Golf Channel's Morning Drive to Shine Spotlight on Golf Course Design on 'Architecture Week&
Golf’s Most Renowned Architects Share Visions of Their Projects – Past, Present and Future – with Exclusive Tours of Several Courses in Development
Golf Channel’s Morning Drive will take a closer look at the art and science of golf course design all next week, Monday, Dec. 7 – Sunday, Dec. 13, as a part of ‘Architecture Week.’ Beginning Monday, Morning Drive will dedicate daily features on some of the game’s most notable architects, courses and designs in golf; invite industry experts to Golf Channel’s worldwide headquarters for roundtable discussions, including 2006 U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy, and highlight some of the legends of the game as special guests, including World Golf Hall-of-Famer Jack Nicklaus. Architecture Week also will give a glimpse into the future of golf course design.
Matt Ginella, Golf Channel’s Travel Insider, will spearhead Morning Drive’s coverage of Architecture Week. Having traveled all over the world for Golf Channel, Ginella has been on the pulse of golf course designs for more than a decade. Several of the game’s top course designers, including Tom Doak, Gil Hanse, Tom Fazio and Mike Keiser, gave Ginella and Golf Channel unprecedented access in 2015 to their golf course designs currently in development, which will be unveiled throughout the week during Morning Drive.
“I’ve been fortunate to get a look behind the curtain of several new developments by some of the most successful architects in an era of minimalists,” said Ginella. “Architecture Week lets our viewers behind the same curtain as we chronicle the building or rebuilding of courses at some of the most prominent golf destinations in North America.”
Architecture Week Schedule:
Monday, Dec. 7 – Architecture Week Preview – Matt Ginella and Golf Digest contributor Geoff Shackelford will set the scene for Architecture Week, with open discussion on some of the game’s greatest architects and golf courses.
Tuesday, Dec. 8 – Mike Keiser: Cabot Cliffs/Bandon Dunes – Mike Keiser developed one of the top destinations in the U.S. – Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon. Golf Channel will air a feature on Keiser and the widespread popularity of Bandon Dunes and Cabot Cliffs (Inverness, Nova Scotia) named Golf Digest’s Best New Course in 2015, and the impact Keiser’s projects have on the surrounding communities.
A.W. Tillinghast – Golf Channel will pay tribute to newly inducted member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, A.W. Tillinghast, course architect for many of golf’s major championship venues, including Bethpage Black, Winged Foot Golf Club, Ridgewood Country Club and Baltusrol Golf Club, home of the 2016 PGA Championship.
Wednesday, Dec. 9 – Gil Hanse: Streamsong’s newest course, Streamsong Black – Course architect Gil Hanse gives Morning Drive host Gary Williams a tour of Streamsong Black, currently in development as the third golf course at Streamsong Resort in Florida, which opened in 2012 and is quickly becoming one of the top golf destinations in the U.S.
Fazio Family: One of the most decorated architects in the business with more courses ranked in Golf Digest’s Top-100 in the U.S. than anyone else, Tom Fazio discusses the family business and passing the baton to his son, Logan.
Thursday, Dec. 10 – Michael Keiser Jr.: Sand Valley – The Keiser family are bringing their successful concept of Bandon Dunes to the Midwest with the development of Sand Valley Golf Resort in Rome, Wis. Michael Keiser Jr., Craig Haltom – the man behind the vision of Sand Valley – and course designer David Kidd gives Ginella a full tour of the property, with the two golf courses scheduled to open in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Dye Family Tree / Dye Protégé Bobby Weed – Golf Channel will examine the rich history of the Dye family in golf course design, considered by many to be “America’s First Family of Golf.” Pete, his wife Alice and their sons Perry and P.B. have designed more than 200 courses around the world, and have influenced a generation of young and up-and-coming golf course designers, including Bobby Weed, who will join Golf Channel in-studio to discuss the Dye family’s legacy.
Friday, Dec. 11 – Tom Doak: Forest Dunes’ “The Loop”, the first 18-hole reversible course in the U.S. – Course architect Tom Doak provides a tour of The Loop, a course in development at Forest Dunes Golf & Country Club in Michigan that will be the first 18-hole golf course in the United States that can be played in two directions. Doak gives Ginella insight into the challenge of designing a reversible golf course and how this concept can be a model for future courses.
Roundtable Discussion with Major Champion Geoff Ogilvy – 2006 U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy will join Morning Drive along with his design partners at his golf course architects firm – Mike Clayton, Mike Cocking and Ashley Mead – in a roundtable discussion on their firm’s first assignment in the United States – restoring historic Shady Oaks Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, home to Ben Hogan.
Saturday, Dec. 12 – Jones Brothers – Jimmy Roberts uncovers the complicated and often rocky relationship between course architects (and brothers), Rees Jones and Robert (Bobby) Trent Jones Jr. Following in the footsteps of their father, Robert Trent Jones Sr., – a renowned course architect in his own right – the Jones brothers have made their own mark on the game, albeit in markedly different ways, and with an inordinate amount of friction along the way.
Sunday, Dec. 13 – Chambers Bay – Ginella details the story of the development of Chambers Bay, site of the 2015 U.S. Open and its transformation from a site that was formerly a gravel pit into a major championship venue.
