Golf Architect Keith Foster Facing Five Years In Prison After Guilty Plea For Smuggling Endangered Wildlife Goods

A.W. Tillinghast got into the rare antique business late in life, so there was a nice parallel of sorts for Keith Foster in opening The Outpost, a Middleburg, Virginia store devoted to “authentic finds.”

Turns out, a little too authentic.

According to Len Shapiro writing for the Fauquier Times, the golf architect currently handling Congressional’s renovation and known for work at Colonial, Southern Hills and Eastward Ho! faces up to five years in prison for illegally transporting up to $500,000 worth of items made from endangered species.

With good behavior should be out in time for the Senior PGA Championship on the freshly renovated course!

According to court documents, to evade enforcement by Fish and Wildlife, Foster relied on a shipping company to falsify import records in order to hide wildlife items and avoid inspection by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other law enforcement officials.

Wonder if he ever ran into Big Leo?

Those documents indicated that starting in December 2016,  on numerous occasions Foster discussed with a customer, later revealed to be an undercover agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the unlawful nature of his conduct. He also told the undercover agent that it was illegal to import sawfish blades but that he intended to smuggle them, according to the Justice Department news release.

Foster told the agent, “Rest assured, I’m gonna bring more in ‘cause I’m the only fool in the States that probably wants to risk it,” the news release said.

Anything for his customers!

Rare Win For Property Owners: Court Orders Dye's Amelia Island Design Restored

As many golf course real estate developments have seen courses closed and property values implode, it’s nice to see a circuit court judge recognizing the rogue work by the Omni resort to close a historic early Pete Dye design.

They have until October 31, 2019 to reopen the course in what will be a much costlier than had it been kept open. Garry Smits does a super job recounting the entire escapade for the Florida Times-Union.

This was particularly charming:

Omni Amelia closed Ocean Links one day after it was still booking local tee times. The club moved in bulldozers under police protection and began tearing down the greens on the three oceanside holes with the intention of converting the property into “green space,” for parks, bicycle trails and nature trails.

The resort did not notify property owners that it had begun the demolition until that day, in an email time-dated 5 p.m. By that time, the heavy construction equipment had already been at work a full day. The Equity Club filed for an emergency injunction halting the demolition, which was granted two days later.

Dr. Alister MacKenzie "Shall Not Grow Old"

Maybe you’ve heard: acclaimed director Peter Jackson and his team of digital wizards have created a stunning new form of digitization that takes old films and brings them to life in ways we’ve never imagined: colorization, optimization and incredible sound.

Well, golf architecture aficionado Martin Bonnar watched the film during its recent BBC premiere and spotted someone who looks very much like Dr. Alister MacKenzie. Given that the doctor wrote of his many encounters with battle matters as a military physician and the timing fitting with what we know if his life’s work, there is a very high likelihood that the architect of Cypress Point and Augusta National makes a cameo in this groundbreaking film.

Here’s our discussion on Morning Drive today, with some keen technical analysis from Charlie Rymer.

The documentary trailer is below. The film is only in U.S. theaters two days: December 17 and 27th before presumably another form of release.

Go see Dr. MacKenzie and many other brave soldiers who shall not grow old!

http://www.fathomevents.com/TSNGO Produced and Directed by Peter Jackson: The acclaimed documentary is an extraordinary look at the soldiers and events of the Great War, using film footage captured at the time, now presented as the world has never seen.

Presidential Order: Trump Orders Tweaks To Turnberry's New Lighthouse Par-3's

Rear view of the par-3 11th.

The MacKenzie and Ebert-revamped Turnberry Ailsa course is spectacular in many ways, with the three-hole stretch at the 9th to the 11th able to stand with any three-hole stretch in the game.

Well it seems President Donald Trump’s July visit—his first since the revamp—prompted some notes. Specifically, making the 9th and 11th greens more receptive. The Daily Record’s Stuart Wilson reports on the Presidential tweaks at 9 and 11:

Turnberry members have been told the 11th, where the most extensive work will take place, could be out of action for up to three months.

The President’s son, Eric, told the Ayrshire Post this week: “We will always look to tweak and make things better where we can.

“This is part of the natural bedding -in process of a new course and we’re making the changes in line with the R&A.

“We want every hole to be perfect and if that means making a few changes like this, we’ll do it.”

