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SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIPMay 26, 2010Charles CoodyBen CrenshawDENVER, COLORADO KELLY ELBIN: World Golf Hall of Fame member two time Masters champion and co-designer of Colorado Golf Club, Ben Crenshaw joining us along with his co-designer, Bill Coore. Gentlemen, welcome to the 71st Senior PGA Championship. Ben, you're on the eve of the first Major Championship where you've had a course co-designed with Bill to host a Major. Your thoughts, please. BEN CRENSHAW: Well, this was a tremendous opportunity. Bill and I were contacted here some, I guess five years ago, and we, Bill saw the property first. And whenever you get asked to do a golf course you first of all are very interested in the actual topography and how the land looks at first, but then you get into the nuts and bolts of how it's going to be done and we could not have asked for anything more in the way of freedom. There were really no preconceived notions as to how, what was going where or what plan was going in a certain section. We knew that they had some abundant acreage here that they gave 700 acres back to the county for preservation, but then we were sort of let loose. And you can't ask for anything more from a design standpoint. So we found enough interesting holes across the property that we let them speak for themselves and we -- there's a lot of interesting situations out there. So we more or less let the holes fit the land and we're very proud of the situation and how it came out. So we couldn't have asked for anything more from Colorado Golf Club. KELLY ELBIN: Bill, would you like to elaborate on that, please? BILL COORE: Well I can only second what Ben said in the sense that the founders of the Colorado Golf Club gave us just such a wonderful opportunity both to work with a site that was very gifted for golf. And as then as Ben said, they gave us total freedom to decide where the holes should be and what the character of those holes should be. So it's really all we could ask and we're very grateful. And first and foremost the golf course was built for the members and their guests and people who will play here on a regular basis. But having said that, it is a great honor to have the PGA Senior Championship here and we hope that the players will enjoy the course and as much as the members and their guests. KELLY ELBIN: Let's open it up for questions, please. Q. I was wondering whether you could have routed the golf course in any one of dozens or more ways and is that a plus and a minus that you have such a choice in how to do this? BEN CRENSHAW: A lot of times it is difficult to have so many choices. Because bottom line, you got to push the button somewhere. But when you have -- obviously on any property you have situations that you feel like you must retain. Golf holes that are able to stand out and be different enough from some of the rest to add individuality and variety and character. Then it's a matter of linking them up through a theme. This particular situation you start high and then you get down to the flatter part and then you come back up. And we thought that it would be best to incorporate a couple of the flatter holes on the bottom of both nines so that -- you have to come up eventually, obviously, but I suppose there are situations where we probably wished that we could have gone a little more across in some aspects, but that actually probably added a little more hill climbing from, let's say from a walking standpoint. So, but the course tracks pretty well on somewhat hilly ground, you go down a long ways and then you come up. On number eight, number eight, it's a linking hole that comes back up. Number nine, that's a short par-4. But there are situations like that that don't add so much to the hill climbing. And that was one aspect, no question, but still where those holes lie and how they link back up was very much a part of the routing. So you can -- I suppose you could start and then go down and play lots of holes down in the bottom and then come back up, but we just didn't think that would be as interesting as it could be. But I suppose that the individual characteristics of some of the situations out there led us to the arrows of where we went and how it tracks. But it's very much a puzzle everywhere you go. BILL COORE: I might just expand on that just a bit. That when we came here they did, again, the founders of the Colorado Golf Club just said, you have a blank canvas, you can go wherever you want to go. And we have always believed with our design philosophy that if you have a very interesting piece of property you want to incorporate as many different elements of that property into the course as is possible. To us, certainly the higher ground was beautiful, with all the Jeffrey Pines and the Ponderosa Pines, I'm not an arborist so I'm not sure that's correct, but anyway the pine trees and the rolling hills, it's incredibly beautiful. But the meadow lands was also interesting and particularly to provide not only a different look to the golf course, to showcase that part of the property, but to provide a different element, as Ben said, a flatter part of the property to play golf on as well. We just felt like that added interest. There was some discussion early on about why don't you build more holes. Well it would be in the ground behind us here or where the par-3 course is. And after studying that ground, we just felt that, quite frankly, it was just too pretty. It was very choppy in nature and the contours packed together very closely. And yet it was so beautiful that for us to go in there and build regulation type holes like par-4s and par-5s and things, we were going to have to alter that incredibly beautiful landscape so much that we just felt like whatever we would do would detract from that property, not enhance it. So again, it was this combination of trying to showcase the interesting parts of the property as we found it, provide the most interesting golf, and leave the least heavy handed print upon this landscape when we left. Q. Yesterday you made the rounds on the practice green chatting with some of the players. Did you give away any of the trade secrets of the course and did you get any feedback on the course? BEN CRENSHAW: First of all, Monday was a no go day. People just came and registered. Not many people went out. So it wasn't a day for them to -- some of them just walked around. So yesterday it was probably their first good look unless they had come in earlier. But it's an interesting golf course, they say. And it's one that I had said that probably the