Last weekend I attended the 73rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Golf Course Architects. Our meeting was hosted in Scottsdale, AZ and attended by 80 leaders in golf course design plus our industry guests. This year’s meeting was highlighted by the election of Jan Bel Jan as our President. Jan joins Alice Dye as one of our great women members to lead the ASGCA.
Here is a brief recap of the week.
Camaraderie
For most of the year those of us in the golf architectural world compete against each other for projects. However, when we get together, we relish in the friendships we’ve formed and become one big family. This year was no different and I enjoyed catching up with all my friends.
One thing that was different this year was a small gathering of members before the meeting. 15 of us played the Coore-Crenshaw designed Saguaro Course at the We-Ko-Pa resort. Even though we had winds of 30mph we all had a great time. After golf we sat around with food and drinks to discuss where we see the design industry going. We were pleased to have fellow members Gil Hanse and Bill Coore, along with Golf 
Digest’s Ron Whitten join us to provide their insight.
All in all, we discussed many items for over 2 hours and bounced ideas off each other. It is always interesting to hear how others go about their work and finding out that we all face similar scenarios in all our projects.
Awards
Each year we present our Donald Ross award at this meeting. This award is presented to a person that has made a significant contribution to golf, and in doing so, focused attention on the profession of golf course architecture. This year the award was presented to Joe Passov. Joe is a Golf Writers Association of America award winning golf journalist. He specializes in writing about golf travel and architecture with features on many of the Golden Age architects. He is a very worthy recipient and is great for promoting all things on golf course architecture.
Education
One of the main reasons for our meeting is to provide education for our members. This year we included a variety of topics. I’ll give a brief recap here but look for more detailed analysis in future blogs.
We heard some history of desert golf and got an inside look at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and the impact of the stands and hospitality suites. This includes the famous sixteenth hole. It’s safe to say that the tournament is very sound financially.
A few other talks really stood out and I’m going to expand on these in the future. The first two by Ignacio Giraldo and the USGA’s Hunki Yun focused on the future of golf and the golfer’s experience. These two discussed golf’s demographics and what golfers are looking for today. This was very insightful to hear what the various age groups are doing today and how, or if, we can gravitate them towards golf. In the future I’ll post more information on both of these. 
Finally, we were joined by Donald Ross Award winners Brad Klein, Ron Whitten, and Joe Passov to discuss magazine ratings. It was interesting to hear how all the ratings began and the impact they have on golf design. Back in the heyday, when we were opening a new golf course every day, these ratings drove many projects. Unfortunately, some of that has led to the problems we have today with overgrowth and the impact these courses have had on maintenance costs. It was also good to hear about some changes to the ratings that will be taking place to reflect today’s market and showcase a greater variety of golf course facilities.
Golf
What would a gathering of golf course architects be without some great golf. Besides my round at We-Ko-Pa we also got the chance to play the Resort Course at Mountain Shadows. This is a beautiful 18-hole par 3 course that features holes ranging from 80 to 180 yards. It shows how fun and golf go together.
The next day we play Desert Forest Golf Club. This is one of the toughest courses you will ever play that doesn’t have a single fairway bunker. In this case you went from narrow fairways to desert. Combine that with elevated greens and 20mph winds and you are always on edge.
The final day concluded with a round at Troon North. This Jay Morrish and Tom Weiskopf design was one of the first housing developments in the area. It contained an interesting mix of short par 4’s, holes working uphill and downhill, and a routing that offered a variety of wind conditions. It is a great example of mixing golf with desert and housing.
Overall, it was a great week to spend with my friends and colleagues. I’m already looking forward to the next meeting, which will take place in fall 2020.