I’m curious how much input the R&A has had on any post-reconstruction tweaks. Turnberry is not scheduled to host any R&A events at present.

"Pete Dye's Last Chapter"

While Ron Whitten dwells on the horror of seeing the Pete Dye he’d long known no longer able to recognize him or share stories, he uses the opportunity of a recent visit to recount Dye’s career and legacy in golf architecture in a lengthy Golf Digest story.

To me, Pete was always a combination of Will Rogers, Walt Disney and Rod Serling. Now he's barely Pete. It is heartbreaking.

I ask Alice if Pete is aware of who we are, or, more important, who he is anymore.

"I don't know what he knows," she says. "It's very strange. He doesn't communicate back much. But I think he understands more about what's going on than we think."

I guess I'd seen it coming but didn't recognize it for what it was at first, or maybe I was in a state of denial. During a round of golf in 2015 with Pete and Alice at Gulf Stream Golf Club, just down the street from their house, Pete had asked me a question, then five minutes later asked me the same question again. And he kept calling me by the wrong name. I dismissed that as the usual forgetfulness that comes with old age.

From there Whitten briefly details coming to grips with the emotions of seeing a longtime subject essentially gone. But mercifully Alice is as sharp as ever and there is a long documented record, much of which Whitten reviews in this remembrance.

Tom Doak Seems Determined To Be Different Than David Kidd

Eamon Lynch of Golfweek talks to Tom Doak about the golf architect’s plans to build a much shorter but also demanding course at Sand Valley resort where David McLay Kidd’s Mammoth Dunes was recently unveiled.

Given that the course is years away from opening, it’s odd that Doak seems more obsessed with countering Kidd’s design than quietly going about building a great course and letting the results speak for themselves. But maybe this faux drama is what the “retail golfer” clamors for.

“The hardest part will be to convince them to let me make it somewhat challenging,” Doak said. “I don’t think they think that’s a really important part of their business model, and the feedback on Mammoth Dunes says maybe they’re right. I don’t think that’s a difficult golf course and people love it.”

Mammoth Dunes was designed by David McLay Kidd, with whom Doak has had a robust rivalry since they built the first two courses in Bandon. Kidd had lobbied for Doak to get Sand Valley’s third job (Coore and Crenshaw preceded Kidd).

“He’s really competitive with me and he really wants to beat me head to head, which he can’t do if I don’t do a golf course there,” Doak laughs.

Kidd cheerfully dismissed his rival’s tweaking. “You can still have challenge but allow recovery,” he said. “Nobody is shooting 58 just because I built a course that’s fun.”

Not Everyone Is Excited About Congressional's Restoration Program

Congressional Country Club, soon slated to host a PGA of America event every other year for the rest of our lives, has a Keith Foster restoration of Devereux Emmet’s design in its immediate future. With that is tree removal apparently carried out in a questionable manner for Montgomery County, reports the Washington Post’s Jennifer Barrios.

After inspecting the grounds and comparing aerial photos with photos received as part of a complaint, authorities said the club appears to have removed roughly half an acre of tree cover in recent months — possibly in preparation for hosting several high-profile tournaments in coming years, including the PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup.

A club member, who triggered the investigation by tipping off a local environmental group, estimated that 1,000 trees were taken down on the 358-acre property. The member thinks it happened in the colder winter months, when the courses are less utilized.

“I am [upset] because they’re ruining my club,” said the member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from club officials, but added that dozens of fellow clubgoers are also concerned.

“I think they don’t want members to fuss,” the person said. “I think it [was] also quietly done so it didn’t draw attention from the county.”

Too late now!

UK Golf Guy Is Posting Favorite Ten Courses Lists And They're Fun To Check Out

For those who love their lists and reading about good golf architecture, UK Golf Guy has posted the top ten favorite courses of Mike Clayton, Pat Goss, Alan Shipnuck, Darius Oliver and has more to come.

Yours truly turned in his ten and most are probably predictable, but given this is a pure favorites list I had to include a few where I’d just be happy playing. I did not include any course I had a design or renovation hand in.

Feel free to post yours below!

Golden State National: Is This A Bad Time To Mention That We Need More Golf Tournaments In California?

Let's establish three very simple facts:

--Rain rarely occurs in California from May through October.

--When a golf tournament is played in California, it finishes in prime time for more than half the country and garners a much bigger rating, no matter who is contending

--Golf is played outdoors. It is much better when rain does not interfere with the proceedings.

