Experience by itself teaches nothing

Experience by itself teaches nothing." Dr. W. Edwards Deming

Experience building golf courses doesn't mean the individual will have the foggiest idea about the architect's novel plans.

Dr. Deming believed someone with knowledge had to teach the system. In golf this means interpreting the plans... the grand vision with all its details.

Plans are only raw, mathematical data that can and have been misinterpreted tens of thousands of times.

An architect leading construction turns raw info into rich, detailed knowledge a worker can execute with confidence... and if he veers of course... the architect is there to correct him before it goes to far.

This is the most efficient system and results in courses rich in detail, reflecting the grand vision of the architect.
Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

The Best Return on Your Money

“The very best return you are ever going to get on money invested is from education.” Ben Franklin

Plans do not provide an education, or knowledge, they provide cold, sterile information.

Most builders work with architects in an on-and-off basis.

Construction teams change, companies change, and the architect, if he seeks the best solutions for your property will have his style change from project to project.

To educate the builders about all the information that will make your course exceptional requires an architect leading the effort. He's the leader, educator, motivator, evaluator, visionary, and all around encyclopedia for work to be accomplished.

No question, the best return on money invested is education. It speeds the effort, reduces costs, keeps the crew interested, makes work more fun, and ensures the architect's vision is accomplished.

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

Capomaestro

But even Taccola, a skilled engineer “Let it be known that one cannot explain each and every detail,…” Ingenuity rides in the mind and intelligence of the architect rather than in drawing and writing. Brunelleschi’s Dome, Ross King, 2000

This tidbit takes us back to the 15th century, when Filippo Brunelleschi was selected to construct the dome for the Florence Cathedral (Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore). He not only designed the dome, but the construction-hoisting machinery.

The design for the dome was ingenious and required supervision from a capomaestro, an-architect-in-chief, to design the project and explain the work.

Today of course planning and construction for structures is a simpler affair, with precise planning, skilled labor and all manner of machines to be bought, leased or rented. Golf courses... are somewhat different.

Constructing the best golf courses, on the other hand, takes us back to the early 1900's... which is far closer to the 1500's than today. Builders need help, and there is a limited supply. Even "qualified" builders require guidance if you seek to create something wholly unique.

Even with the most precise planning the vision is certain to require adjustments, and the "ingenuity" is locked in the architect's mind. Unlike a structure, only he can decipher what his plans really mean. It's why all great golf courses had a capomaestro... someone who lead construction and had absolute authority to alter the plan as he saw fit.
More than ever, due to the mammoth size of modern construction equipment, their speed, the lack of builders that understand golf and the vast array of architectural styles, a capomaestro need be present to lead the effort and help the team build excellence... the first time.

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

The Worst

“The worst thing was for subordinates to labor in ignorance…and wind up doing the wrong thing.” Colin L. Powell, My American Journey

In the military it can get you killed. In golf architecture it can kill your investment of millions.

Laboring in ignorance:

Is the worst for your golf course.

Is the worst for your budget.

Is the worst for the workers because they won't feel free, loose and enthusiastic about the work they're doing.

Builders are not mind readers, and left alone for long periods will produce a product contrary to the architect's vision... because no two people will visualize things the same way.

CLICK BACK:
http://tonyristola.blogspot.com/2008_07_22_archive.html#3476469580473863042

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

We have never built a course that quickly!

We have never done a course that quickly, but we can do it because we are in total control.” Golf Course News, Joe Niebur, Golf Course Builder, USA (About building a golf course for himself)

Here a builder constructed a golf course for himself, and because it was his investment he could make the changes necessary as construction was underway. There was no need to wait for an architect's site-visit.

This potent example illustrates why having an architect lead construction daily brings not only innovative solutions to each design element, but speed as well.

The architect can communicate his vision to the builder, he can improve on the work in real-time as it is being built, the builder can ask questions and get immediate answers, and there is no waiting for the architect's weekly, monthly or quarterly "site-visit" to approve or alter work built "according to plan."

Daily leadership brings speed because you don't have to wait for an architect's "site-visit", it brings excellence because the architect is focused daily on your project and how to get the most from your site, budget, workers and opportunities... he is there to help... everyone.

An architect leading construction daily is how you achieve excellence and economy.

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

It's such an arbitrary thing

“I have to be there when (the lead architect is) there so I know what he’s doing so when he’s not there…in very few cases are you gonna make two identical decisions because it’s such an arbitrary thing.” Longtime Art Hills associate. John Strawn, Driving the Green

1. If it's arbitrary for a long time associate, what do you think it is for a builder!?
2. This clearly illustrates how ineffective paper plans are for communicating an architect's vision.
3. Nobody knows what design changes will fit the scheme unless the architect identifies and communicates it to them face-to-face. This is why it is critical to have an architect lead construction daily.