most important thing that they're, that the players are trying to concentrate on now is their approach shots to the greens and how they play. Because you don't want to get past the hole too much. There's some contour on the greens and you don't really want to go over in too many situations. Yes, they're gauging how far their tee shots go, but we spent obviously more time on the greens and around the greens since we didn't move much dirt at all. To make those situations playable and interesting for everybody, so I think the approaching is what they're trying to become familiar with, plus getting back to an altitude as Denver, they had to adjust their games, knowing that, yes, we did have some breeze yesterday, but a breeze in Colorado does not affect you like a breeze in let's say Louisiana or Florida. Those are heavy winds. These are light winds that sometimes you can't believe that you're about to play a club -- you're not sure sometimes -- you want to bank a ball against the wind and sometimes it takes it, sometimes it doesn't. It goes through the wind sometimes because of the thinness of the air. So gauging your approach shots are probably, and learning the breaks of the greens, and the little shots around the greens, and we're very happy that there's cut grass basically around the greens so it allows you a lot of different options to play. Short game is going to be paramount this week. The people are going to miss some greens. And you have to have a good imagination and touch to retrieve that lost stroke. So but not only how far shots are going this week, but that's obviously off the tee, but going into the greens, but they will pick it up pretty quick. They're pretty skilled at breaking down a golf course and seeing how it plays. Q. What type of composite player, if you had to put a composite together would be the champion on Sunday, based on all the elements of this golf course. What style of player? BEN CRENSHAW: Well I think good judgment, knowing what to do in certain situations, and how you think that you can apply your game. I think there's situations where and there's no question any golf course built today power is going to have its due in certain spots. I think that will reflect itself on the par-5s. And the longer par-4s, such as 4, 5, and 12. But I hope good planning and well thought out and hitting the ball solid will always have its due. But there's no, no tournament is unfurled today that you got to have a good short game. That's true no matter where you play. Q. With the rarified air and the elevation changes, how much do you think that this will become an endurance test and maybe favor the seniors that aren't as senior? BEN CRENSHAW: Well, it's a -- it is. No question you have to be in decent shape to go around. Obviously that might lend one to believe that the 54 years of age and younger or something, that's just arbitrary, but we have got so many good players out on this TOUR and they have played so well in so many different places. Not only in America, but around the world. So obviously this is a new course. It's a new challenge for them. So they're, it's a lot of different shots that you have to play or let's say shots that you can imagine. So I think imagination plays a great part in this. So it's, I think you might go to a well rounded player who does a lot of things well. Let's say not just a power hitter, but someone who can use their judgment well. Q. Both you guys, you seem to have an affinity for designing real short diabolical par-3 holes. Talk about your design philosophy regarding short, tough par-3s; and Ben you obviously like designing, do you like playing them? BILL COORE: Well that's correct. We do. We have an affinity for pitch shot par-3s and short 4s as well, if the situation allows us to create one of those. We try not to force either one of them. But they are, we, well, I'll let Ben speak for himself, but for me at least, and I think Ben agrees with this, that we find them to be among the most interesting holes of all in the sense of the variety you can have. They emphasize precision over strength and they're holes that anyone can play. From the very oldest player in this field to the very youngest to the very shortest player to the very longest. They, those pitch shot par-3s and short 4s begin to equalize all of that. So we do. We just think of them as a, not in any political term at all, but as very democratic. (Laughter.) BEN CRENSHAW: They are fun to play. And that's really the bottom line. I have always said and Bill has always said and really the easiest thing that you can do, the easiest exercise that you can try to perform is to build a hard golf course. That's the easiest thing in the world. But it becomes very banal and it becomes dull and it's a situation where you just get beat over the head so many times that it's not fun. I think the mark or the goal of any golf course is to reach as many people as you can. It's basically a very traditional idea that you include as many different holes as you can. To us that means in a very nutshell, four or five par-3s of varying lengths, different character, yes, you include maybe a couple of difficult 4s on either side, but sprinkle them with maybe a short par-4 on either side, either of the nines. And then quite frankly, a par-5 these days for championship golf is, I mean you play right into the hands of technology. And occasionally we like to include one less par-5, if we can. If the ground dictates to it. So, but I suppose -- but you just try to add as many diverse holes as you can, and, yes, they're fun to play. At least the courses that I've always known and loved and studied have included a lot of those elements in it. Q. Gentlemen, how do you integrate that philosophy with your redesign business as opposed to your original works. I know that you guys are doing some work over at Pinehurst now. So how do you take an existing structure already and kind of put your mark on it particularly one that's as decorated and highly regarded as say Pinehurst No. 2? BILL COORE: I don't know. For me we're trying not to put our mark on it. If we leave a mark there that indicates very strongly that we have been there, we have failed. And our goal is to try to recreate both visual character and playing characteristics to the No. 2 course that have been there many many years ago. And really based on what Mr. Ross had in fact created and what we can best discern what, I mean obviously he's not alive, we can't talk to him, we don't, there's no way to communicate. But based on all the old photographs, the writings and everything else, we're trying to just get closer to what