Pub. 6 2016 Issue 1

12 AT THE CENTER OF UTAH INDUSTRY run and maintain golf courses went up enormously. Two of the best courses that were built during the 1980s were both the work of Pete Dye: TPC Sawgrass and The Honors Course. By the 1990s, a new school of design emerged: the Naturalist School. Designs were based on the idea that you have to have a great site in order to have great golf. Architects of the Naturalist School also thought that nature was the best designer and that the architect’s influence ought to be concealed. Bunkers were more rugged, earthworks were limited, tees had a lower profile, and the greens and fairways met at grade. The result was golf courses that were more economical and sustainable than they had been for decades. Great examples include the following: By the 2000s, golf clubs were being made from carbon fiber, graphite, titanium, and tungsten. You can see as the game of golf and the equipment used evolves, mining’s role only increases. The new naturalists of this era are architects like Tom Doak, Gil Hanse, and the team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. Three highly regarded examples in this decade include: In 2009, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided that for the first time since 1904, golf would be one of the games at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. This time, there will be 60 men and 60 women competing from every geographical region on the globe. Golf has always been a game that invites the player to appreciate the land as something that is both beautiful and challenging. That hasn’t changed. Golfers will continue the never-ending pursuit of perfection, even if it does sometimes result in a good walk spoiled. But next time you get the rush of hitting the sweet spot with that new driver, give some thought to the miners that made that moment possible. X went to homes in order to maximize their value; the golf course was relegated to whatever was left over. In the second half of the 1960s, a new golf course architect named Pete Dye built a golf course at Harbour Town that had small greens; long, diagonal hazards; and shorter courses. This contrasted sharply with the idea of a fairway built with hazards on both sides, as popularized by Robert Trent Jones. Pete Dye consulted with Jack Nicklaus while he was designing the course. The results guaranteed two things: he became the new leading architect for golf courses, and architects began working with professional golfers to design courses. The best courses of the 1960s and 1970s included: By the 1980s, people were playing with stainless steel woods and course design was dominated by Pete Dye, Jack Nicklaus, and Tom Fazio. Other golfers, such as Arnold Palmer and Tom Weiskopf, also got into golf course architecture. Famous names were great for attracting members and homeowners to new communities. The Players Stadium Course built by Pete Dye in the 1980s was built on Florida swampland. It featured spectator mounding, an island green, and massive earthworks. Beautiful golf landscapes that were also engineeringmarvels becamemore important than just building a good golf course, and the cost to In the 1950s, earth-moving machinery made it possible for architects to actually build golf courses to specification instead of finding an ideal site and gently modifying the terrain. GOLF continued from page 11 Golf Course Name Architect Kingsley Club Mike DeVries Pacific Dunes Tom Doak Friar’s Head Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw The Golf Club Pete Dye Shinnecock Hills William Flynn and Howard Toomey Golf Course Name Architect The Ocean course at Kiawah Island Pete Dye Sand Hills Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw Bandon Dunes David McLay Kidd The Golf Club Pete Dye Shinnecock Hills William Flynn and Howard Toomey Golf Course Name Architect Pine Tree Dick Wilson Muirfield Village Jack Nicklaus Harbour Town Pete Dye The Golf Club Pete Dye Shinnecock Hills William Flynn and Howard Toomey