Builders left alone for days and weeks will not build the course as the architect envisioned because even with "detailed plans", "in very few cases are you gonna make two identical decisions because it’s such an arbitrary thing."

Driving the Green, by John Strawn is one of the most enlightening books on modern golf course architecture. Following the projects of one of America's hottest designers during the first half of the 1990's, it provides example after example of the challenges and weaknesses of the "Typical" method of design and construction and the commonplace frictions that ensue.

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

Hit-and-Run

Months earlier, Nicklaus designed an elevated green—to give golfers on the putting surface a clear view of the nearby lake, which would have been obscured by shrubbery.

Construction workers at the site, however, have ripped out the small trees, rendering the elevation unnecessary.

Consulting with another designer in the truck, Nicklaus takes a pencil and begins sketching. Within 10 minutes, he redesigns the green and the surrounding area, reducing the elevation and altering the shape. “OK, that’s it,” he says. “Let’s move on.”

Although Nicklaus’ style seems abrupt, it’s really just the perfectionist in him coming through, explained Carl Mistretta, manager of design operations for the golfer’s private company, Golden Bear International. This day at Keene’s Pointe, Nicklaus adjusts something—slight or significant—on each of the 12 holes that have taken shape. That’s standard practice, associates say. In designing a golf course, details are everything Behind the green: In designing a golf course, details are everything, Barnet D. Wolf and Ron Carter Dispatch Business Reporters May 26, 1998

There are many revealing points.

1. The architect hadn't visited the site in months. This means there was limited to no communication from the lead man for months.

2. Even with an on-site associate and detailed plans, the builders removed a key component of a greensite. Mistakes can happen, but are less likely with the architect leading construction.

3. After not seeing the site for months, and driving around in the back of a truck, the architect redesigned the hole in 10-minutes. This can certainly be done , but is there any doubt the best solutions are found with more time on-site?

That someone actually stated this 10-minute sketch is considered "the perfectionist in him coming out" is laughable.
Wouldn't it have been far better for him to make a walk-through of the site first making notes and sketching ideas, then come back after a day's thoughts and evaluate the design alterations. Of course. Even better to spend weeks on-site. Yes. Months? Surely. Everyday? Absolutely.

4. The architect dropping in every few months to make a rash of changes to work completed according-to-plan is "standard practice."

Standard perhaps, but far from being the best practice.

The Nicklaus organization has good employees carrying the ball, they usually hire good builders to do the construction, and can blow up work they don't like and start over. But...

...you don't have to put up the big money to compete with such projects; where the architect works in a hit-and-run manner. In fact you can have a product that isn't just as good... but better... by hiring an architect with the authority to call the shots and who will lead construction daily.

Not only that, but you will have something original, not a work largely performed by other people with a "Signature" attached.

CLICK BACK:
In previous posts I illustrated the huge capacity of the brain and that letting things simmer for a little while can bring a host of new ideas, even for something as common as a piece of paper.

These blogs can be found here:
http://tonyristola.blogspot.com/2008_08_05_archive.html#8851688934885968504
and here:
http://tonyristola.blogspot.com/2008_07_14_archive.html#1491119605848181024

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

The Central Park, Fredrick Law Olmsted Example

Drawings were no more than memorandums the firm supplied to be referred to in getting on the ground a work of art requiring professional creativity and supervision. Laura Wood-Roper, Fredrick Law Olmsted's biographer summarizing his response to the relationship of plans and field work.

The architect that created Central Park in NY City from 843 acres (337 Hectares) of barren swamp believed, like most of the great golf architects, that plans are merely the starting point.

During construction plans can be significantly improved upon, because they are merely ideas being interpreted by others. That's why supervision is needed, so the architect's vision is not only met, but improved upon.

Golf courses are even more detailed because they require the integration of strategy and smaller but critical contours. To get the best, the most creative and functional solutions you'll need an architect supervising "work on the ground". It's the way the great courses have been built.

The mediocre or worse courses? Well, the vast majority have had plans, but little involvement, oversight, communication, and monitoring by an architect during construction.

