 Architect
Interview
with Ken Ezell of Clifton,
Ezell & Clifton
By Derek Duncan,
TravelGolf.com Senior Writer
Those who have spent any time at all playing golf around Orlando
will have almost certainly teed it up on a course designed by
either Lloyd Clifton or his current firm, Clifton, Ezell &
Clifton (CEC). Simply put, Lloyd Clifton, and now CEC, have had
their finger on the pulse of Central Florida golf for almost five
decades. It could be argued that it is their courses more than
any others that reflect the true soul of the region.
CEC is comprised of Lloyd Clifton, his son George Clifton, and
Ken Ezell. Lloyd Clifton first began designing golf courses in
the mid-1950's as an extension of his successful agronomic business,
and is responsible for some of the area's favorite layouts. George
has worked alongside his father and provided drafting plans and
drawings since 1975. Ezell is a former Class "A" PGA
Professional and oversees the majority of the company's business
operations.
Though they've built courses throughout the country their name
is still largely a regional one, and even in their own market
many aren't aware of exactly who CEC are. Considering their sizeable
imprint and import to Central Florida golf, widespread fame has
thus far eluded them.
Partner Ken Ezell recently engaged in a question and answer session
with Senior Writer Derek Duncan covering a variety of topics, including
why they aren't receiving more recognition for some outstanding
golf courses.
In what year did CEC come together?
Ezell: We formed our organization back in 1987, so we
have our 15th anniversary coming up.
Interestingly, the course that brought us together as an actual
company is finally being built by Ritz Carlton (a Greg Norman
Design at Central Florida Parkway & John Young). The old Florida
Land Corporation wanted to do a golf commercial and office park.[but]
it never happened due to the Savings & Loan Institute that
owned the property getting in trouble, then the S & L debacle
occurred and the property has changed concept and hands until
now.
[The original deal] highlighted our group strengths to one another.
We were already great friends and in business related through
consulting. Lloyd had done a number of various courses, but someone
had to seek him out. His main business was agronomic consultation,
of which he had some 50 to 60 courses at the time. George had
been creating his dad's plans for years on the side and I had
been in the business/professional side of golf working as a Class
A PGA Professional. We made a good team. George had been learning
from his dad all his life and I had been working under his guidance
since 1977.
What was the first golf course CEC designed?
Ezell: Eastwood was under construction when we first came
together as a team and the field debates are still memorable to
all of us. George and I learned early on that the soft spoken
man we call 'Dad' is slow to object to our whim and fancy, but
when you hear "that's not quite the way I would have done
it," you better change it and change it quick. That's as
close as you will ever hear him say you're screwing up!
Our first real paying job was the renovation of Ocala Municipal.
We designed a course near Ashville, North Carolina called Pheasant
Run, which got underway but was never completed.
Most of your golf courses are accompaniments to real estate
developments. Do you find that it is more difficult to design
the types of courses you prefer given the land limitations typically
imposed in such an operation vs. designing a golf course over
more or less a blank canvas, i.e. Forest Lake?
Ezell: We have found over the years that the best overall
communities with golf result when the development team forms early.
We have over 55 courses to our credit now, but we have laid out
well over 150 more that did not go, are still laying dormant,
or will change hands down the line. The best courses, and subsequently
the best developments, always turn out when we are allowed to
have the first shot working alongside the applicable other consultants.
- Forest
Lake may be the last 'core' community course outside of
the resort area or ultra exclusive private venue in Central
Florida. Plus, Forest Lake had probably just as many constraints
as a large development. Poor access with limited width of frontage,
weird property boundaries, a plethora of gopher tortoises to
mitigate for on-site, two large existing RIB's (rapid infiltration
basins), and a future multilane expressway. The original 240
acres really looked like about 150 acres. Nevertheless, it turned
out great and we are happy with how it has matured.
Orlando (and it's surrounding area) is considered one of the
richest landscapes for public and resort golf in the United States,
but most of the national recognition is due to the number of courses
affixed with "name" architectural firms such as Fazio,
the Jones family, and now Norman, to name several. Do you have
the opportunity to bid against these firms for projects, and what
influence, if any, does their presence in the market have on your
designs?
Ezell: Unfortunately, golf architecture has a class system.
