"It's a bit like football. Great players don't necessarily make great coaches."

I've finally found one silver lining in this whole collapse of the global golf architecture market: we're going to learn over the coming years what frauds most player architects really were from the people that used to work for them. Oh, we're still a few years away from the really funny stuff that comes out after guys forget they signed a non-disclosure agreement, but you get a flavor of what we could expect in this John Huggan column on Bob Harrison, recently let go by Greg Norman after 30 years.

Harrison was only responsible for one American design by Norman, and it's not a coincidence that it's one of the few anyone really enjoys playing.

"There has always been a question mark hanging over so-called 'signature design'," smiles Harrison, who has spent the last few days in St Andrews, attending the World Forum of Golf Architects. "It's a bit like football. Great players don't necessarily make great coaches. They might be great; they might not. The skills required in the two roles are very different and the same is true when a leading player moves into course design. Great players don't necessarily make great designers and history, I think, has shown that most have not made the transition too well.

"Pros tend to design holes for their mates. They don't want them pointing and laughing at what they have come up with. So they play safe. But in any creative endeavour you have to take a few chances. And you have to be prepared for others to have differing opinions of what you come up with.

Love this line too...

"Tour pros tend to get too rational about what shape landing areas should take. Typically, they want everything to be what they see as 'fair'. But if you eliminate all the quirkiness and artistry from this business, every hole starts to look and play the same."

And on what fun it was to work with the Shark:

"But when Greg arrived with the owner, he felt compelled to change it. That happens a lot with a celebrity player-designer, especially when the investor is all ga-ga about working with him. The player is under pressure to justify his existence and make changes that may not be necessary. And that's what happened. The hole ended up being about 450 yards long and the original concept was lost."