That's just the way it is.
Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

Pure Strategy & Perfect Information... Dream On

In microeconomics, a state of perfect information is required for perfect competition. That is, assuming that all agents are rational and have perfect information, they will choose the best products, and the market will reward those who make the best products with higher sales. Perfect information would practically mean that all consumers know all things, about all products, at all times, and therefore always make the best decision regarding purchase... Source: answers.com

Plans and planning provide far from "Perfect Information". Nobody can ever know all things, about all products, at all times, and therefore always make the best decision from looking at a set of plans.

Nobody will produce Perfect Plans... provide Perfect Information.

Even when the vision is personally delivered by the architect, it's wisest for the architect to stick around and monitor the feature being built. That way he can refine the feature being built, or stop the builder in case he misunderstood even part of the explanation. Though not perfect, it's the next closest thing.

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

What's more important? Plans or People?

... If it were me... I would want the guy who would commit to being there for the entire project, and the one that makes it his daily duty to communicate all his ideas to the construction crew by teaching and example. If the archie knows he has better skilled machine operator shapers than he can do, then oversee them, rather than compete with them by climbing on the machine to do it yourself. But, if you are there while it is happening, I have little doubt some things will come up that would have been passed by if the project were strictly a construction by the plan, stick to the phasing, and stick to the pre-drawn concept.

Some of the passages in Strawn's book were a tweak at the commerce of "change orders" and how the construction companies can almost count on the bonus pay of archies who aren't around all the time, coming and changing their minds on things after they were half done by his previous drawn and preplanned design...

So, I come down on Tony's side of the craftsman-one course at a time VS multiple site supervision based on infrequent site visits - whether it is a tight process or not. That in my mind is the choice of the developer. If the developer is a greenhorn and doesn't take time to try to learn these things, then tough cookie and one gets what they bargain for, and may lose more in $ than the value of the time it should take to learn... RJ Daley http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,36235.0.html
You can read the entire discussion by clicking on the link above.

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

Clumsy Organizations

Organizations, by their very nature, are clumsy. Take any group of more than three people and the best you can hope for is that they will do one thing well. That’s why there are no marching symphony orchestras. It’s that way with companies, too... Stranger in a Strange Land, How Homer Sarasohn Brought Industrial Quality to Japan and Why It Took Japan So Long to Learn By Robert X. Cringely

More than three people build any one golf course, and one individual not playing the right notes can screw up the music.

No architect ever has or ever will produce perfect plans. And no builder will construct the course as envisioned by the architect... when left alone. That's why the best courses have had the author of the music conduct the symphony. He knows what changes fit and has the authority to make the call.

Construction is when ideas are realized...optimized... or not.

Each feature being constructed can be improved upon. Ideas that just don't work in the designed state can be altered quickly with the architect overseeing the individual doing the building... in real time.

Sometime these improvements are simply stopping an individual before they make a feature too perfect, or too engineered looking, as nature is rough, raw and ragged.

Opportunities are not documented on paper, so they are either seized or not during construction.Somebody has to see them, evaluate them and act on them. Someone with authority... the architect. Opportunities do not limit their appearances to only "site-visits"... they present themselves daily if you only look.

All this requires tremendous observation, communication, and oversight, like a conductor. Daily participation by the architect of course is best, especially because today's equipment can make great changes swiftly.

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

The Aim of Leadership

“The aim of leadership should be to improve the performance of man and machine, to improve quality, to increase output and simultaneously to bring pride of workmanship to people. Put in a negative way, the aim of leadership is not to find and record failures of men, but to remove the causes of failure: to help people do a better job with less effort.” Out of the Crisis, W.Edwards Deming

Infrequent site-visits are designed to find, record and correct failures. They're reactive instead of proactive.

What better way to achieve the goals of Dr. Deming than to have an architect lead construction daily? There isn't one. Daily leadership does "eliminate the causes of failure", and does "help people do a better job with less effort".

In addition the work atmosphere is looser, more open and people actually have more fun because the onus to perform is placed directly on the architect. He has no excuses, like "the dog ate my homework", or "the builder just doesn't get it."
Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

Cookbooks and Paint-by-Number Kits

Any cookbook approach is powerless to cope with independent will, or with the unfolding situations of the real world. Straight from the Gut, Jack Welch

Plans are cook books. Paint-by-numbers kits. You can get a golf course produced from handing plans to builders and having the architect show up infrequently... every week, month or quarter, but this is the proven path to mediocrity.

The cook-book-and-abandonment method is the "typical" manner of building golf courses, but is it best? No. History has proven why for a century.

Independent will... the life experiences of each individual building the course, the pet styles they develop, the value they attach to their experiences can submarine the most novel concept when the workers are left alone for long periods. Simply because the vision documented in the cookbook is locked into the architect's brain. It can and never will be fully explained in 2-Dimensional drawings.

