TREE REMOVAL IS RETURNING OLD SCHOOL COURSES BACK TO THEIR ROOTS

Carolinas Golf Magazine: Summer 2005

Tree management has emerged as the most significant trend

in golf course restoration today as classic courses throughout

the Carolinas look to recapture their architectural heritage.                                                     

THE CUTTING EDGE

LINKS Magazine: May/June 2007

As a crucial part of a 15-year-old restoration plan, Oakmont Country Club logged more than 5,400 hardwoods and jump-started a tree removal movement at time-honored classics throughout the country.

A PITCH FOR PRESERVATION: MAKING A CASE FOR GOLF COURSE RESTORATION

Carolinas Golf Magazine: Summer 2007

An intimate look at how different clubs throughout the North

and South Carolina have successfully marketed and sold their memberships on classic golf course restoration.

GOLF ACCESSORIES: A TRADITIONAL PRESENTATION

Full Swing Publishing: Golf Architecture: A Worldwide Perspective: Vol. 1

You don’t have to be an old, distinguished club − steeped in tradition − to look and feel like one. This essay explores the process of selecting old-fashioned golf accessories to enhance

the golf course aesthetic.

SHADY TREES AND HEATED CLUB POLITICS

Full Swing Publishing: Golf Architecture: A Worldwide Perspective: Vol. 2

This essay traces the evolution of tree plantings and overgrowth and discusses its detrimental impact on agronomy, strategy, and landscape aesthetics. Tree

removal is simple; the biggest challenge is negotiating

the land mine of club politics.

ARMED WITH VISUAL CHALLENGES

Full Swing Publishing: Golf Architecture: A Worldwide Perspective: Vol. 3

Architects, who deal in the craft of optical illusions, utilize many design techniques to disguise your perception of the target. A better understanding of these deception practices can improve your mental approach to the game.

DONALD ROSS SOCIETY’S RESTORATION GUIDELINES

Full Swing Publishing: Golf Architecture: A Worldwide Perspective: Vol. 4

This essay takes you through the journey of golf course

restoration -- from archival research and “master planning”

to hiring an architect and preserving his spadework. It is

probably the most comprehensive written resource on

classic golf course restoration that is available today.

CLASSIC COURSES: OLD TOWN CLUB

LINKS Magazine: April 2005

The sub-title reads as follows: “A bundle of tobacco profits and advice from Augusta National boss Cliff Roberts jump-started one of the southeast’s classiest golf institutions in Winston-Salem (NC)”. Here, Old Town Club joins a long list of classic courses that LINKS features in their bi-monthly issues.

ROARING GAP CLUB RECAPTURES ROSS IDENTITY

Blue Ridge Golfer: Spring 2006

This course profile traces the design history of Roaring Gap

Club and expounds upon their long-range master plan to

reclaim the lost genius of Donald Ross.

TREASURE HUNTING: DONALD STEEL’S PRIMLAND

Blue Ridge Golfer: Spring 2006

This article describes the unique character of the Highlands

Golf Course at Primland Resort in the Blue Ridge Mountains

of Virginia and profiles its prolific architect, Donald Steel.

See also:  “Primland News”

OLD FASHIONED GOLF NOT OUT OF STYLE AT OLD TOWN CLUB

Triad Golf Magazine: March 2004

This article recounts the design evolution of Perry Maxwell’s

Old Town Club − from it’s Reynolds origins to it’s 85th national ranking today. It includes privileged interviews with Wake Forest golfers and noted golf course architects around the country.

TREES ON GOLF COURSES: A GROWING CONCERN

Triad Golf Magazine: July 2003

Here’s another analysis of the historic evolution of tree plantings

and overgrowth and its negative impact on agronomy, strategy,  landscape aesthetics, and recovery play.

KEEP AN OPEN MIND WHEN TOUGHENING COURSES

Golfweek’s Superintendent News: 2002

The next time the issue of “defending par” arrises at your home course, instead of smothering it with rough or stretching it to it’s boundaries, consider reviving design elements that promote

mental and visual analysis.