1 Dec 2009

Understanding fully the nature of the modern consumer, and the role marketing and subliminal advertising tactics play in our daily lives, I still confess that when it comes to golf courses I’m puzzled by the phenomenon of signature design. It’s not that I don’t see value from a developer’s perspective in attaching a famous professional to their new golf project, but why do golfers and those in the media so readily accept that great players know anything about designing great golf courses. And even more pertinently, why do we believe for one moment that the busy celebrity actually had any involvement in the course’s creation?

Despite becoming increasingly widespread across the globe in recent years, signature design has been around since the start of the 20th century, even earlier if you classify Old Tom Morris as a Scottish celebrity. The difference with earlier signatures and today’s companies is quantity and involvement, guys like Old Tom Morris, Willie Park Jr. and James Braid physically routed and designed their golf courses, which limited their output, whereas modern legends like Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Greg Norman and Arnold Palmer have been able to ‘create’ hundreds of golf projects around the world by sending associates to do their design work. The client doesn’t really care who builds the golf course, as long as they can use the name of the company figurehead in their marketing, and convince the star ‘designer’ to appear for a photo opportunity when the course is complete.

One of the most interesting elements of signature design is the manner in which one determines whether a new golf course has been successful. Studying the writing of older architects, you quickly notice that most believed a golf course was a success if it stood the test of time, continued to provide pleasure and stimulation for the members and managed to exist in harmony with its natural environment. Today’s signature architects are judged on different criteria; essentially it’s all about how well the membership or surrounding houses sell, and whether the course gets ranked on a Top 100 list. If the real estate is profitable and the layout obtains a high profile then the design firm will generally pat themselves on the back.

But just how good are signature courses compared to those designed by standalone, dedicated golf architects? It’s an interesting question, and not easily answered because it is hard to compare different courses and different firms given that every single golf project is unique. One important statistic should be noted, however, and it relates to the recently released World Top 100 ranking list, compiled by America’s GOLF Magazine. Between them the biggest signature firms - Nicklaus Design, Gary Player, Arnold Palmer, Greg Norman and Robert Trent Jones II - have built more than 1,200 golf courses worldwide, yet only two appear in the World’s Top 100. They are Chambers Bay by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and the Ocean Course at Cabo del Sol in Mexico, which was designed by Jack Nicklaus’s company on a property that ranks among the finest anywhere on the planet. The only other ranked courses where star players have been involved are co-designs done in collaboration with a genuine architect, such as Nicklaus and Pete Dye at Harbour Town, Nicklaus and Desmond Muirhead at Muirfield Village and Tom Weiskof with Jay Morrish at Loch Lomond. None of these courses would appear in my personal Top 100. There are also three wonderful courses designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw on the list, as well as the most famous player/architect collaboration of all-time, Dr Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones at Augusta National. At Augusta the great player tested green contours and approach angles but left the routing and design to the great architect, which is similar to how Coore & Crenshaw work.

Modern signature design is very different, and more often than not the course is designed to achieve a look and style that is consistent with the brand’s reputation. The reason for the lack of internationally significant signature design is complex, but I believe it can be blamed chiefly on the lowering of expectations from the average golf developer and the fact that fewer quality golf sites are being developed for our game. There are naturally exceptions, but when a golf course is built to sell real estate or hotel rooms the focus is less likely to be on extracting great golf holes from great golf land and more on location, yields, price and marketing. Things should be different at private clubs, but even somewhere like the National Golf Club at Cape Schanck, which was built on beautiful coastal ground, was developed with marketing and membership sales very much at the forefront. Despite quality submissions from credible golf architects, Australia’s two most successful professionals were chosen to drive the expansion of the club and build its Moonah and Ocean courses. The results were mixed, although pleasingly both Peter Thomson and Greg Norman are exceptions to many of the signature design rules, Thomson because he shares design credit with his partners and gets actively involved in the process and Norman because he chose as his Australasian ‘ghost-designer’ a man of considerable skill and talent.