Those "unfolding situations of the real world" happen frequently during the construction process. The canvas is large, their are numerous individuals involved with their own perspectives, and Mother nature often throws a curveball.

Adjustments need be made, communication of the vision constantly delivered and reinforced. This can't be done through a "cookbook" and part-time involvement. Not if you seek excellence for the millions you invest.

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

The Executives... 100-years ago and today

…the executives…-were fundamentally indistinguishable from their counterparts of a hundred years ago. Mintzberg on Management, Henry Mintzberg

And the same manner of building superior golf courses is the same as 100-years ago. Though planning, bureaucracy and construction equipment have changed drastically, the fundamentals have gone unchanged because it's as much or more an artistic and strategic pursuit as engineering.

So, as with 100-years ago the most valuable asset an architect can offer is his time because it's not about plans, it's about people. It's about vision. Communicating that vision... personally. Getting and keeping the guys doing the building involved and enthused.

Giving workers a sheet of paper and letting them toil in your absence for long periods, coming by to edit the work once in a while is the old standard, but not the best standard because...

...eventually something falls through the cracks.

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

"Simple and Commonplace"

...although they sound so simple and commonplace that it kind of seems like a waste to go to school and get a Ph.D. in Economics and have it all come back to that. It's a little like spending eight years in divinity school and having somebody tell you that the ten commandments were all that counted. There is a certain natural tendency to overlook anything that simple and important. But those are the important ideas. And they will still be the important ideas 100 years from now. And we will owe them to Ben. Warren Buffett, From a speech at the New York Society of Financial Analysts "A Tribute to Ben Graham".

The same principles that applied 100-years ago will still apply in the future because building golf courses is an art, a people business, where communication is key. And the richest communication is face-to-face.

It's simple, but not easy, that's why only a select few architects in the history of architecture have worked this way.

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitectt@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

Why people excel

When there is a genuine vision (as opposed to the all-to-familiar ‘vision statement’), people excel and learn, not because they are told to, but because they want to. But many leaders have personal visions that never get translated into shared visions that galvanize an organization… What has been lacking is a discipline for translating vision into shared vision - not a ‘cookbook’ but a set of principles and guiding practices. The practice of shared vision involves the skills of unearthing shared ‘pictures of the future’ that foster genuine commitment and enrolment rather than compliance. In mastering this discipline, leaders learn the counter-productiveness of trying to dictate a vision, no matter how heartfelt. The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of The Learning Organization, Peter Senge

This paragraph hits on many things related to the fine art of designing and constructing golf courses:

Vision statement = Plans.
Cookbook = Plans.
Skills of unearthing shared ‘pictures of the future’ = Opportunity seeking and communication of vision.
Foster genuine commitment = Plans cannot lead. People lead. Only through leadership can there be consistent commitment, motivation, joy of work.
Counter-productiveness of trying to dictate a vision = Plans and walking away from the project for days, weeks or months. Plans dictate the vision, visits are used to put out the hottest fires and edit work completed according to plan.

Daily leadership by the architect overcomes all these challenges.
Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

"...you simply can't do a design well enough in two dimensions on paper to translate it into three dimensions."

KC: It varies widely from architect to architect, but some I know are basically finished with a design once they turn in their blueprints. Others are more involved...?

JM: ...the design and construction of a course is about fifty percent technical and fifty percent art. And you simply can't do a design well enough in two dimensions on paper to translate it into three dimensions. Some of my friends in the business do that, and that's okay, but I believe it's not the way to get the best work done. Interview with Designer Jerry Matthews By Kiel T. Christianson

That about sums it up.

The best way to get the best work done is for the architect to be there, explain it to the workers, and even jump on the machine and accomplish the work himself.
Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

The Greatest Danger

The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it. Michelangelo

This goes back to the previous post (Aug 13).

Architects play it safe because they don't spend the time leading construction.

I've heard rebuttals about this, where the antagonists claim their "site-visits" are timely, even "pro-active".

"Site-visits" are like driving by looking in your rear view mirror. You see what's behind but little of what's ahead. That's not proactive... it's reactive, and you miss a lot. It's a dangerous way to drive, because eventually you will crash... just as some golf projects of this type do.

An architect leading construction daily is both proactive, and reactive. He analyzes and seeks opportunities to improve the feature(s) before it is built, communicates the vision personally and monitors its progress... changing things in real-time, not after the fact. That's a method of design where the architect aims for the sky.

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

What is more important for your investment of millions?

...let me ask what's more important when under contract to provide a functioning design for a client with particular needs? Doing something that works, even if its substantially been done before, or doing something new?

