The following is excerpted from Routing the Golf Course, by Forrest Richardson (©John Wiley & Sons, 2002) The late Fred Hawtree, a golf course architect and an extremely thoughtful man, writes in his book, Aspects of Golf Course Architecture, "It is tempting to suggest that the first tiny seed of golf course architecture was sown in October, 1764. A meeting of the Gentlemen Golfers of St. Andrews expressed the view, 'That it would be for the improvement of the links that four first holes should be converted into two.'" The act described by Hawtree seems to have been a matter of convenience to the [...]

The following is excerpted from Routing the Golf Course, by Forrest Richardson (©John Wiley & Sons, 2002) As the routing of golf courses has evolved, there has been good change and not-so-good change. Change is, of course, all debatable. Opinions as to what is good will vary depending on who is doing the debating. The topic of peculiarity has been selected to close out this section. Consider it a segue to the nuts and bolts of routing and the nuances that have to be waded through in order to get golfers from A to B. It is good food for thought as [...]

The following is excerpted from Bunkers, Pits & Other Hazards, by Forrest Richardson & Mark Fine (©John Wiley & Sons, 2006) The definition of linksland is land located near an open sea or bay which happens also to be connected directly to the sea through natural drainage patterns. Linksland is low lying land which has been formed by centuries of drainage, tidal changes and the brisk weather along the sea. It generally possesses the characteristics of naturally rolling sand dunes and natural features which have been formed by the wind, the ocean, and the action of receding tides in ancient times. The [...]

This is a lesson in site economics. I could probably fill a book with stories about my time in the Soviet Union working with a team of planners, construction executives, and resort architects trying to figure out the master concept and plan for a 30,000-acre peninsula. It is difficult to choose among the stories. There was the crab leg dinner I ate in the sauna at Brezhnev's mansion. (Brezhnev was not there.) There was the enormous helicopter that ran on diesel fuel and its three pilots who sat and smoked just a few feet away from the fuel tank. There [...]

1 Change is inevitable Golf courses are living, breathing things. To ever imagine that they will not undergo change is unrealistic. Even the Old Course at St. Andrews has changed. One of golf’s most adhered-to standards came from a significant change there, that being the now-famous decision in 1764 which reduced the number of holes from 22 to 18. The goal of those responsible for overseeing a golf course should be to identify change—to decipher necessary from unnecessary, needs from wants, foresighted from far-sighted, and bona-fide improvements from plain-ol tinkering. Change should not erode a course’s integrity. Each golf course [...]

Arthur Jack Snyder, 1917-2005 View Snyder tribute video >> Golf course architects get judged by what we leave behind. When you boil this down it appears simple enough. We leave behind our work—the physical creation of golf courses. We leave behind our philosophy—how we approached the art of designing golf courses; how we made them interesting, challenging, beautiful, fun and efficient. And we leave behind our unfinished business—in a profession where time seems to move quickly, but projects almost always seem to linger, months turn into years, years into decades, and then we are gone. These three parts of [...]

The following is excerpted from Routing the Golf Course, by Forrest Richardson (©John Wiley & Sons, 2002) Despite the many books written on the subject - which, by the way, reach numerous and varied conclusions — there is really a simple answer. It is offered here for anyone who may ever ask: Golf was invented by whomever invented the golf course. For without golf courses, as it has already been established, there are only sticks and balls. Sticks and balls and the process of hitting them together are only a fraction of golf. Golf is more. The above conclusion conveniently bypasses [...]

The following appeared in Golf Architecture: A Worldwide Perspective - Vol. Four. Forrest Richardson shares insights learned while designing and building The Links at Las Palomas in Sonora, Mexico. My name is Forrest Richardson and I am addicted to sand. There, I said it. According to my mother, on the occasion of my first birthday she promptly plucked me from my redwood sided sandbox, rushed me into the bathroom and proceeded to wash my mouth out with soapy water. “No Forrest! No! We do not eat sand!” So began a love affair turned into addiction. By the age of six I had learned not to eat [...]

(from Golfdom Magazine, all rights reserved) by Forrest Richardson, ASGCA In or out? That has been the basic question even since bunker rakes came into popularity about 70 years ago. However, there is the partially-in and partially-out option. My term for this is the "Propped Position" which, I admit, sounds like something you might find on the pages of The Joy of Sex. Enough. Now that I have your attention, let's get back to bunker rakes and some basic physics. Besides the details of the tines, length of shaft, and grip design, where to place the bunker rake has been [...]

Adapted from a 2010 article written for Golf Inc. Magazine by Forrest Richardson Golf courses, when you think about it, are a lot like people. Extremely big people tend to need more food, they wear larger clothes, and they drive bigger cars. Big things cost more. Maintaining big things almost always costs more. We can learn from some simple thoughts about "bigness." In golf, bigger is not always better. In fact, bigger usually costs more and it usually does nothing for making the game more interesting or fun. Water, labor costs (including availability), fuel and maintenance budgets are each at [...]