Designing Golf

For a long time, we’ve wanted to do an in-depth exploration of the Sand Hills Golf Club, Coore & Crenshaw’s masterpiece in Mullen, Nebraska. The day has finally arrived: this episode’s guest, David Normoyle, has just released an excellent book on the history of Sand Hills called “Lonely Beauty.” David takes Garrett through both the fine details and the overarching meanings of the Sand Hills story: the initial leap of faith by the club’s founder, Dick Youngscap; the sneaky-bold design innovations of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw; and the lessons that today’s developers and architects should — but m...

Short courses are having a moment right now. They’re being built at a breakneck pace and enjoying a kind of cultural relevancy that would have been hard to predict 30 years ago. Many exciting, up-and-coming architects are getting their first big breaks on short-course projects. One of those architects is Benjamin Warren, my guest for this episode. A North Berwick native and current resident of Japan, Benjamin recently designed the Loop at Chaska, an innovative short course in Minnesota, and is currently building the Half Mile at Terra Cotta in Illinois. In this episode, he talks with Garrett about th...

Ten years ago today, Winter Park — a nine-hole municipal golf course in a suburban town outside of Orlando, Florida — underwent one of the most important renovations of the 21st century. On a budget of just over a million dollars, Keith Rhebb and Riley Johns, a pair of Coore & Crenshaw associates, transformed WP9 into an excellent, fun, community-focused golf facility. It’s a model for what the municipal game can and should look like. So, in this episode, Garrett chats with Keith Rhebb about the Winter Park project and what we can learn from it. They also discuss some tune-up work R...

Many golfers don’t like seeing out-of-bounds stakes anywhere near a playing corridor; they object on principle. Yet some of the most famous, revered holes in golf use out-of-bounds as a strategic hazard — so there must be something to it. In this installment of our Golf Architecture 101 series, Garrett takes his Fried Egg Golf colleague PJ Clark through the ways OB has been, and should be, deployed in golf course design. Garrett also brings in Craig Winter, the USGA’s Senior Director of the Rules of Golf and Amateur Status, for a quick lesson on the history of the OB pen...

On September 1, East Potomac Golf Links, a popular municipal golf facility in Washington, D.C., was supposed to shut down for a massive renovation led by the Trump administration and architect Tom Fazio. But then... it didn’t. So what’s going on here? And what’s the backstory? Garrett is joined by his Fried Egg Golf colleague (and DMV resident) Brendan Porath to go through the full history of East Potomac, from its beginnings as an innovative reversible golf course to its current status as a political football.

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When Mike Keiser opened Bandon Dunes in 1999, his son Michael was 18 years old. Michael Jr. went on to play a key role in the expansion of the Keiser family’s Dream Golf empire. Along with his brother Chris, he oversaw the development of Wisconsin’s Sand Valley, one of the most architecturally experimental golf resorts in the country. Now, Michael is creating three new resorts of his own, all opening within the next year and a half. There’s Wild Spring Dunes in East Texas, Rodeo Dunes in Colorado, and Old Shores in the Florida Panhandle. He and his wife a...

Among America’s greatest golf courses, the East Course at Merion Golf Club is one of the oldest. It’s no surprise, then, that it’s relatively small, occupying only about 115 acres. Still, the East Course remains a legitimate championship venue, with the 2030, 2040, and 2050 U.S. Opens on its docket. Next week, the club will host the U.S. Amateur for the seventh time. So there’s no better time to discuss Merion East in depth and ask why it has endured so strongly. Garrett opens the episode with a quick rundown of the course’s key characteristics, including its routin...

On any golf course, the greens are the center of gravity. Around 40% of the shots we hit in a given round on a regulation course are putts. Over half will be either putts or chips. And any decently hit approach shot will also interact with the green or its surrounds. So today’s Golf Architecture 101 topic is an important one. Garrett is joined by his Fried Egg Golf colleague PJ Clark to talk about greens: how they’re designed, how they’re built, and what makes a good one.

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Next week, Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England, will host the Open Championship for the 11th time. The pros will probably love it (because they almost always do), but will we like it? In this episode, Garrett discusses all things Royal Birkdale with his Fried Egg Golf colleague Joseph LaMagna, who recently visited the course. Garrett and Joseph talk about Royal Birkdale’s history, land, routing, greens, and architectural philosophy before delving into the changes the club made in preparation for this year’s Open.