Doing something truly new for the gca (golf course architect) expands his/her horizons and if never done, stifles their growth, and potential ability to provide good solutions in the future. Trying something truly new for an individual client can work out well for them, but its high risk for a high reward, that may not materialize. ASGCA Architect, http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,35946.msg730461.html#msg730461

Seemingly innocuous, the above quote is a nugget, revealing the serious challenges for investors.

First, all clients are individual. All place millions on the line with the desire or hope of getting something truly special. This is normal.

Second, the architect admits plans and the "Typical" working method are not enough to create something "truly new". This is a point I have been hammering hard and will continue to do. Investors new to golf need understand plans are insufficient. Technology is insufficient. Leaving builders to grapple with the plans for days, weeks, and months at a time is insufficient. Especially in developing golf nations.

It is always "high risk" to "try something truly new for an individual client" if the architect works in the "Typical" manner. In fact, it is high risk to pass out a "functioning design" and leave builders to work without the architect's leadership for days, weeks or months at a time. Just look at the mass of mediocre or worse projects that have been produced during the past 25-years, especially in emerging markets.

It's why courses rich in detail, on the cutting edge have had an architect leading construction. Excellence, cutting edge designs... risk taking requires leadership. This means long days spent on your project communicating the details and monitoring the work in progress.

Something "individual" always requires a special effort. There isn't a great course that has come about by luck.

To answer the architect's initial question, what's important is giving the investor the best you possibly can provide; something "individual".

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

Floors, Walls and Communication

Another effective analogy was comparing an organization to a house. Floors represent layers and the walls function as barriers. To get the best out of an organization, these floors and walls must be blown away, creating an open space where ideas flow freely. Straight from the Gut, Jack Welch

It's a great analogy for those working in an office, as walls, floors and closed doors cut off communication.

On a wide open property it's difficult to imagine the scenario, but it exists here too. A builder left alone without its visionary, the architect, is working in a void too. It's as if the doors on his machine have been welded shut and his cab is sound proof.

Open communication means having someone to communicate with. Face-to-face, looking at the work in real time. Looking for opportunities to improve the work. It's an atmosphere of open communication where everyone is encouraged to speak with everyone, and there is a sounding board for the ideas that pour out; the architect. He is the visionary and only guy who knows what ideas will fit.

With the doors wide open swift decisions based on an intimate understanding of the project and property can be made. Others that need no immediate attention can be mulled over and decided upon later. The great thing is all ideas get a hearing. For investors, all these improvements, that can and do improve projects drastically, come from open communication at virtually no cost or cost savings.

We hire workers for their labor, but mining their minds for ideas is free. It's a shame to let thousands of hours and scores of ideas go to waste. At a minimum the people involved are more engaged, happier, and think more while they work. That adds tremendous value too, even if every one of their ideas go down in flames.
Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

The reasons for Ralph’s success are not complicated

The reasons for Ralph’s success are not complicated. Ben Graham taught me 45 years ago that in investing it is not necessary to do extraordinary things to get extraordinary results. In later life, I have been surprised to find that this statement holds true in business management as well. What a manager must do is handle the basics well and not get diverted. That’s precisely Ralph’s formula. He establishes the right goals and never forgets what he set out to do. Warren Buffett, 1994 Berkshire Hathaway Chairman's Letter

Who wouldn't want the same for their golf course development... a laser-like Focus on your interests. On your investment. On your workers. On the details of your project.

Strange how most projects lack this vital ingredient... for an investment of millions!

It's no surprise the best golf courses were the result of architects sticking to their knitting. Many of the great courses were the first completed by their architect... simply because they spent the time. It was a labor of love.

They "handled the basics well" and did "not get diverted."

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

Demosthenes,.. and being "over-optimistic"

"...five centuries before Christ Demosthenes noted that: "What a man wishes, he will believe." And in self appraisals of prospects and talents it is the norm, as Demosthenes predicted, for people to be ridiculously over-optimistic. For instance, a careful survey in Sweden showed that 90% of automobile drivers considered themselves above average. And people who are successfully selling something, as investment counselors do, make Swedish drivers sound like depressives. Virtually every investment expert’s public assessment is that he is above average, no matter what is the evidence to the contrary." Speech by Charlie Munger on Institutional Funds Management

Usually an optimist... when it comes to building golf courses... I'm a pessimist. It's why I'm on-site daily during construction.

Visiting and playing courses around the globe, I've seen too many good properties fall short. It wouldn't have cost more money to achieve excellence at most of these places, it only required more leadership during construction. More communication... more time... more attention to detail.

