Golfers as Course Designers - Why???

[the19thhole]

Let me start by saying this is not a go at Jack Nicklaus or the other older greats who got into this years ago when let's face it we needed new courses to expand the great game or tired courses needed redesigned. They are good at it.

If you look at most golfers websites they have a course design section - WHY???? Just because they play the game and are reasonably good at (some of them) does it make them think they can design a cousre or worse have a design business. I play golf and I know what a nice course looks like, but could I desgn a course??? A lot of player/designers for get the guys who are going to play the cousre for the 51 weeks of the year when the pros aren't playing. Does an ex-player or current player make a good designer?

[Chilli Dipper]

There's this thing called money. Developers figure that if they have a big name attached to their property, the value of its real estate tracts and premium club memberships will increase. Unless his last name is Jones, Dye, or Fazio, no course designer can generate the buzz of, say, Greg Norman or Davis Love (to name two golfers whose names adorn high-end private courses very near my own house). It was a great business for a marquee player to get into until a few years ago.

[jamo]

Part of it is the big name. It looks better to have a course designed by Greg Norman than Joe No-Name. Another part of it I think is because top pros have played the best courses all over the world, so they usually have a good sense of what works, and what doesn't work. What players like and what players don't like. What is fair and what isn't fair. They don't always get it right, but a lot of top players have designed some pretty nice golf courses.

[the19thhole]

I agree with all the points made. So where does Paul Casey fit into this?

[BigAl5150]

Originally Posted by the19thhole

Does an ex-player or current player make a good designer?

Sometimes. If they have an eye for golf course architecture, I don't see a big deal with them designing a course. Although I would bet some of the players designing today are just adding their name to the project, picking up a nice check and farming it out to someone on their design team. In the present economy though, I have to imagine it's tough to get design work for a lot of these guys.

[ThominOH]

As one poster already pointed out.. It's all about the money and name recognition..  I guess it's all about what you like and don't like as well.. If you remove Pete Dye's name from Whistling Straits, most people would avoid that course at all cost.. It just isn't fun.. Even looking at Jack's courses, which I do live in Ohio so I know them, I wouldn't take my wife to any of them with me.. She just isn't good enough to enjoy Jack's "target golf" philosophy..  My philosophy of good course design is that a course should challenge and be enjoyed by ALL at any level or style of play..  Rather you are a duffer or a pro, a roller or a placer, a course should accommodate them all..