This is a blog about golf, economic incentives, and analytic approach to it's culture.
If that's something that interests you, you're in good company.
In a sense, I started the golf course wiki because of covid. During this time, a wave of new players joined the game. I recognized this could be a moment of growth in the game and I could make real what was previously just an idea. I started the wiki to fill a gap in the golf eco-system. That was, that lists, like the US top 100, were not representative of what I thought were good courses. They were lists of famous courses. I learned golf playing Lion’s Muni in Austin, TX. I think it is a wonderful course, even if it plays slow, and is short. However, now living in San Francisco, the courses regularly regarded as “good courses” are the likes of The Olympic Club or Presidio. The courses are noteable mainly for their price or inaccessibily. Is Presidio better than other courses in the city? Maybe. I have my doubts. Better for whom? How about the Lake Course at Olympic? How could I know, I’m not allowed to play there? I wanted to know.
The gatekeeping of top (mostly completely inaccessible) courses inspired me start a wiki, so that every course could be, at least, accessible. Every single hole, on every single course at the finger tips of every single player. That is the goal. Every club loves their home course, and has their reasons for loving it. Every new player at these courses would benefit to know why these courses are loved. The analysis of architecture has been restricted to a strictly limited cannon, and even in that space, the courses have quietly changed dramatically, and it’s always hidden, and often lost, how much the game is changing while we pretend it’s being preserved. A wiki can stand as a record. A wiki can be a resource for building a new top 100, and a top 100 courses that normal people could actually play, and a muni top 100 that cities can compete and take pride in.
This blog is where I want to share my thoughts on this project. Seperate from the wiki itself, which should be judgement neutral, it’s a place where I can leave an editorial imprint and discuss the mission. I want to celebrate courses and holes that are exceptional, and I want to explore other issues in the culture. So let my lay out the project here:
Firstly, I want to discuss golf. What it is, and why I love it. I want to discuss extraordinary golf holes, and why I think they are exceptional. I want to discuss, even if treated as ordinary, increadibly opening holes like #1 at Lion’s Muni or #1 at Lincoln Park. Some people familiar with these courses may cringe at that statement, I want to make my case. What actually makes a good opening hole, is this there something about the nature of golf we can illustrate from them. I want to do the same for the everyday designs that are overlooked, merely because they are at ordinary courses, played by ordinary people, with ordinary handicaps.
Next, I want to discuss some of the various problems I see in the golf community. I want to explain myself and offer solutions. The misaligned incentive systems that drive the golf community into an antagonistic system, where incumbant players are actively discouraging new players. Why game-improvement clubs are making golf much, much worse for exactly the players they’re marketed to. Where monopolized and insular land use has created a political system where public courses will likely face more challenges more quickly, as the land under them becomes more and move valuable. Why private clubs, and the cultural worship of their manufactured exclusivity, might just be destroying municiple golf in many regions.
What will follow will be serious essays on political, economic, cultural, and enviornmental issues in golf. What we might be doing wrong, what we might be doing right, why, and where things could grow the game in a constructive manner. It’s going to get into the weeds, and there might be some footnotes. Is this all a bit navel-gazey? Of course. It’s a game, but it’s one I care about.