Heron Lakes is a 36-hole golf complex located in the flood plain near where the Columbia River flows into the Willamette, not far from downtown Portland. Oregon’s second-largest city, Vanport, once stood here. Housing migrants who’d come to work in the Kaiser Shipyards during WWII, Vanport was destroyed when the Columbia’s dikes burst in 1948, […]
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Donald Ross and Jack Nicklaus: Unexpected Kinsmen in Design
Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw deserve kudos for their restoration of Pinehurst #2. Their exertions amount to an extended homage to the genius of Donald Ross. The rejuvenation was overdue. As long ago as 1974, when he was playing in the World Open Championship on #2, Jack Nicklaus said he was “shocked” that the course’s […]
Golf and Boxing: Unlikely Cousins in the Arena, Seen Through the Vision of Novelist Katherine Dunn.
Last week, the novelist Katherine Dunn died of lung cancer. I am proud to say that Katherine was a dear friend, which is hardly a unique claim. Everyone who knew Katherine treasured her friendship. Although an internationally acclaimed writer, Katherine put on no airs–she was funny and kind and generous before Geek Love made her […]
Ireland’s Contribution to Chambers Bay: The Role of Turfgrass Consultancy
When the golf course architectural firm Robert Trent Jones II was commissioned to design a new golf course on the vast sandy canvas of an abandoned rock quarry along the shore of Washington state’s Puget Sound, it was handed a unique design brief. First, the course should be capable of testing the world’s greatest players […]
Frederick Law Olmsted and American Golf
Bill Hawkins of Portland, Oregon has combined a distinguished career as a practicing architect with a parallel life as a writer and champion of historical preservation. The 19th century cast iron buildings which have survived near the Willamette River in downtown Portland owe their existence in part to Hawkins’ advocacy. His most recent book, “The Legacy of the […]
Review of “Faldo/Norman” by Andy Farrell.
Andy Farrell, Faldo/Norman. The 1996 Masters: A duel that defined an era. Elliott & Thompson, March, 2014 in the UK, May 1, 2014 in the USA, distributed by Trafalgar Square. $24.95. As the final round of the 2014 Masters is about to get underway, recalling dramatic finishes past raises hope for similar drama […]
A Look Back at the USGA’s First One Hundred Years
One Hundred Years of the USGA. An Essay Written for Golf, The Greatest Game, published by HarperCollins in 1994. To commemorate its centennial, the USGA sponsored the publication of a coffee table book organized and designed by Brennon Jones and Amy Janello of Jones & Janello. Golf, the Greatest Game […]
Carne Golf Links’ New Nine
Carne Golf Links in County Mayo, by general acclaim an exhilarating and formidable addition to the world’s roster of great links courses since its opening in 1995, recently debuted a third nine to complement its original Eddie Hackett-designed 18,. There are good reasons, especially on a course with heavy play, to build 27 holes. You […]
Carne: A Muscular Links Masterpiece in Ireland’s County Mayo
The very existence of the Carne Golf Links in County Mayo, Ireland, came as a surprise to John Garrity when he first heard about it in 2002. The American course designer, Jim Engh, told Garrity that Carne came in as a close second to Ballybunion as his “favorite golf course in the whole world.” Garrity […]
What Makes Oak Hill Great? An Architectural Assessment
Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York has hosted the Ryder Cup, three US Opens, and now three PGA Championships. It’s always ranked among America’s best courses, in one recent list rising as high as number 17. What accounts for Oak Hill’s distinguished reputation? What defines Oak Hill’s greatness? In 1921, Oak Hill acquired […]
A Review of Ghost Light, By Joseph O’Connor
This review first appeared in The Oregonian on March 19, 2011. GHOST LIGHT Joseph O’Connor Farrar, Straus and Giroux. $24.00, 256 pages Loosely based on the lives of the Irish actress Maire O’Neill (né Molly Allgood) and her lover, the playwright John Millington Synge, Joseph O’Connor’s Ghost Light convincingly inhabits the vanished world of Edwardian […]