Ok, technically I've presented four simple facts.

As we were reminded again last week after what has actually been a good-weather season in golf, the sport features many overpaid individuals who continue to sign up their major events on the east coast at times of year when rain can (will) be an issue. The PGA Tour set its playoffs for midwest and northeast venues, with a finish in Atlanta at a boring culmination architecturally that will be even less glamorous in 2019.

(In his defense, Commissioner Moonbeam was said to have been trying for at least one major west coast market in his original playoff plans, but players complained about travel issues and the PGA Tour could not find a sponsor/venue fit out west.)

As you know, ratings have never been very good for the FedExCup Playoffs. The list of reasons is long, from a confusing and unsatisfying format, to the time of year and the time zone of the venues, to overall golf fatigue once the majors have been played. The numbers may not improve next year when the playoffs are contested by late August, soon after the major season has ended and at more eastern venues. 

Meanwhile, the PGA Championship moves to May 2019 and while this meant the PGA of America could open up new regions like Florida or Arizona, they've got mostly a who's-who of venues similar to those they've always gone to--Kiawah, Valhalla, Quail Hollow, Baltusrol, Southern Hills, etc...), with just two California stops scheduled through 2030--Harding Park in 2020 and Olympic Club in 2028. Weather could be an issue for most of the future PGA venues, particularly the New York area stops at Bethpage, Trump Bedminster and Oak Hill. 

So if you like the permutations of weather-delayed event planning, then check out Nick Menta's GolfChannel.com story on the many possibilities for the 2018 BMW Championship as play spills into Monday.

But if you are a dreamer, consider Golden State National. 

It's an as-yet unbuilt (or not-yet-remodeled) facility somewhere south of San Francisco and featuring 36-holes of golf, enough hotel rooms within 45 minutes to support the traveling golf circus, a luxury hotel on property for not-important VIP's, a G5-friendly landing strip, and of course, at least 8,500 yards of golf to deal with the distance explosion.

More vitally, Golden State National can host major events from March to November, deliver ratings and finish on Sundays. The ground will be firm. Fans will enjoy themselves. Television executives won't have digestive issues.

But here's the catch: to build or remodel an existing facility into GSN, it costs money. A lot of money when you have to build a course for the modern game where 250 acres is the new 150, meaning we need 500 acres potentially.

The non-profits of golf, devoted to funneling every penny possible to charity--ok, that's slightly sarcastic--have resisted even considering such a facility due to a lack of vision or a lack of funds, even though GSN could also host some NCAA Championships, LPGA majors and other special events. And hackers the rest of the year eager to pay $250 to play where the pros play. 

It'll probably take about $150 million to pull off the facility from scratch, maybe less if we can find a lesser property where dynamite and architectural ingenuity will be the greatest expenses and a local airport handles the Wheels Up crowd. I can think of two San Diego area properties that fit such a bill, and that's just off the top of my head. 

So how do we go about raising the funds for Golden State National since golf's Five Families resist the desire, vision or courage of convictions to do what is right? Which is, to create a facility dedicated to the modern game, modern weather, and modern sports audience? 

Kickstarter anyone?

BMW Championship: First Look At The Restored Aronimink

In the seven years since the PGA Tour visited Aronimink, the club has shed the architecture firm that gets shed a lot from classic courses--Fazio and friends--hired Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, and embraced its Donald Ross roots.

Jim McCabe with a PGATour.com primer on the place that will also hold a PGA Championship next decade (2027). 

But for now, it's the BMW Championship, which also means the preferred carmaker of No Laying Up has led to this fine piece on how the course has evolved since we last saw it.

Strantz's Royal New Kent Coming Back In April 2019

There has been no shortage of depressing stories of golf courses lost for not entirely great reasons, and the loss of one of Mike Strantz's nine designs has filled up my email box.

While I haven't played it, I'm nonetheless pleased to read Erik Matuszewski's Forbes.com item on the impending resurrection of Strantz's work in Virginia, with help from the Strantz family and the courses original shapers.

Before its closure, conditions at Royal New Kent had deteriorated significantly. But a new ownership group led by Wingfield Golf Management Services is faithfully restoring Strantz’s work, which in 1996 was selected by Golf Digest as the country’s best new course. So not only did they save it from going to seed or being plowed under for housing, they're preserving one of Strantz's visions the right way.

