Kinloch, A Jack Nicklaus Experience

There was much anticipation leading up to my first round of golf on a Jack Nicklaus golf course. Although Jack's courses can draw lots of critiscm from the "art in architecture" crowd, many of the Nicklaus designs are deserving of their credit. I was hoping Kinloch would live up to the Nicklaus brand name.

Kinloch impressed me in many ways. The fairways are seemlessly crumpled, there are vast and beautiful meadows between holes, and the fescue fairways added to the visual impression of a links layout. The par fives offered mulitple lines of attack and the par fours were creative and unique. The majority of the one shot holes however do not provide an open run to the green. In fact most of the approaches force the average golfer at Kinloch to flounder along the shores of the greens among the many sentinal bunkers.
The general reasoning behind my criticsm is that Kinloch asks the average golfer far too much on and around the greens. The waving contours seemed to transition too steeply from one pin location to the next. I was warned of the target style greens characteristic of many Nicklaus courses, Kinloch is no different. There is certainly some controversy that can be stirred on the greens at Kinloch but this is old news in the architecture community.

I do not enjoy being critical of any golf course, especially one as fun and adventurous as this. While the aura of the links is clearly evident on the practice tee Kinloch quickly shows its true colors as a target first golf course. Kinloch is a must play in New Zealand and will test your mettle should you be looking for a challenge.

Giving Back to the game

I have had many thoughts about how to get into the profession of golf course design. One of my first instincts was to create inner city pitch and putt facilities. One such facility is going up in Detroit, designed by none other than my hero architect Tom Doak! He is supporting the midnite golf foundation, http://www.midnightgolf.org/ , in their efforts to help inner city youths escape their troubled neighborhoods.

I love the idea of giving back to communities through the game of golf and would love the opportunity to put my ideas to practice on small scale projects like this.

Here is the SI article describing Tom Doak's involvement in the Midnite Golf Program
http://www.golf.com/golf/courses_travel/article/0,28136,1967328,00.html

Summer Mackenzie Series: Pasatiempo

Pasatiempo was brought to life by the vision of Marion Hollins one of the great woman golfers of all time. Shortly after the success of her other pet project, Cypress Point, Hollins enlisted Alistair Mackenzie to once again produce a masterpiece upon a parcel of rolling hills just outside of Santa Cruz, California.
The front nine is draped effortlessly across large hillsides and several dramatic ravines are saved for the back nine. Dr. Mackenzie an expert in depth deception, fiercely guards his greens with many bunkers flashed up to appear next to the edge of the green. Not only do the bunkers provide visual intimidation but once on the greens golfers will find challenging contours to negotiate a par. On the 16th, I barely escaped disaster with a 3-putt bogey after hitting my ball above the hole on this famous green.



The 16th hole is the pinnacle example of strategy that the golfer is well advised to consider before attempting an assault on these greens. A round of golf here completely immerses the golfer in the task at hand and the beauty of the rolling hills around you. Simply put, Pasatiempo is pure golfing bliss from the moment you stick your peg in the ground on the first tee box to picking your ball out of the 18th hole.

Mr. Begley

I caddied for an Irishman last week at Cape Kidnappers and was priveleged to some interesting Irish story telling. We played the front nine in less than 1 1/2 hours, but the course was crowded on this day and we stopped after 9 for coffee and lunch. After lunch we were walking to Mr. Begley's ball in the right rough on #10 when a quick story came to mind. He began to tell me that he walked into a pub and sat down next to an old man at the bar and offered to buy him a drink. The old man politely declined and explained that four beers was his limit before lunch! On this day Mr. Begley confirmed a few notions of Irish golfers for me: they play fast, have fun, and enjoy a good drink before and after the round.