borrowed from the classics and laid out their visions across open meadows, mountainsides, rocky cliffs and dense forests. Often they worked with mule teams or by hand, with the guiding directive being an on-budget completion and - again - a strategic and fun test. No one felt the need to "defend par" or to pummel the golfer with an endless procession of heroic carries over penal hazards.
But as golf grew, and earthmoving capabilities improved, a new generation of architects embraced the penal. They stretched courses to great lengths as drives flew farther, and they took pride in punishing the golfer's ego with bunkers and ponds placed squarely to penalize off-line shots. Where was the fun in that?
Frankly, the easiest design job in the world is to build a brutally hard golf course. Fortunately, that's not what most owners want. The pendulum has swung back toward the strategic, engaging and fun golf course that can be built, played and maintained on a modest budget. Those are the jobs I love best, and they are the most demanding in terms of architectural skill. The ideal golf course challenges the thinking and skills of better players while providing alternate lines of play to accommodate less serious golfers. Hazards invite the player to play toward them in hopes of a better angle of approach or some other strategic advantage. The round may feature a heroic carry or two, but generous fairways and run-ups to the putting surfaces allow a longer, safer route.
In the end, the first Scots had it right. Golf is about fun. Take the occasional bad hop or bad lie with a grin. You're going to get some good bounces as well. Test your mettle by trying to cut a corner or play to the proper side of a centerline hazard. If it doesn't work, try something new next time. These are the tests that make golf fun - and that keep golfers coming back.
