GolfClubAtlas.com > Golf Course Architecture
Feature Interview with Kyle Harris is posted
Ran Morrissett:
Brad Faxon once commented to me that a firm 6,200 yard course was more dynamic, interesting and potentially challenging than a soft one 1,000 yards longer. That pretty much sums up the importance of a Green Keeper! Long after the architect has left, how a course plays largely determines the enjoyment it provides. This month's Feature Interview is with everyone's favorite 35 year-old cerebral Green Keeper, Kyle Harris.
If ever you want to appreciate how much you have to learn, talk to Kyle or any Green Keeper for that matter. I remember the interview we did with Chris Haspell at Castle Stuart who had his own vernacular and way of looking at things. Kyle is similar.
Here are some quotes from Kyle that make my head hurt if I think too long:
* The negative space chosen by the architect speaks just as much as the golf space.
* Shapers and architects see and think vastly different things even when working on the same project or playing the same golf course!
* Most of the work on a golf course that makes it "feel" right you'll never notice.
* Strategy is overrated and the majority of shots in a round shouldn't necessarily have strategic implications.
* Tactics are grossly underrated, especially on tee shots.Midway, he flaunts his Penn State and Rutgers education by comparing golf course architecture to the Interstate Highway System!
He notes how the word 'strategy' is often mis-used. True strategy is when you are presented with multi-options, that call for shots which you can handle, and then you have to deliberate over which one to play. Strategy is NOT about carrying a bunker 235 yards from the tee to gain an advantage - that is merely execution and how far you hit it because if you can carry that far, you definitely will. Indeed, Kyle is passionate about being able to present a course that provides options as that encourages the golfer to think. Why is that important? Apart for it making the game more varied/fun, a thinking golfer becomes a better/more intelligent player and that ultimately helps wed the person to the game. To succeed in providing options, Kyle emphasizes that it is 'absolutely vital to play the golf course under one's care.' I agree - no skinny chefs for me!
As a long-time Florida resident, Kyle highlights some of the hidden gems that the state offers like Ocala and Florida Highlands. As we worked on this interview, I expanded it to include questions about the socio-dynamics of the sport and millennials. Why? Because I wanted to hear his answers! In short, there is something for everyone in the far ranging questions and answers of this month's Feature Interview that proves one of golf's truisms: you always learn more when you talk with someone who has dirt under his nails.
Hope you enjoy this fresh take:
http://golfclubatlas.com/feature-interview/feature-interview-with-kyle-harris/
Best,
Randy Thompson:
One of the best interviews I have read on this site! If reading this doesn´t get you thinking, you must be brain dead!
Tom_Doak:
Yes, an excellent interview.
Of course, I am biased, as Kyle was one of our interns when we built Streamsong, and he has honored us by staying on there and overseeing the course, instead of shaping for our competitors! As a result, I've had vastly better and more detailed feedback about Streamsong than most of the other courses we've built.
In fact, this is a good reminder for me that we should have more turf guys as interns (as Pete Dye did), because we have more to learn from them than from Design students who parrot our own thoughts.
Plus, Kyle was roommates for a while with my stepson, so I have to be nice in case he has dirt on me 😮
Peter Pallotta:
Much food for thought indeed, thanks Kyle and Ran -- and much continued success to Kyle in his career.
There are some statements that I don't understand, and some (assuming that I do understand them) that I don't agree with.
But it would be both foolish and ill-mannered of me to raise those here! :)
Best
P
JMEvensky:
--- Quote from: Randy Thompson on July 04, 2018, 08:29:24 PM ---
One of the best interviews I have read on this site! If reading this doesn´t get you thinking, you must be brain dead!
--- End quote ---
+1--Reading KH's opinions is great but hearing them over a beer is even more interesting.
Hope all is well Kyle--still trying unsuccessfully to get back down there.
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