How I Got Started in Golf Architecture - Part Two

   

"It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, - she moves in mysterious ways" U2

It was 1987 when I began working at Environmental Design and Research, a large Syracuse based Landscape Architecture firm. I knew if I wanted to practice Landscape Architecture (including Golf Design) that I would need to eventually obtain my professional license. This would require me to apprentice three years under a licensed Landscape Architect, and then take and pass a rigorous week long national exam. This is similar to architecture or civil engineering. So even though I hadn’t yet decided to specialize in golf course design, I knew that either way I would need a license and this position would fulfill part of that requirement.

My role initial role at EDR was that of a typical “green” intern, starting with the most menial tasks, such as drafting and assisting partners with their projects. I eventually became more involved in design and project management. David Crandall was the founder of the company and the lead designer at the firm. He was a great person to work for and an outstanding designer. I came to the firm with strong conceptualization skills and a love of design in general. But Dave really influenced me a lot. He taught me to trust my intuition and helped me translate my ideas into quick sketches. His encouragement was critical to my development as a designer. We worked on a broad range of projects, residential design, streetscapes, community planning, urban design, and athletic facilities. I learned that the design process is similar to each project and that managing projects and budgets are important aspects of the profession. But we also were getting golf design projects – or pieces of them - and I was able to do routings and preliminary design work. It was during this time that I recognized a higher level of interest and spent much time outside of work researching golf course design.

During the same years I was working at EDR, I was invited by the State University of New York at Syracuse, to teach design in the Department of Landscape Architecture as a visiting instructor. My design work at EDR was beginning to gain attention and the department felt I would be able to bring my knowledge of design to the classroom. At the time, I was the youngest instructor in the department. I gave lectures and was responsible for daily interaction and instruction for 1/3 of the design studio. I also began to look more closely at Golf Course Design and considered going back to obtain my Master’s Degree in Landscape Architecture. I also briefly considered pursuing a career in teaching Landscape Architecture.

While all of this was going on, I traveled with my wife and some folks from my church to Honduras in 1992. We were there to see what life was like in Central America and we were led through various villages and barrios by one of my best friends. It was truly an eye and heart opening experience. While I was there, my wife and I struck up a conversation with a retired Latin American History professor from Columbia University. He was living in Rochester, NY – just a short drive away from us in Syracuse. He invited me to join him later on that same year to travel to Nicaragua. He was planning a trip and needed someone to design and build a children’s playground in the Village of Chacra Saca. I decided it was something I would like to do. So later that same year, I traveled to Nicaragua with a small group of high school students, an electrician (to electrify their well) and a Vietnam Veteran and his son. We built the only playground we saw in the country. Some may have wondered, why we were building a playground for the children, when there were so many other pressing issues. Most of the residents did not have electricity and most of the homes were made from random pieces of wood and had dirt floors. But all of the villagers were very grateful. They loved to see the joy the children had when they played on the playground. For a moment, the children lost themselves in a world that took them somewhere else. Isn’t that what recreation is meant to do?

I mention this story because it was an amazing trip and we had long conversations into the night. The poverty was unbelievable, but the spirit of the people amazing. I thought a long time afterwards about recreation, and its value to both children and adults. It seems a very odd place to come from, but after the dust settled from those trips, I decided to take a chance and pursue a career specializing in Golf Course Architecture. I had finally recognized (and accepted) the value that recreation has for any civilized society, and the wonderful opportunity this country affords to pursue ones own dreams.