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One of the biggest stories in the golf course industry over the past 30 years has been the rise of the public destination golf. The 2020s in particular have seen a remarkable surge in remote developments featuring neoclassical golf architecture. So where are we now in the evolution of this type of resort? How has public destination golf influenced golf architecture? After reviewing several ongoing projects and discussing some recent trends, Garrett brings on architect Mike Koprowski to discuss his work at Candyroot Lodge, a new resort in the Carolina Sandhills. Garrett and Mike dig into the nitty-gritty of the...

William Flynn, the designer of Shinnecock Hills, was one of the greatest golf architects of the Golden Age. In this episode of Designing Golf, we explore his distinctively naturalistic, restrained design style. First, Garrett lists what he believes are the five essential Flynn courses. Then Garrett brings on Jim Nagle, an architect who has helped restore many Flynn designs, to delve deeper into Flynn's career, philosophy, and legacy.

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In two weeks, the U.S. Open returns to Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, New York, for the sixth time. This episode of Designing Golf dives deep into the course’s history and current William Flynn design. First, Garrett talks with his Fried Egg Golf colleague Matt Rouches about the six things that make Shinnecock a great course. Then Garrett brings on golf historian Bob Crosby to discuss how the early iterations of Shinnecock Hills represent the evolution of golf architecture between the 1890s and the 1930s.

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After a surprisingly controversial PGA Championship at Aronimink, Garrett brings on his Fried Egg Golf colleague PJ Clark to chat about championship golf course design and setup. First they discuss the factors that made Aronimink a polarizing venue: the lack of trees, the firm greens, the provocative pins, and the relatively low emphasis on driving accuracy. Then Garrett takes PJ through a brief history of the championship setup wars, starting with Robert Trent Jones’s “Open Doctor” shenanigans in the 1950s and 60s. Finally, Garrett and PJ both lay out what they’re looking for in a 21st-century major champion...

Donald Ross had one of the most prolific, impressive careers in the history of golf architecture. Yet his design methods and ideas are not as widely and precisely understood as those of, say, Alister MacKenzie or C.B. Macdonald. So in this episode, Garrett sits down with Bradley Klein, a longtime golf architecture writer and golf course consultant, to answer some Ross-themed questions asked by members of Fried Egg Golf Club. First, though, Garrett discusses what he believes are the five essential Donald Ross golf courses.

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What do the different components of a golf course construction project cost? Or really — what should they cost? In today’s episode, we tackle the economics of building golf courses. First, Garrett outlines Alister MacKenzie’s ideas about economy in construction and applies them to today’s realities. Then he brings on golf architect Bruce Hepner to discuss Hepner’s recent work on public courses like Miami Lake Golf Club and his thoughts on the excesses of modern golf architecture.

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The golf course at Augusta National has changed a great deal over time. So what was the original version like? This episode dives into what Garrett calls one of the strangest and most interesting courses ever created. First, he is joined by Josh Pettit, founder of the Alister MacKenzie Institute, to discuss how certain holes at Augusta National were inspired by links templates. Then Garrett sits down with golf architect Brian Schneider to talk about the ways that the 1930s iteration of the course might inspire modern golf architecture.

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Most golf architects will tell you that the most important step in designing a golf course is routing — that is, locating greens, fairways, and tees, and linking them together into a full sequence of holes. And yet routing is also probably the hardest aspect of golf course design to discuss. So in this installment of our Golf Architecture 101 series, Garrett sits down with PJ Clark to demystify the art of routing.

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With the Players Championship approaching, we take a close look at the philosophy and influence of Pete Dye, the architect behind the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, Harbour Town Golf Links, and many other great courses. First, Garrett explains why golf architecture nerds tend to admire Dye even though Dye violated a lot of currently fashionable principles of design. Then, Garrett brings on Scot Sherman, lead designer at Love Golf Design, to discuss his history with the Dye family as well as his recent and upcoming work at TPC Sawgrass and Harbour Town.

