1 Many thousands of words, in magazines and across the Web, are devoted to the ranking or rating of golf courses. So, on one level, readers might wonder why we at GCA felt the need to start another list. Fundamentally, the reason is that we believe golf architects have a unique perspective on what makes a course great. It’s a common criticism that many, perhaps even most golfers, judge courses on factors such as the turf condition or the quality of service in the clubhouse; well, if anyone is best placed to look beyond that at the design of the course itself, it ought to be the architects. There are a number of architects on rankings panels around the world, though some magazines, notably Golf Monthly in the UK, specifically exclude them because of a perceived conflict of interest. This conflict was an issue for us when compiling these rankings; we considered banning designers from voting for courses with which they have been involved, but eventually decided doing so was too complex. Should every architect who has ever worked for a particular firm be barred from naming every course on which that firm has ever worked? If not, where should the line be drawn? Should we say ‘You cannot vote for courses on which you personally worked’; if so, how would we verify that, especially in the case of larger design firms who have or had multiple associates? Eventually we concluded that the simplest option – to trust people not to hype their own work and to reserve the right to disqualify ballots that we felt broke this rule – was the best. The fact that, almost 250 ballots, those we threw out could be counted on the fingers of one hand, more than justified our confidence. Producers of lists of all kinds love to claim objectivity for the results. That’s as true in restaurant or travel guides as it is in rankings of golf courses, but it is just as spurious in each. Even if one can agree set criteria against which voters should make their judgements, one doesn’t have objectivity, partly because those criteria are themselves subjective, and partly because the individual voters have to be trusted to apply them in the same way, which is impossible. We chose the opposite route: to define no criteria and to say to our voters, in true Potter Stewart fashion, ‘We believe you know what good is when you see it’. Yet, even accepting that lists are subjective, there is value in the collective opinions of informed observers. With lists compiled by a single judge, the subjectivity smashes you in the face; a restaurant ranking compiled by someone who hates spicy food is hardly likely to guide you to the best Indian or Mexican restaurants. So we feel, although every single reader will find something they object to in our list, that it is of interest and of value. We hope you agree. Adam Lawrence Editor Welcome July 2013 www.golfcoursearchitecture.net Published by Tudor Rose Tudor House, 6 Friar Lane, Leicester LE1 5RA Tel: +44 116 222 9900 www.tudor-rose.co.uk © 2013 Tudor Rose Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be stored or transmitted or reproduced in any form or by any means, including whether by photocopying, scanning, downloading onto computer or otherwise without the prior written permission from Tudor Rose Holdings Ltd. Views expressed in Golf Course Architecture are not necessarily those of the publishers. Acceptance of advertisements does not imply official endorsement of the products or services concerned. While every care has been taken to ensure accuracy of content, no responsibility can be taken for any errors and/or omissions. Readers should take appropriate professional advice before acting on any issue raised herein. The publisher reserves the right to accept or reject advertising material and editorial contributions. The publisher assumes no liability for the return of unsolicited art, photography or manuscripts. It is assumed that any images taken from sources which are widely distributed, such as on the Web, are in the public domain. It is recognised though that since such images tend to be passed freely between sources it is not always possible to track the original source. If copyrighted material has ended up being treated as public domain due to the original source not being identified please contact the publisher, Tudor Rose. Editor: Adam Lawrence Art Direction: Paul Robinson Design: Bruce Graham, Libby Sidebotham Website Development: Chris Jackson Photography: Mark Alexander, Clive Barber, Aidan Bradley, Joann Dost, Russell Kirk, Larry Lambrecht, Gary Lisbon, Jim Manderville, Kevin Murray, Evan Schiller, Frank Pont, Paul Robinson, Club de Golf Valderrama Publisher Toby Ingleton Publication & Sales Manager Kevin Whittle Advertising Sales Jemma Bennett Circulation Ritwik Bhattacharjee Reprints Stuart Fairbrother ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE GOLF COURSES
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzQ1NTk=