Both these companies have been prolific during the past two decades, and we have also seen the emergence of Michael Clayton Design as well as solid work from independent designers like Ross Watson, Tony Cashmore, Michael Coate, Neil Crafter and others. In other parts of the world golfers are not so fortunate, and larger signature firms have started to dominate the golfing landscape. The more courses these firms create, the easier they get to build and the more streamlined their businesses can become. While this means clients know precisely what they will be getting for their money, it also means layouts become formulaic and the design tends to lacks spark and ingenuity. Many firms find it is easier to replicate something that worked elsewhere than to have to come up with entirely new concepts for each project.

The net effect of signature design’s influence, both here and overseas, is that it has become more difficult for genuine standalone golf architects to get their hands on quality projects. Unless architects create a niche or can quickly develop a reputation for excellence they will be left competing against ever-increasing numbers of celebrity designers, be they commentators, coaches, star professionals or even parents of star professionals.

From the consumer’s perspective, one of the very real problems we face is that these independent architects tend to be the most passionate and talented design people in the game. Because opportunities for exciting new work have dried up, many feel that the only way to survive in this modern marketplace is to form partnerships with high-profile players. Recently one of Canada’s most talented architects, Ian Andrew, has partnered with Mike Weir in an effort to generate interest in his business. The same thing has happened in America, where major champions like Fred Couples, Davis Love III, Tom Lehman, Tom Kite, Johnny Miller and Ray Floyd are hot commodities who have been snapped up by designers desperate to keep themselves busy. Among the Australian architects, Tony Cashmore has headed at least partly down this path, working with Nick Faldo on the Creek Course at Thirteenth Beach and now providing Faldo with design services in other parts of Asia as well.

Internationally signature design is a very competitive business, and right now even some of the biggest companies are struggling with the economic downturn and trimming back staff. Perhaps the most interesting cut back has been at Greg Norman Golf Course Design in Sydney, where Norman’s long-time design ‘partner’ for the Australasian region has been let go. Bob Harrison is the man responsible for creating most of the best Norman courses over the past 20 years including the Moonah Course, The Glades, The Vintage, The Grand, Brookwater, Club Pelican, Ellerston and Sanctuary Lakes as well as Nirwana Bali in Indonesia and others abroad. For years now Norman’s Australian courses have been noticeably superior to those designed by his Florida office, and Harrison’s pending departure will be a loss. The company line, no doubt, will be that Greg himself wants to take a more hands-on role in his Australian projects.

The Norman/Harrison partnership has been an interesting one to observe over the years, it certainly suited Norman for his courses to be well received here, but at the same time one suspects he may have been uneasy with the degree of credit Harrison was receiving for his work. Most ‘ghost-designers’ tend to remain anonymous, but that’s partly because their work is unremarkable. Harrison was different, and in some cases it was his skill, as much as the Norman brand, that won the company design contracts. New clients who appointed Greg Norman Golf Course Design because they wanted a Bob Harrison golf course may need to re-evaluate their arrangements, or simply accept a true Greg Norman golf course in its place.

It will be interesting to see whether there is now a readjustment within the local golf industry, as it seems likely that Bob Harrison will continue his design work after leaving GNGCD and possibly start competing for jobs as an independent architect. If that’s the case he is sure to be in demand, primarily from those who have been impressed by the Norman portfolio over the years but put off by the hefty signature price tag. It reminds me of one of the absolute truisms of golf course design – that all too often the less one spends on the design of their golf course, the better that golf course will be.

Darius Oliver, Architecture Editor Australian Golf Digest

Back to News
0 Comments


 

More News

Report reveals golf's $3.3 billion contribution to Australia

AGIC report reveals total annual benefits to the Australian community, economy and environment from golf.

Cape Wickham Links – The Inside Design Story

Co-designer Darius Oliver reveals the truth behind the design of Australia’s premier modern golf course

Have your say on the future of Moore Park Golf

Golfers unite – another one of our cherished public access golf courses is under threat

Cameron John wins The National Tournament by two strokes

Victorian claims breakthrough professional victory at The National Tournament presented by BMW

Tags and Countries