Why Don't They Route 'Em Like Donald Ross Anymore?

Tim,

Why aren’t there more Ross Volcano template holes made by modern day Archies? How many MacRaynors do we need to endure?

At Mid Pines the green to tee flow is so close you are likely going to walk more if you walk from a green to your cart, ride to the next tee, and walk to the tee.

Donald Ross could route a course and never set foot on the property so much better then the majority of courses built in the last 60 years.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by  Ben Cowan.

Tim-I agree that not only did Ross consistently produce solid routings but he was as good as anyone at finding natural green sites that he tied seamlessly into the next tee. I hear some of the modern designers say that they are willing to introduce a longer walk or cutback to the next tee so as not to forego what they believe to be an exceptional hole but this comes with a price in that the walk can become disjointed. The player knows whether it works or not regardless of what the Archie may say to defend his decision.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by  Tim Martin.

While Donald Ross achieved little back in the UK, he did understand golf course architecture – the Scottish Golf Course model of design which seems to have died out during his life time, lost forever yet to many of those who followed him right up to the present day his courses represent a hope.

Golf course design is – it seems no longer associated with playing golf, well so it seems with many of the new designs laid down over the last 50-70 years being somewhat wanting, some are quite frankly appalling. Design seems to have capitulated to the distance/aerial game, while seeking more to divorce itself from every aspect that made The Royal & Ancient Game of Golf a worldwide success story.

More quality course designs and Holes came out of Scotland in the 19th Century than seems to have been generated since WW2, why, – well I believe its because we have refused to learn let alone understand the real history of the game of golf, golf course design or course maintenance. We select the land then go about destroying the very thing that attracted us to that spot in the first place. We strip the land back to near bedrock then shape it to conform to our wishes ignoring the sustainability and balance of the course with the surrounding land. In short we build courses in Land not Fit for purpose and wonder why its cost so much to build and maintain. One has to ask at times, what ever happened to common sense when related to golf.

We need to understand the basics of the game and to then try to put that into practice instead of offering up courses that are so well kept that they look more like the gardens of some stately home than a golf course. Ross understood that from his time learning in Scotland, he brought that with others from his old country to the new, however after their passing, we have resorted to Pablo Picasso style of design than to Ross, Braid, Morris, Park Jr etc, etc. Our game has suffered because so many now do not realise that golf is a game of choices, challenges if you will, not aerial that flies over all our accumulated knowledge of design and hazards, so pandering to the weak, the lazy and uncommitted players that today graces our courses. We accept narrow fairways (reducing the appeal to the average player who tend to tack up the fairway than sail down the centre) island greens a game killer if ever there was one which seeks out the accurate hitter (yet again limiting the appeal of the course to the general public. Golf is not meant to be for the rich or the elite golfer, its meant to be for all.

Like walking, we have to start somewhere, and what better way to start than addressing the errors of the 20th Century and learning that which was once discarded because words like ‘Penal’ (which IMHO defines the very game of golf itself) fell out of fashion.