The mega-buck projects or "one-up" ego driven courses
have gone to a select group with a high profile name or "celebrity
name" designer. These courses cost more to build, cost more
to maintain and therefore cost more to play. We went through the
interview process once against the top 15 architects in the nation
by a developer that had more property and money in Florida than
almost anyone - they have a county named after them. They chose
us for our ingenuity, our field presence, and desire to create a
natural legacy. The savings in design fees and cost of construction
were a bonus. CEC, like many other regional designers throughout the country,
would love to be given the opportunity of an unlimited budget, pronounced
corridor packages, maintenance equipment, generous construction
time and grow-in, maintenance labor to create perfection, and then
the subsequent advertising endorsement and promotions that go along.
(We're) convinced that given the same criteria and commitment of
resources, a CEC course would exceed any other design professional
results.
It's hard not to feel some pressure to try and out-do a high
profile designer knowing they were given much more freedom, but
we've seen some attempts at "Wow" features that have caused
operational problems later for the owner. It truly is important
to know your client and their capabilities, as well as your audience.
Courses such as Eastwood, Kissimmee Bay, and Stoneybrook East seem
to be the courses that most Orlando residents actually play. Describe
how your firm sees itself in the context of the Orlando golf scene
and do you feel you can, perhaps more accurately than outside firms,
reflect the wants and needs of the Orlando golfer?
Ezell: [It's] simple: we are on-site so much that we know
when to take advantage of a field opportunity or correct a plan
flaw. We play the courses we design. Our friends and family play
them. Therefore, CEC tries to build each course "to test the
best but be fair to the rest." We attempt to provide multiple
and angular teeing grounds that result in adequate playing areas
for the variety of golf ability. We impose bold contouring and bunkering
many optical illusions to confuse the shot making process. We strive
to mix the opportunity for heroic and strategic execution of play
throughout the venue. We believe the course should be an extension
of the natural environment, not contrived. Our greens are generally
larger and more undulating than most. Our bunkering is more visible
to the eye but fair to extricate, especially from fairway bunkering.
It's no fun to have to blast out of a fairway bunker. We believe
the shot difficulty should graduate the further the ball goes wayward.
In this writer's opinion, your golf courses stand up to regional
comparisons best when you're able to create expressive and drastic
green complexes (Forest Lake and Rock Springs Ridge come to mind).
What influences the degree to which you will shape greens on any
given project?
Ezell: Owners and site conditions play the biggest role.
If the site requires drainage to be installed or the owner wants
a USGA green, then the massive green's construction costs become
prohibitive. If the owner wants fast-fast greens then undulations
become a problem in play management and enjoyment. If the new ultra-dwarfs
are being used, then the greens must be flatter due to the possibility
of excessive roll.
Most of our courses utilize riding triplex greens mowers. Keeping
our eye towards maintenance, we design in longer sweeping mowing
patterns and tiers. Courses that walk-mow typically will have smaller
greens with more dramatic pitches.
 Lloyd
Clifton's name begins to appear on Orlando area golf courses in
the 1960's. How did he get into the business and what were some
of the first golf courses he designed?
Lloyd's career started in Daytona Beach as the Horticultural
Manager for the City of Daytona Beach. The City of Daytona Beach
had a municipal 18 holes at the time and decided to add another
18. Lloyd was intimately involved in this process, loved it, and
soon moved on to become the golf superintendent. This was during
the mid 1950's. Rio Pinar was being conceived in 1957 as the premier
new course in Orlando by the same architect that designed Daytona's
second 18 - Mark Mahannah - and Lloyd made the move to become the
construction coordinator and golf superintendent. During the design
process, the members and Mahannah could not resolve a dispute and
Mahanna walked off the project. Lloyd finished the job and stayed
on during the first years of operations. He was thrown into the
lion pit and survived.
In 1963 he was offered his first design job at West Orange Country
Club in Winter Garden. The course opened in 1964 and has had very
few modifications over its 39 years of existence. The greens were
planted with the first variety of Tifdwarf bermuda grass and to
this date have not been changed. The course was built for (approximately)
$125,000. In 1992, CEC was allowed to propagate some of this original
Tifdwarf and later used it on the greens at Forest Lake and Remington.
