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| Tom Weiskopf |
Weiskopf Excels At New Job Title
By David R.
Holland,
TravelGolf.com Senior Writer
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO -- Tom Weiskopf pulled out one of those new
drivers that looks like a toaster on a stick and ripped the ceremonial
first drive 300 yards to the “A” position.
Not a bad way to cut the ribbon and open his newest course, Catamount
Ranch & Club, located just minutes from the ski slopes that
have produced 52 Winter Olympians in this historic Rocky Mountain
town.
The 6-foot-3 former British Open champ still has it.
Long known for one of the best swings in golf, he can still generate
power unknown to most mortals. He can pound a golf ball down the
middle long and he can score.
At Catamount’s grand opening he led a celebrity foursome
of former Vice President Dan Quayle, former Miami Dolphins’
All-Pro defensive back Dick Anderson and former Olympic ski jumper
Moose Barrows, by recording a six-under-par 66.
But today, as his portfolio of admirable golf courses hits 40,
Tom Weiskopf, the former college teammate of Jack Nicklaus, is a
golf-course designer.
He is a former PGA and Senior Tour player.
And as hot-tempered as he was as a player, he relishes his self-portrayal
as a mild-mannered designer of golf courses.
“I had enough controversy as a player, so I try to stay away
from design controversy,” said Weiskopf, who is 57. “My
design thoughts are reflected in all the things I've seen in the
past that I like. No one has reinvented the wheel on this issue.
And I think the best golf courses built since the 1930s were built
in the 1990s and are to come in 2000 and beyond.”
As a designer he admits he doesn’t have formal training and
he can’t draw a stick figure, but he can “sketch”
and he knows what he likes. He’s a traditionalist. He likes
false fronts. He doesn’t like blind tee shots (there’s
also a liability issue). He wants a reachable par 4 on every course
he designs. He wants a balance of holes with doglegs right and holes
that bend left. He likes less mounding.
Weiskopf names Alister MacKenzie as his favorite golf-course architect,
identifying Pasatiempo and Cypress Point, the two gems MacKenzie
built before Augusta National. Next on his list are Donald Ross,
A.W. Tillinghast, Billy Bell and Charles MacDonald. These are the
old-style builders that excelled in simple, playable, enjoyable,
memorable and maintainable golf courses. He says these are the most
respected courses we have today and they have stood the test of
time.
Weiskopf has always admired MacKenzie’s bunkering, especially
in the days there was extensive fingering. He wonders why Augusta
National, through the years, has tamed MacKenzie’s bunkers,
except on the fairway at No. 10 where they left his original work
almost intact. Weiskopf realizes it’s all about easier maintenance.
Another one of the traditional elements he laments may be gone
forever in new courses is the ability go from green to tee in a
few steps. “Only four of the 40 projects I have been involved
with weren’t also being built along with a considerable number
of houses. Building courses that are easy to walk -- well, that’s
just not going to happen anymore.”
Weiskopf, who won 15 tour titles and five foreign championships,
has a vision on each project.
He says his team starts at the design table, but he gets creative
out in the field. He likes to learn what strengths and limitations
the land has by walking it. And sometimes he’ll even walk the
site and put out stakes for possible routes. Even with his imagination
going in many directions, he says he’s careful not to let areas
remind him of holes he’s seen before.
He says to imagine a hole could be just like the 16th at Cypress
Point is a mistake -- that holes leading up to a specific one are
influenced by those that follow.
“I’m not into naming signature holes, I’ll let
the golfers decide that,” he said. “But each hole has
to have its own identity.”
Catamount, his seventh mountain golf course, presented a different
challenge.
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| Catamount No. 8 |
"Because of the elevation changes, mountain courses pose special
challenges," Weiskopf said. "But once you overcome those
challenges, the beauty and the views can be dramatic." So
Weiskopf agrees that a designer is only as good as the piece of
land he's given to work with. He looks for mature trees, natural
rock formations, water features and would rather work with elevation
changes that don't exceed 30 feet. That last point is hard to abide
by in the Rocky Mountains. At Catamount Ranch & Club he has
several holes that drop so drastically, you will be questioning
club selection. You also have to figure that at 6,800 feet, the
ball carries at least 10-percent farther.