All the optimism and good vibes during the sales meeting and all the grand visions during planning won't ensure an excellent golf course unless an architect invests a lot of time explaining it to the builders and monitoring their work in real-time.

The 'typical' method of designing and building golf courses resembles those Swedish drivers. I'll refer you to the following as an example of a "signature" architect's detailed plans and 2% involvement during construction going awry: http://www.agolfarchitect.com/theterribletruth.htm

Evidence, 100-years worth, shows the best golf courses are produced by an architect leading construction daily, and lucky for some investors, there is barely a handful of us in the world working this way...

... so, if you want to be overly optimistic... hire someone who's not. Someone who knows how much work it takes, who is willing to "go the extra mile" to create excellence.

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

How many uses for a piece of paper? And what does it have to do with golf course architecture?

Summary.—...We presented a scenario in which 125 participants believed that they had completed a task and so had no reason to seek further solutions. To their surprise, after a period of distraction, we resumed the testing session... the second session displayed a remarkable similarity to those from the first, including an initial burst of ideas, allowing the inference that... a process of nonconscious idea generation might be operating. Nonconcious Idea Generation, Psychological Reports, 2004

The task for the 125 participants (11 to 71) was write down as many uses for a piece of paper as possible for 5-minutes. The "period of distraction" lasted five minutes.

What happened after the second testing period?

Although the majority of participants had seemingly exhausted their capacity to produce new ideas by the end of the first session, in the second session they generated, on average, approximately 60% as many new ideas as they had on the first occasion.

60%... ! For a piece of paper!

This simple experiment powerfully illustrates why architect's who stay with the project and invest huge amounts of time produce a better product. They continuously generate new thoughts, ideas, analysis and get feedback from others. They communicate the work to be accomplished, monitor its progress in real time and continue the "idea generation" process as the feature is being built.

An architect can come in for his rare and "timely site-visit" but he's missed a lot since his previous visit. A lot of feedback, communication, and critical time to roll ideas through his head.

And that "timely site visit"? By the time most would generate a second "burst of ideas" from their handful of hours on-site, they're in the rental car or helicopter headed to the airport.

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

One Plan... Two Builders... What Happened?

...we were working on two courses, so I had him draw the exact same plan for a short par 3 on both. The difference was amazing. The "good" contractor's green had fuller slopes, better integration of green slopes with surrounds, etc. The foreman directed the shaper to hide the cart path crossing in front of the tee with a small ridge, whereas the other sat in plain view, the cart path drained, basins were hidden, etc. The good shape also went back to the tee often just to see how it looked, rather than shape it without looking... Source: http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,17496.0.html

What this clearly illustrates is plans are subject to interpretation, and plans lack vital details... like the one builder inserting the "small ridge" to hide the cart path. Sounds like it was lacking in the plan.

Sometimes a builder works out OK, other times they don't. It's a roulette wheel when the architect is absent for long stretches. The question is... will your millions be well spent... or not?

There is an insurance policy though. Have an architect lead construction daily.

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

Almost Half the Architects Can't Find Qualified Builders

That was the official report. In reality it could be half or more.

A Golf Course News survey of golf course architects discovered that 42.8% of those polled felt it was getting difficult to find qualified golf course builders for their projects. Golf Course News (USA), November 1999

My guess is they polled fairly well known architects. And this in America where there are 25 million golfers and 17,000 golf courses. What about the remainder of the projects? What about pioneering countries where most building courses have scant knowledge?

More than fifty years earlier in America it wasn't polled, but it was no different:

...half the time the builders of new courses have no ideas concerning the character of the holes or their distribution, and without hesitation put this squarely up to the architect... A.W. Tillinghast, (1874-1942)

And won't be any different in another 50-years.

Even with a "qualified builder", the developer would be best served with an architect leading construction. It's imperative in developing nations.

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

Innovation, Opportunity, Discovery... Aha!!!

Innovation is not the product of logical thought, although the result is tied to logical structure. Albert Einstein

Innovation is a key ingredient when building golf courses. It's the "Aha!!!" moments that take projects to the next level; opportunities uncovered as construction progresses.

Opportunities come randomly... and daily if you're there to take note. Some moments are grander than others, but every little bit added together... creates a powerful difference in quality.

Innovation requires communication, and daily leadership during construction offers the opportunity to get to know the workers skills set better. It offers the opportunity to explain the concept better. It offers the opportunity to understand the vast property better. Daily observation, daily leadership leads logically to better understanding, more opportunities to uncover, and a better product.

