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UNM - Championship Course and Robert "Red" Lawrence

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Patrick Kiser:
Matt,

The course was indeed rather verdant when compared to Black Mesa and Paa-Ko.  The ball did not tend too run much, but I would not say it plugged or stopped right away.  I definitely got some roll, but I would say depending on the hole and the relative fairway slope ... more or less fast/firm.

Now that I'm digging a little more, it looks like Brad Klein is probably a good source of information about Mr. Lawrence with respect to Desert Forest GC.

Just little surprised there's isn't more on GCA about him.

As much as I liked the course, I do think there are some weak points.  For instance, the par 3 10th did not do much for me.  The pond fronting the green seems like an afterthought.  I wonder if that is original or not.  What made it interesting was ... the wind.  Otherwise it would be a ho hum hole without the wind.



--- Quote from: Matt_Ward on April 05, 2009, 07:57:24 PM ---Patrick:

I too share the love for the RL design at UNM.

However ...

In the few times I have played it -- the layouts was often overwatered to the max. Can you tell me what the turf conditions were like when you played it. I'm not hoping for it be rock hard but when tee shots were making ball marks in the fairways something is very wrong.

I was told a new course superintendent is on board now and clearly has a better appreciation on the value of firm turf and how it can really make the architectural elements shine even brighter.

Your thoughts are most welcomed ...

--- End quote ---

Brad Klein:
I have fairly substantial chapter on Red Lawrence in my Desert Forest book. He was a skilled designer, a former superintendent and associate of Flynn, esteeemd enough by his colleagues to have been a founding member of the ASGCA and two-time president. He rarely had a decent site or budget to work with, and was a pioneer out in the Tucson area after moving west in 1957 fro Florida. Unfortunately, he was rarely sober after that until his death in 1976. None of that helped him, but he was a very good craftsman of greens, and the surfaces at UNM-Championship Course are very substantial and, not surprisingly, similar in many respects to Desert Forest's. The chief advantage he had at DFHC was no budget to move fairway contours; and so he relied upon the shape and flow of the land to create fairways there that are every bit as interesting and "readable" as greens.

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