Olympic Design Derby Preview
/Thanks to reader Chris for John Paul Newport's reminder that next Tuesday and Wednesday the Olympic golf architecture finalists will be making their pitches to the jury panel, with a decision to come on the winning bid later in the week. Just a month ago, I handicapped the finalists here.
"Ideally what you'd want," said one of the contending architects, "is a course that would deliver the kind of thrilling finale that Augusta National traditionally serves up at the Masters." That is, two or three competitors under knee-buckling pressure battling on the last few holes.
This person didn't want to be named; contenders were required by Rio 2016, the host city's organizing committee, to sign nondisclosure agreements. Mr. Doak, speaking more generally about the competition, said via email, "It's a rare chance to define (or redefine) what a great championship course is supposed to be, on a very big stage."
On that topic, Jack Nicklaus seems to know he's not the one to be doing such a revolutionary design. Steve Elling quotes a surprising admission from Nicklaus at the PGA of America's State of the Game roundtable Thursday:
But there’s plenty of blame for this financial mess to go around. Nicklaus even pointed a finger at himself.
"I'm known for [building] difficult golf courses,” he said. “I'm as much of a culprit as anyone."
Oh to be a fly on the wall for his presentation!