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With the Genesis Invitational returning to Riviera Country Club this week, Garrett digs into the masterful 1927 design by George Thomas and Billy Bell. First, he outlines what makes Riviera great and how he thinks it could be improved. Then he brings on Zac Blair, professional golfer and founder of The Tree Farm, to talk about the finer details of the course.

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How can you properly appreciate a golf course while you’re playing it? In this episode, Garrett talks about a couple of techniques he uses to understand golf architecture in the midst of a round. Then he brings on Geoff Shackelford (18:12), author of the book "Golf Architecture for Normal People" and the Substack newsletter The Quadrilateral, to discuss the “RED” system of appreciating and evaluating golf courses.

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In the 1980s, the concept of a stadium golf course seemed poised to take off. The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass and the PGA West Stadium Course, both designed by Pete Dye, made high-profile debuts on the PGA Tour in 1982 and 1987, respectively. But then the trend ended before it really became a trend. In this episode, Garrett explains the idea of a stadium course and offers some theories as to why it didn’t catch on. He then talks to architect Tim Liddy (19:19) about his recent renovation work at PGA West.

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It’s a new year, so we’re looking ahead. First, Garrett talks about whether modern golf architecture is running low on fresh ideas. Then he is joined by his Fried Egg Golf colleague Matt Rouches to discuss six (or, by the end of their conversation, seven) course openings they’re excited about in 2026.

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In the future, when we look back on the years between 2010 and 2025, what will we see as the golf courses that defined the era? Andy Johnson and Matt Rouches join Garrett Morrison to discuss.

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What is the so-called “Golden Age of golf architecture”? In this installment of our Golf Architecture 101 series, Garrett introduces his Fried Egg Golf colleague PJ Clark to the three big ideas that sparked the Golden Age at the beginning of the 20th century.

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In the U.S., many of the greatest old golf courses have already undergone restoration work. So where can historically informed golf architecture go next? In this episode, Garrett explores a few projects that represent intriguing frontiers of the golf course restoration and renovation industry. First, he sits down with Jeff Stein to talk about Stein’s and Brian Ross’s historically inspired redesign of the Great Dunes at Jekyll Island Resort. Then he speaks with Clyde Johnson about the subtle craft of restoring British links courses.

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The Sandbelt of Melbourne, Australia, boasts one of the densest concentrations of great golf courses in the world: the West and East courses of Royal Melbourne, Kingston Heath, Victoria Golf Club, and more. In this episode of Designing Golf, Garrett dives deep into the Sandbelt’s history, geology, golf, culture, and virtues as a destination. His guests are Harley Kruse and Lukas Michel, both Australian golf architects who are deeply familiar with the region.

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Last year, a devastating wildfire hit Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada. Jasper Park Lodge and its beautiful Stanley Thompson-designed golf course sustained heavy damage. In today's episode, Garrett speaks with Canadian golf architect Ian Andrew about Jasper Park's road to recovery. They also discuss the history of Jasper Park Golf Course and the design philosophy of Stanley Thompson.

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Garrett sits down with Greg Nathan, president and CEO of the National Golf Foundation, to take stock of the U.S. golf course industry. Has the post-Covid surge in participation proven sustainable? What kinds of golf course development are we seeing? Why does there seem to be an under-supply of public golf facilities in certain areas? How are short courses faring? Garrett and Greg get into these questions and more.

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With the Ryder Cup approaching, Garrett asks a question that has been on his mind for a while: what, if anything, suits a golf course to the match-play format? Garrett talks to two different architects: first, Andy Staples, who recently designed a match-play course called The Match at PGA National Resort; second, Brian Schneider, who is somewhat skeptical of the notion of a “match-play course.” To close out the episode, Garrett discusses his takeaways from his chats with Andy and Brian, and he offers some thoughts on Bethpage Black’s design and suitability for the Ryder Cup.

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Building off of our latest Golf Architecture 101 episode, Garrett Morrison sits down with golf historian Bob Crosby to discuss the historical roots of the notion of fairness in golf course design. Garrett and Bob explore how two major figures of the game in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Laidlaw Purves and John Low, came to represent opposite sides of the fairness debate—a debate that still rages today.