Video: Ridgewood From Above

I won't even begin to try and convince you to get excited about the first round of the Playoffs (C), nor will I try to figure out the composite course in use for Ridgewood Country Club in this week's Northern Trust Open. 

Instead, just whet your appetite on a return to a A.W. Tillinghast gem thanks to Evan Schiller's drone shots:

U.S. Open V. The Open: Green Speeds Make The Difference

After playing his first Open, Luke List is wishing the USGA mimic the R&A in setup philosophy, reports Tony Jimenez for Reuters.

A similar refrain was repeated many times by players, observers and fans who enjoyed the tough-but-fair and noticeably faster golf, though as I note in this assessment of Carnoustie for Golfweek, the issue is layered but also incredibly simple: green speeds made the difference between complimenting Carnoustie's architecture, and ruining it.

Pace of play was noticeably better and as a "product," The Open proved infinitely more pleasurable to watching without having to spend so much time watching players grind over short putts for four days.

While professional golfers are praising the R&A coming off the U.S. Open setup issues, there were more than a handful of silly hole locations saved only by green speeds in the high 9s when leaders reached them.  Had the USGA slowed greens at Shinnecock down to the high 9's, there would have been softer and bumpier conditions that today's spoiled-by-bent-grass players would loathe. But on a seaside links with a blend of poa, fescue and bent, with a links mindset, the players are more accepting of a bumpiness.

And really, the ball goes too far.

On another day we can continue to lament how much course setup manipulation must take place to mask regulatory mistakes and debate how vital it is for golf to slow greens down.

In the meantime, I'd prefer to celebrate a magnificent week at Carnoustie made special by Mother Nature baking out an outstanding course. As I note in the Golfweek piece, Carnoustie has had a troubled relationship with the rota at times, but brilliant maintenance management by Craig Boath's team, mostly great work by the R&A and a hot, dry summer allowed the links to remind people of its great strategic character.

Tiger At Carnoustie: "This is how the game should be played."

Tiger's opening 71 at Carnoustie would have looked at lot better had he taken advantage of 8-irons into both par-5s, but with afternoon conditions turning fierce and fast, Woods displayed many positive signs. 

And while he's not the first player to say this in the history of golf, it's still great to read:

I haven't played this championship for a few years now, and I've always loved playing over here. This is -- to me, this is where I got introduced to links golf. I played here in '95, and then follow that up with St. Andrews. That was my introduction to links golf. It doesn't get much better than that.

And I've always loved playing this championship. I've been able to win it a few times. I've just always enjoyed -- this is how the game should be played. It should be creative. It should be played on the ground. You can utilize the ground as an ally. When we play home in the States, that's not the case. Everything is going straight up in the air, but this is very different. It's amazing the shot -- the creativity. I mean, you can roll the ball 100 yards if you wanted to, or you can throw it straight up in the air. I like having those shot options.

Instagram Monday Course Edition: Rory's Excited For Ballyliffin, C&C To Remodel Sheep Ranch, Chicago Golf Club Teaser

Links season is upon us, with the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open kicking off at Ballyliffin. Paul McGinley is hosting next year at Lahinch and has nice things to say about this year's venue where Rory McIlroy hosts one more time. Rory posted this photo:

@ballyliffingolfclub in spectacular condition ahead of the @ddfirishopen next week. #beatballyliffin 🌞⛳️

A post shared by RORY (@rorymcilroy) on Jun 29, 2018 at 4:11am PDT

Matt Ginella says developer Mike Keiser has tapped Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw to remodel Tom Doak's mysterious Sheep Ranch course at Bandon, Oregon. It's a project previously suggested as a possible Gil Hanse redesign by Keiser.

Update on Sheep Ranch at Bandon: They’ve closed the course to clear gorse for both routing and irrigation questions. Several steps closer to Coore & Crenshaw getting both Coul Links and Sheep Ranch. #WinWin

A post shared by Matt Ginella (@matt_ginella) on Jul 2, 2018 at 7:47am PDT

Andy Johnson took his drone out to Chicago Golf Club, host of the U.S. Senior Women's Open next week and gave us a sneak preview of the magnificent course getting a huge spotlight. Expect more at friedegg.co

One week till the inaugural @usga U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Chicago Golf Club. Course is looking 💯

A post shared by the fried egg (@fried_egg_golf) on Jul 2, 2018 at 6:21am PDT