Planning is the process of "logical thought", but plans only represent part of the puzzle and the start of the race. Getting the maximum from those plans (ideas-vision), and translating it to the workers requires far more.

Innovation, improving the product in every way possible, communicating the vision, going the extra mile and seizing opportunity for improvement is a full-time job; it's a "logical structure". Logical and proven in every industry known to man.

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

Labor of Love

Great courses are a labor of love, and greatness is unlikely if the designer and owner play only the inaugural round together and never see one another again. Cleve Trimble

So true, and this relates directly to the previous post. Actually everything posted up to today.

The best golf courses (the best anything) are a "labor of love", not a hit-and-run operation where the architect is a foreigner to the property and workers.
There are post construction details that need be nailed down, and just as excellence requires an architect leading construction, an investment of time after construction is completed is also required to ensure the course is maturing as the architect intended.

At times the architect may be required to visit the course years... decades after the course has opened. To educate a new superintendent and/or review the maturity of the course... because golf courses are growing, and change slightly with every pass of a mower. After years, slight change pile upon slight change can change the architecture.
All this takes time... the most valuable asset we possess. The most valuable asset a golf course architect can bring to his work... as nothing great on this planet is done in a flash.

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

Post Construction is Critical Too

There were many times when I wish I could ask Press Maxwell what his intention was concerning this strategy of a golf ball. He never came back, and I never had a chance to ask him, so I had to make the decisions myself. On the Course, Stan Metsker

When a golf course is constructed, is it finished?

NO! It's only the beginning of a new phase of architecture... the vegetation.

Maintenance has a direct effect on how the course looks and plays, and with every passing year the course changes subtly.

If a new superintendent arrives, he may not understand the novel concept the architect intended, and in one short season destroy the architect's intent. I've seen it happen.

So, can you expect an architect who visited your project a handful of times during construction to return to make sure the course is maturing as intended? Hardly. And those with dozens and up to one-hundred projects under construction annually?

I not only am willing to make these visits, but write a book about how the course was constructed, how it should be maintained and why. This serves members and superintendents with a guide for decades into the future. If the membership loses its way and the course is altered, future members can go back and restore it to its original intent.

In America many courses are undergoing restorations at huge expense. Memberships are desperately searching for information, photos of how the course looked in its original state. All this research is done a great expense of time and money... usually costing up to $80,000.

I'll most likely be the first, perhaps the only architect to document all his work for future members... because I actually am on-site daily with the builders constructing the courses I design.
Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

Richness and Reach

": there is a universal trade-off between richness and reach. The trade-off is fairly simple. “Richness” means the quality of information, as defined by the used: accuracy, bandwidth, currency, customization, interactivity, relevance, security and so forth. “Reach” means the number of people who participate in the sharing of that information." Blown to Bits, Philip Evans and Thomas S. Wurster

Couldn't be stated more simply, and in golf course architecture... richness has proven critical. Find a great golf course, and you'll find an architect was leading the effort.

Reach... more projects translates to less time for yours.

If a golf course is to be unique, who is going to explain what is unique, what should be strictly followed, and what is open to interpretation? Who will discover and implement the vital alterations? These don't show up according to an architect's infrequent visits. Only the architect really knows, and if he is on-site daily, he'll know the property intimately, and his decision making based on a "richer" understanding of the property, weather and the individuals doing the building.

Daily leadership during construction is the ultimate in "richness", and has proven to produce the best performances... simply because workers get up-to-the-minute, "quality" information.

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

More Confessions

“…as (ESGA-EIGCA architect) explained. “The entire reconstruction had to be completed by retaining as many features as possible and allowing continuous play…A budget of (1.9 million Euros) was calculated and any increase in costs for reconstruction was completely unacceptable.”

“The need for reconstruction of (the recently) reconstructed course puts (ESGA-EIGCA architect) in a pensive mood. “Today as one contemplates the outcome of the reconstruction and extension one realizes once again how difficult it is, or even impossible, to build the optimal golf course. Too many details force the architect to reach several compromises that could lead to a reconstruction at a later date." ESGA-EIGCA Golf Course Architect, Golf Course News International, 1999

How would you like to be the president of this golf club and read your recently renovated project might require more renovation in the future? How do you explain this to the members?... With great difficulty.

The problem wasn't and never is "too many details", it was too little time on-site by the architect during the most costly and permanent design-phase... Construction.

The architect was given a budget, "and any increase in costs for reconstruction was completely unacceptable." What is "future reconstruction "if not a future increase in cost?