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On today’s episode, we dive deep into the history and architecture of Cypress Point Club, site of the upcoming 50th Walker Cup. First, Garrett speaks with David Normoyle, author of Cypress Point’s soon-to-be-published centennial book, about the history of the club. Then Garrett offers some of his own reflections on the course’s land, routing, and design features. Finally, he brings on Joshua Pettit, founder of the Alister MacKenzie Institute, to discuss a few lesser-known facts about Cypress Point’s construction.

(0:00-8:35) Introduction and Personal History

(10:26-51:07) Interview with David Normoyle

(53:24-1:21:55...

In the latest installment of our Golf Architecture 101 series, Garrett sits down with PJ to discuss the hot-button issue of fairness. What does it mean for a golf course to be fair? What kinds of design features might be considered unfair? Should we expect fairness out of a golf course? Garrett and PJ discuss it all in this episode.

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American golfers who visit the UK often come back wondering the U.S. doesn’t have more private golf clubs that encourage outside play. There are a number of reasons for the differences between the UK and U.S. club “models”—some tax-related, others having to do with history and culture. Still, it is possible to create a golf club in the U.S. that combines a strong local membership with a welcoming posture toward the public. That’s exactly what a group of people in Michigan is trying to do by reinventing Dunham Hills Golf Club as Proving Ground Gol...

One of the most important discussions in golf architecture today relates to the “footprint” of a golf course—that is, how much space a course takes up, both physically and environmentally. As the USGA Green Section discovered in a recent study, golf course footprints have gotten substantially bigger over time. To explore this phenomenon, Garrett Morrison sits down with George Waters, the manager of USGA Green Section Education. Garrett and George discuss how golf courses have evolved over the past 100 years, why course footprints have grown while many course features (fairways, bunkers, greens) have shrunk, and what these developments mean fo...

Today we’re diving deep into this year’s Open Championship venue, the Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Portrush, Northern Ireland. Garrett Morrison is joined by Matt Rouches, production associate at Fried Egg Golf, to discuss the history and architecture of this Harry Colt masterpiece. They touch on the the course’s exceptional land, inventive routing, beautifully shaped greens, and more.

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The best way to plunge a golf club into chaos is to suggest chopping down trees. In today’s episode, golf architecture author and consultant Bradley Klein joins Garrett Morrison to discuss this controversial issue. They delve into the history of trees on golf courses, explain the origins of the recent trend of tree removal, and address various arguments made both for and against tree-management programs.

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Today we’re diving deep into this year’s U.S. Open venue, Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. First, Garrett Morrison speaks with David Moore, Curator of Collections at Oakmont, about the early history of the club. Then Garrett sits down with Fried Egg Golf staff writer Joseph LaMagna to dig into the details of Oakmont’s architecture. They talk about the course’s topography, routing, underlying design philosophy, greens, hazards, aesthetics, and more. They also touch on the club’s controversial tree-removal program, Gil Hanse’s recent renovation work, and the kind of test that the course will adminis...

In this installment of our Golf Architecture 101 series, Garrett introduces his Fried Egg Golf colleague PJ Clark to C.B. Macdonald's "ideal holes." They discuss how Macdonald came up with the notion of "templates" based on famous British golf holes, and they dig into the history and characteristics of the Redan, Alps, and Road designs. Garrett and PJ wrap up by talking about whether the ideal holes have outlived their usefulness.

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If you’ve listened to any amount of golf architecture discussion in the past two decades, you’ve probably heard the term “minimalism.” In a basic sense, minimalism means trying to create compelling golf while moving as little earth as possible. Recently, some architects have been looking for alternatives to this philosophy. Two such architects are Tim Jackson and David Kahn, the principals of the firm Jackson Kahn Design. In this episode, Garrett Morrison speaks with Tim and David about what they make of “minimalism” as a category, how they approach different types of land, whether they’re concerned with making ar...

It’s not easy to design a golf course that challenges elite players without making average golfers want to quit the game. That was the task OCM Golf faced in its 2023-24 redesign of Course 3 at Medinah Country Club. In this episode, OCM partner Mike Cocking sits down with Garrett Morrison to talk about how he helped reimagine Medinah No. 3 as a course simultaneously capable of hosting both the 2026 Presidents Cup and an ordinary Saturday four-ball.

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