12 things I learned at golf architecture bootcamp

What can the average recreational golfer learn from a five-day, intensive seminar on golf course design taught by prominent architects? It is abundant. It depends on whether they are willing to get down to the nitty gritty and get their boots dirty in the field.

For the second year in a row, the American Society of Golf Course Architects is hosting a Design Boot Camp, inviting 15 students to work in a group training environment to develop their designs under the guidance of industry leaders. Last year's opening session took place at Erin Hills outside of Milwaukee ahead of the 2025 Women's US Open. This year's camp is being held at historic Pinehurst, locked in gates behind its No. 2 course and using No. 11 — a Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw design set to open in the fall of 2027 — as a hands-on educational resource.

Guests paid $20,000 for the course, with $15,000 of that earmarked for ASGCA's philanthropic efforts to support the development of public courses and fund the hiring and training of the next generation of designers. This year's instructors include ASGCA members Jan Bel Jan, Jeff Blume, Jeff Brauer, Bruce Charlton, Steve Forrest, Mike Hurdzan, Tom Marzolf and Damian Pascuzzo. Coore also led students on a walking tour of his practice course at Pinehurst No. 11.

He is the one who taught. But what did they teach? Here are 12 key lessons from the camp.

1. There is more to work than meets the eye

Most golfers have little idea of ​​the time and effort that goes into creating a single hole of golf, let alone 18. Planning and construction can take years, requiring close attention to many confusing details that the average player takes for granted – from topography, watering and irrigation to cart paths, grass types, soil types, additional ADA accessibility. Greg Norman once said “nothing is easier than designing a difficult golf course.” But designing a compelling course that is built on time and on budget with all the nuances factored into it? That is a tall task.

2. In the digital age, analog skills are still needed

While AI will undoubtedly revolutionize the field, and design software like AutoCAD is already making inroads into related jobs, course design is still a specialist trade. Contouring and careful color coding of hazards remains a practiced skill. Once the ink and graphite have been put down, the designers lower their faces to the table, seeing the play on the paper line as if standing somewhere. For now, the human eye is the final judge.

3. It takes a village

The course is conceived by the owner, planned by the designer and built by many construction workers. Keeping them consistent requires careful planning. Since a designer cannot always be on site to dig or grade, detailed plans are important to keep everyone on the same page. That is especially true for international projects where languages ​​differ. Inches, feet and yards do not need to be translated.

4. Good design keeps the cycle moving

Well-designed courses don't just challenge players. It increases their time. According to bootcamp coach Jan Bel Jan, speed of play should be as important as shooting concerns: “Being able to maintain speed of play is essential to enjoying the round. The design should present enough challenge while allowing the skilled player to maintain speed of play.”

5. Maintenance is more important than you think

Designers have been stressing this point all week: in the long run, maintenance is more important than the original design. A well-thought-out building can quickly deteriorate if repairs are delayed – and a large part of that burden falls on proper maintenance. The students got a clear demonstration when they played Pinehurst No. 2 following a strong thunderstorm in the morning. During the day, the study did not show rain in addition to the slow greens and full sand in the lower areas. That speaks of world-class maintenance and infrastructure. And it is evidence of a grand design.

6. The golfer is always the end user

Just as car manufacturers consider their target audience when designing a car, course designers must keep their audience in mind at all times. The difference is, there is no one “average golfer” to be designed. The goal then is to design an experience that works for 99% of players. Golf courses are businesses, and no business wants to send their customers home frustrated.

7. Large holes offer options for all skill levels

While that's not true of every hole — especially the par 3s intended for target golfers who have no choice but to bomb it to the flagstick or aim for the middle of the green — many good hole locations allow an escape route for the higher handicapper while still rewarding the player willing to take the risk.

8. Range is a weapon — and designers know how to use it

Each course starts wide and narrows with revisions, and those width decisions are the basis for how difficult the course ends up playing. Pinehurst No. 2 was a clear illustration: even a hook or a small piece sent the balls into the waste areas full of sand with scrub and grass. It is the course owner's call – and the designer's goal – to determine the scope and length of the course in relation to its level of difficulty.

9. The best designers need space to experiment

Bill Coore's ongoing Pinehurst No. 11 was the highlight of the week, giving a low-down look at how the subject grows before a single blade of grass is planted. As it is, between lessons in using recycled debris to create hills and details in the world “work as a work of art,” Coore praised the clients who gave him and partner Ben Crenshaw the opportunity to try things out: “We love it when we have 'strange owners' who let us try things out along the way. We understand that experimentation affects the budget, but this is a creative process.”

10. Stability is no longer an option

The industry has moved steadily towards environmentally sensitive design. Although some projects still involve clearing the land to bare dirt, the strong trend is to preserve the existing landscape, vegetation and species as much as possible. As golf occasionally heats environmentalists, working with the natural environment — not against it — has become both a design goal and a practical defense.

11. It can be a family business

Davis Love III arrived at Boot Camp with a dual role — part instructor, part supportive parent — accompanying his son Dru (officially Davis Love IV) through the program. Love III is familiar with the design, having recently overseen the renovation of Harbor Town in Sea Pines, but he made time before heading to the TPC at Sawgrass to watch his son work on the project firsthand. “It was my son who told me about Boot Camp, he got me into it,” said Love. “It was great to be here and see him working in real time designing the process.”

12. Events like this can wake up the next generation

Mara King, a freshman on the Penn State women's golf team, came out of Boot Camp while her team was in town for the NCAA event. Pastor Jan Bel Jan invited him to sit in the morning session, and we planted the seeds. “The idea of ​​designing golf courses is a career I would have chosen before,” King said, “but seeing everything that goes into it is really interesting. I think it might be something I want to study after college and after my playing career is over.”