What these "Confessions" illustrate is nobody is exempt from having things go poorly when the architect hands plans to the builder and makes infrequent "site-visits". Not past presidents, architect association members, signature designers... Nobody.

Excellence requires more than a set of plans and a "walk through" every blue moon. It requires commitment, communication, long hours... just like anything of excellence.

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

Technology is not value

Technology is not value. Technology is not value. Technology is not value. Technology is only a means of delivering value. Value has to be designed.

More and more technology will not provide value.

Creativity is by far the cheapest way of getting added value from existing assets.

Information and analysis are far from enough. They are merely the baseline.

You can analyse the past but you have to design the future. Edward de Bono

"Creativity", the architect leading construction on a daily basis is the greatest way to add tremendous value. He can adjust, communicate, opportunity seek and monitor work as it is being built. No surprise this is how the truly great courses (which is different from those marketed as "great') were constructed.
Technology is nice when you have a mountainside to blow down. It helps predict cuts, fills and materials... but once that mass of prep-work is done (like a chef preparing all the ingredients before the evening rush hour)... it's still best to have an architect leading construction of the golf course.

"Technology is not value." People, committed leaders have value.

After all... after all the technology, it's still a set of plans builders have to interpret... and do you really want a golf course built precisely as planned. NO! Why? This would indicate a mass of missed opportunities to improve the project. It's the difference between a paint-by-numbers kit, and a work of fine art.

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

Confessions of a Golf Architect

… I don't think of it as my best work… I think it shows up in some very important details lacking, especially in bunker shaping…green contouring, etc. Budget constraints limited me to about five site visits.

ASGCA Past President

The quote above illustrates what can happen when you leave workers to build on their own... with "detailed plans"... but in a state of ignorance.
Surely there are some great builders out there that do a terrific job when left alone, but that represents a small fraction of all golf course construction work. As good as the work these companies do... it would be even better with an architect present everyday.
Having visited hundreds of courses in emerging markets, one things is certain... an architect helping the workers daily is of paramount importance.

As for myself, I have yet to use a "golf course construction company" in these young golf nations... instead, opting to work with general contractors or a local crew on an all-day, everyday basis.

For the first developers in pioneering markets, they have the opportunity to set a high standard and secure a position of superiority for decades to come... but to do this requires more than a "site-visit" from the architect every week, month or quarter.
As for "budget constraints"? Give me a call and I'll explain how my daily on-site presence and design method more than pays for itself.
Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com+49 (0)173 450 4552
+1(909) 581 0080

Why Accept Costly Old Norms?

We should be encouraging... organizations that understand their missions, “know” the people they serve, and excite the ones they employ; we should be encouraging “thick” management, deep knowledge, healthy competition... We need to get back to our basic senses, to feel genuine commitment, to use informal intuition,... Only in these ways,…shall we find our way back from the frozen wastes... Mintzberg on Management, Henry Mintzberg

Building golf courses is a people business. It is about communication and regardless of technology that makes planning easier, a project still requires leadership... just as the best did 100-years ago.

In the old days construction was slow. Horses, mules and manpower. With a visit every few days or week, the architect could see the painstaking transition and adjust accordingly.

Today construction is lightening fast. What once took weeks only takes a few hours today, but the method of oversight hasn't changed with the times. The "site-visits" reflect 50 to 100-year old standards.

Paper plans are merely a tool for nailing down engineering solutions, and getting bids on predicted work and materials. After that, plans are subject to interpretation and alteration. To get the most from your land and budget, you require "genuine commitment", more than ever before... an architect leading construction.

Old norms, architects visiting the construction site infrequently is defended and bandied about as acceptable because it is the way things have been done for decades. You'll often hear the name Donald Ross used as a defense. History though, shows the architects of the great courses employed far higher standards. They were built with men leading construction.

Even Ross realized the errors of his ways:

The greatest collection of Donald Ross golf courses is right here (in Pinehurst)…

That’s because (Donald Ross) was here.

When my dad once asked him what he might do differently if he were starting over, Ross told him, ‘I would only build as many courses as I could be at the site.’

He lived here (in Pinehurst) and spent time here, and obviously courses are going to be more true to the designs when the architect is there.

Interview with Dan Maples

Pilot.com

You don't have to settle for costly old norms, and the latest planning technology doesn't change matters either. In the end it is still a set of plans the builders have to interpret... plans that cannot speak, or hold every detail and possible improvement.

Plans are not on a mission, people are. Without leadership... there is no mission... only submission.

Old norms... they'll either cost you in cash, in quality... or both.

It's your money. You can demand far more.

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+1(909) 581 0080