His favorite design? That’s Loch Lomond in Scotland, home
to the Standard Life Loch Lomond Classic, a European Tour event,
won this past July by Ernie Els.
He says the site, which is 25 miles northwest of Glasgow, has
huge old trees in a parkland setting and was the greatest site he’s
had to work with. It has trout streams, wetlands, marshes, peat
bogs and an elevation change of 35 feet. And there were zero houses
being built. There hadn’t been a new golf course constructed
in Scotland in 19 years when he arrived for the job.
Other favorites include Double Eagle in Columbus, Ohio, the city
where he teamed with Nicklaus at Ohio State and played on the University’s
MacKenzie-designed Scarlet Course. He also picks Forest Highlands
in Arizona as a dramatic mountain layout he loves.
"I really enjoy the first two months when you start a new
golf course,” Weiskopf said. “It's like preparing for
a tournament. You're wondering what you have. There can be a lot
of anxiety because it is such a competitive business.”
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| Troon North |
Weiskopf, who lives in Scottsdale, AZ, entered the design business
with Jay Morrish. He needed a new outlet, wanted to try to design
golf courses and he set a timetable in case it didn’t work out.
It worked out -- right out of the box they came up with the Troon
North Monument winner in Scottsdale, then Weiskopf added the Pinnacle
course on his own.
Ultimately, Morrish and Weiskopf built 25 courses together before
parting ways. He says they are still friends.
Today’s younger generation of golf-course architects, who
sit for hours and hours at the drafting table, drawing the blueprints,
look at Weiskopf and see he doesn't have any formal training. He
just builds award-winning golf courses.
Remarkably, he reached his Senior Tour goals. He was ready to
go when he turned 50 and gave himself five years to win the U.S.
Senior Open. It took him only three years to reach the goal.
His PGA Tour history was almost as fascinating. He admits he took
a big chance by quitting at age 40 -- at the time he was fourth
on the all-time money list. At that time only five players had ever
won more tournaments.
Weiskopf’s daring change of professions benefited the average
golfer -- the guy who is striding around Troon North on a perfect,
windless 75-degree Arizona day in January, probably is oblivious
to who designed it and what his education was. He just knows he’s
a lucky guy to be here instead of at the office.
Some of Weiskopf’s Gems: Troon Golf and Country Club,
Scottsdale, AZ. The Monument Course is ranked No. 20 on Golf
Magazine’s Top 100 You Can Play List. The Pinnacle Course
is rated No. 42 on the same list.
The Ridge at Castle Pines North, Castle Rock, CO, is No. 66 on
Golf Magazine’s Top 100 You Can Play List.
The Shanty River Cedar River Course, Bellaire, MI, is No. 84 on
Golf Magazine’s Top 100 You Can Play List.
The Quail Hollow Course in Painesville, OH, is No. 100 on Golf
Magazine’s Top 100 You Can Play List.
Shadow Glen Golf Club in Olathe, KS, was voted Best New Private
Course of 1989 by Golf Digest. Double Eagle Club in Galena,
OH, is No. 60 on Golf Digest's America's Top 100 list. Forest
Highlands in Flagstaff, Arizona is No. 57 on the same list.
Other Weiskopf designs (some with Jay Morrish): Tournament Players
Club of PGA, Scottsdale, AZ. Mira Vista Country Club, Fort Worth,
TX. Willowbend Country Club, Wichita, KS. Foothills Golf Club, Phoenix,
AZ. Marbella Golf and Country Club, San Juan Capistrano, CA. Waikoloa
Golf Course, Waikoloa, Hawaii. Bentwater on Lake Conroe, near Houston,
TX. LaCantera, San Antonio, TX. The Golf Club at Vistoso, Tucson,
AZ.
Catamount Ranch & Club is Weiskopf's 40th design project and
his fourth course in Colorado, along with Grandote Peaks in La Veta,
The Ridge at Castle Pines North and Eagle Springs in the Vail Valley.
Catamount is a private course but will accept public play for its
first year. Green fees are $150. It is owned by the world-class
golf resort Cordillera, located in the Vail Valley.
Photo of Catamount’s downhill, 211-yard, par-3 No. 8 hole
by David R. Holland.
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