Steve Forrest, ASGCA

Steve Forrest, ASGCA takes a few minutes to share his thoughts on golf course architecture. Steve served as ASGCA President from Spring ‘07 - Spring '08 and continues his practice with Arthur Hills / Steve Forrest and Associates.

Designer or architect ...

I consider myself an architect because I have received a formal education in the field of landscape architecture and have followed that with thirty years of experience in a professional golf course architecture office. All "architects" are "designers", but not all "designers" are "architects".

Notable design influences ...

Having worked with Arthur Hills for thirty years, I can certainly attribute most all of my design style and philosophy to his teachings. Consequently, my approach to design is a strategic one with hazards placed diagonally to the line of play in order to set up "risk-reward" relationships. I strive to make a golf hole challenging for the best players, yet playable and enjoyable for everyone else. The golf course should highlight the natural features of the site, preserve sensitive environmental elements and be beautiful and inspirational to the golfer.

Journey at Pechanga – Hole #5

The importance of a proper layout ...

I believe that the most important aspect of golf course design is the placement of the golf holes on the land. If the routing is right, a lot of good things happen. If it is wrong, much time and money will be spent trying to correct its deficiencies. I begin the design of a golf course by determining the best location for the clubhouse area. This area must be accessible; be able to accommodate a practice area and four starting and finishing holes; and ideally, have a commanding view of the best part of the property. Once this "core" of development is in place, the remaining fourteen holes fall into place pretty easily. Occasionally, there may be a difficult corner to navigate, but I've found that breaking the routing down into "parts" works well. I simply find the best solution for the tough spots and then link them together with the remaining holes. It's a bit like an 18- or 20-piece jigsaw puzzle at times.

The evolution of golf course maintenance ...

Better grooming techniques have increased green speeds to the point that the contours on putting surfaces need to be gentler in order to remain playable. Bunker liner innovations allow architects to create steeper and deeper hazards that are still able to be maintained with reasonable efforts. The act of irrigating the golf course has evolved to the point where it is both an art and a science, thereby allowing architects to be very precise with the relationships of various landscape treatments such as extended collars, native grass areas and waste bunkers.

Not your typical tree relocation ...

I recently completed a course called Journey at Pechanga for the people of Pechanga, a Native American tribe that has built a tremendously successful casino and resort complex in Temecula, California. The golf course routing climbed high onto a mountainside and offered some fantastic views and exciting shots. We had to avoid an Indian burial ground and also work around as many California live oaks as possible. In keeping with their great respect for the land, the Tribe's Cultural Committee insisted that the oaks that we weren't able to avoid had to be relocated. That meant building a wooden box frame around some very large trees and moving them to new spots on the golf course with a crane. It may sound like a pain, but for a golf course architect, it is a dream come true to be able to place a beautiful mature oak tree exactly where he wants it for framing and strategic purposes. I've never had that luxury on a project before and probably never will again.

If I could, I would ...

Clear some trees on the 18th hole at Cypress Point.

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