we believe he would have been pleased with and what we believe that the character of Pinehurst was when it was perceived to be at its very, well at its very best many people would say, whether you agree with that or not. So it just happens. I think the Pinehurst people came to us because that philosophy of the older Pinehurst No. 2 more closely matched what we are comfortable with as opposed to a different type of golf course that would be stressing a different philosophy. Now it was, I think the Pinehurst people felt like it was somewhat compatible, those two, and therefore they contacted us. BEN CRENSHAW: We're most -- most often times we're reticent to, like Bill said, if we, if we leave our imprints there, we haven't done a job. And I must say it's difficult to do with them, with technology what it is today. You hate to see a hole that was so great in the past become imbalanced in some way. But it's a very -- we're very leery of changing it under most situations. Q. I had the opportunity to watch you guys work with the land out here quite a bit and I think it's true it doesn't really bear your imprint very much and Bill told me a couple of stories that I just wanted to get you to elaborate on a little bit. No, no, not those stories. (Laughter.) But you told me once that when you got on a piece of property and I think this really shows if you walk this golf course from start to finish, it's a very intimate routing on a very vast piece of land, you look for the deer trails and the animal trails and the way the animals move on the property and that kind of guides you a little bit in how the land moves and naturally the transportation system that's already been built out here, right? And second thing you told me was that you looked at the washes and the gullies and modelled bunkers and such after that. And I've found that very fascinating, people I have shared that have found it fascinating, I think these guys might too, so. BILL COORE: Well, I seem to remember the look on your face when I was talking about animal trails. And you thought this guy's lost his mind or something. But it actually is true. When we go the first time and start walking property, usually property that's more hilly than this, and even in -- one of the ways to figure out ways to circulate around a piece of property in the least exerting fashion, is to see how Mother Nature does it. Whether it's cattle, it's deer, it's whatever. They find the easiest way to get around. And it's amazing how many times you can do that and walk a piece of property at the very beginning and just find, not that you're finding golf holes, you're finding circulation patterns, ways to travel through a property. Now obviously if it's a very subtle piece of property that's not of any importance. But if it's hilly and this is hilly enough to fit that definition, I think, that it is one of the ways. It's one of the very beginning ways and then as far as the bunkers and the washes that's absolutely true. I mean we, regardless of what property, we try to let that site guide us in the terms of the character of the golf course and the strategy and but particularly in its visual character. BEN CRENSHAW: I think that also with regard to the direction of holes, it's at least interesting to us was not only the raw ground that you have right immediately before you, but it's also the panorama and it's the aesthetics and different looks. It may be different vegetation, it may be some sagebrush, it may be some pines, but if you look past those things and you look away in the distance and obviously you see some magnificent sights, if you look out to the west and wherever, so it's a lot of different things that encompass a piece of property and how you attack it or what you leave out or which direction, so it adds up in those terms as well. Q. For you personally when you're out playing the next four days, will it be difficult to take the architect out of your thought process and be just a competitor or will you even try? BEN CRENSHAW: Yeah, that's a good question, because this is -- as you know, we had tournaments on a course that we built, which is yours, but and I felt, I feel very much the same way. You want to play well, but you're thinking of a lot of different things too. You want people to enjoy where you had an opportunity to work and you want them to play well of the we like to see positive things. I like to see good scores. And I'm certain that believe me, these guys are so, as I said earlier, they're so proficient they will figure it out. We want to see good scores. We think that we have built an interesting course here that will definitely yield to good golf, well thought out shots and well executed and all the things that you need to do to stay with the field here, because these guys are tremendous. But there's no question it will be difficult for me. But I thoroughly enjoy it and I thoroughly enjoy playing. But I'll be very interested to know what people think of our work here. It's important to Bill and I. Tournament golfers being the best, you want to -- we want to have an open ear to their suggestions or what they think. It would be fun. It's going to be fun to elicit those observations and try to play at the same time. I hope I play well. KELLY ELBIN: For the record Ben plays with Michael Allen and Tom Watson tomorrow at 8:40 tee off. Final question, please. Q. For either or both, how much do you factor in the prevailing winds as a parameter in your routing and design? BILL COORE: It's very important to us. I would have to say right here that I've learned so many things from Ben over these past unbelievable almost 25 years now working together, but perhaps, perhaps the single most important thing is that is how wind and slope affect the very best players thought process. And the angles that the wind comes from, whether it's heavy winds or light now I'm talking about in velocity, not in moisture, but in how a little wind and a little slope, a little contour, small features, can so affect the very best players in the world and how that goes through their thought process. So it is very important to us. We consider it -- I can't truthfully say we would completely reroute a hole or two and go against every contour that nature's provided, just to try to accommodate a wind angle, but if it's possible to barely, barely maneuver in such a way to use the contours that you're presented with and the wind as well, we're going to do it every time. KELLY ELBIN: Bill Coore, Ben Crenshaw, co-designers of Colorado Golf Club. Thank you very much. End of FastScripts |
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