Issue 1 : Fall/Winter
2001/02
In this issue :
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AN ARCHITECT'S VIEW
 In an earlier issue of
our regular printed newsletter we reported on an interview with one
of golf course architecture's elder statesmen, Geoff Cornish. Geoff
told us how important the study of the old links courses is to the
modern architect and we discussed a few examples - mainly Scottish
courses - which illustrated his points. In 2000 his professional association,
the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA), visited Ireland,
played some of the great courses and made some very interesting comments.
- Natural hazards are to be preferred to artificial ones every
time.
- The craze for restoring courses to their original design is a
flawed concept, since all courses are continuously evolving. Trees
mature, drainage patterns become established, greens or tees may
be modified. The parameters are almost unlimited. At Pinehurst
No 2, master architect Donald Ross made five major revisions, but
tinkered all the time - just as Old Tom Morris did at St Andrews.
- Too much watering can be bad for a links course. Fine links grasses
thrive on relatively little rainfall. Frequent watering can make
the roots lazy. Instead of pushing downwards to find moisture,
the roots can turn horizontal - or even upwards - to accept regular
drinks from the sprinkler system. The result can be "thatching" -
spongy, slow greens and an environment more receptive to coarse
meadow grasses.
- At Portmarnock, the party welcomed the current policy of rationing
the maintenance (including watering) to allow the links to revert
to a more natural state. The result will be firmer greens and thinner
rough, with a more bleached appearance in summer.
- The group loved Royal Portrush and Royal County Down. If Portrush
is perhaps the finest example of Harry Colt's work (certainly on
a links), then all agree there is no more beautiful place to play
golf than at County Down!
- Great interest was shown in the plans at Lahinch to utilize land
at the northern end of the course to create some new holes. These
could allow a redesign of the championship layout, which would
improve an already great course.
- The group left Ballybunion salivating at the prospect of a first
Irish Open for the club. They considered the run of holes from
8 to 17 to be as good as any in the world. It was also felt that,
after some growing pains, the Cashen Course now deserves more visitors
than it gets.
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