CEC is again propagating this grass and hopes to leave its legacy
as "Clifdwarf," since by all accounts the original foundation
stock has been obliterated. This would be a fitting legacy for (Clifton),
one of the pioneers of the Florida Turfgrass Association and one
of its first 'Wreath of Grass' recipients.
What was golf in Orlando like at that time? What were considered
the "important" golf courses and was there a noticeable
architectural style for that time and place?
Ezell: Certainly there were fewer courses but there were
also fewer players. The better courses in the area those days were
Bay Hill, Rio Pinar, Cypress Creek, and West Orange. The architectural
style of those periods didn't rely on as much earth movement. These
old flat courses also lacked in secondary internal drainage so prevalent
today and relied on surface drainage to get the course back up after
our summer downpour.
It seems that during that era virtually every golf course
in Orlando and beyond was designed by either Lloyd Clifton or Joe
Lee. Was the relationship between these two competitive or friendly,
and architecturally speaking, what were the principal differences
between their products?
Ezell: Architecturally, we probably lined up closer to
Joe and his mentor Dick Wilson as any other architect. According
to Lloyd, Joe and he never met. Having been around both, before
my collaborating with Lloyd, I know they had a tremendous respect
for one another. Lloyd and Joe are two of kind in today's world.
I've never heard anyone speak of these fine gentlemen without acknowledging
them as gracious men and straight shooters.
Are you generally encouraged or saddened by the state of golf
and the types of golf courses that now populate the Orlando market?
Ezell: Both. The level of golf design has improved dramatically
the past 15 years. The quality of construction has also improved.
Will all the older courses and some of the newer ill-conceived courses
survive? Not without some serious rethinking and retooling.
How have your ideas about golf course design changed over
the years, perhaps either from a strategic or business standpoint?
Ezell: One big noticeable change is (that) we.are not
allowed to locate our golf holes through wetlands. It used to be
golf got the low wetlands while the development was located on higher
ground. Nowadays, as you can imagine, we take great care in preserving
these precious wetland features. CEC has recently developed one
of the strongest relationships of any group in the country with
the Audubon International.
[Also], the new technology has had an impact on corridor widths.
The regular Joe Golfer is now launching the ball - (he's) longer
everywhere. We have to balance the cost of real estate allotment
with the playability of the course. What once was considered a long
course at 6,700 yards is now deemed inferior if not over 7,000 plus.
Are Clifton, Ezell & Clifton golf courses under-recognized
and/or under-appreciated?
Ezell: Yes, they are under-recognized. No, they are not
under-appreciated. Let me clarify. One of your questions implied
that our courses are the most played and enjoyed by the golfing
public in Central Florida. That is correct, so everybody appreciates
a fair and honest test of golf. They also like and appreciate courses
that are consistently in better shape, but only command a rate that
affords them multiple opportunities to play.
The smart developers also recognize our talent to design dramatic
courses at a fraction of the costs of "the name" architects'.
Our courses are leaders in all the markets we have been afforded
an opportunity to build. For instance, Charlotte's Highland Creek
is the number one golf community and number one public golf course
in a heavily developed area. Naples' Grey Oaks Pines & Palms
(are) the number one private courses voted by the reciprocal members
at other private clubs. Plus the Villages (is) the number one single
site development in the United States with over 2,000 homes sold
per year over the past two years.
 What
are a few of the better golf courses in Central Florida, either
your own or someone else's, that the majority of area players aren't
familiar with but should be?
Ezell: Well, (here is) our preference since we are entrepreneurial
and want our clients to keep us in business! Here you go in order:
Forest Lake since we own it, number 1, 2, and 3! The Legacy Club
at the Villages; Riverbend in Ormond Beach; Rock Springs Ridge New
Nine and North Nine; Plantation Bay in Ormond Beach (Preswick too);
What are two or three of the best or favorite
golf courses that you have designed?
Ezell: Grey Oaks Pines and Grey Oaks Palm Courses in Naples,
Tega Cay Grandview Nine in Tega Cay, South Carolina, The West Nine
at Rock Springs Ridge in Apopka, The Torri Pines Nine at the Villages,
opening Fall 2002.
|
