50 Royal Golf Dar Essalam, Rabat. Right after the first phase of the renovation I had the privilege of presenting to HRH Prince Rachid, president of the Royal Moroccan Golf Federation, the results of the work and my ambition to become the first golf architect in the country. Thanks to his special attention, I was able to join the team in charge of the renovation of the three courses of the Royal Golf Dar Essalam. This meeting with HRH was key and unlocked many doors for me. At the start of the renovation of the Blue course and following a short experience in shaping on the Green course in Rabat, I met Cabell Robinson. Following constant exchanges with him, at the age of 30 I was hired to be his assistant on this project. It was a fantastic experience to have him as my first mentor and to learn about schools of design in golf course architecture. What is your view on classroombased education for golf architects? RJ: A sensible starting point; but probably best if mixed in with a realworld project as well. Classrooms can be a good place to learn specific skills such as graphic communication or drafting, and technical tools such as computer software. JD: I think it is invaluable. The curriculum didn’t focus much on golf in our landscape architecture programme in college, disappointingly. This led to me taking matters into my own hands. In my final semester, I was approved for an independent study for credit under the supervision of the department. I chose sustainable golf course design as the area of focus. The independent study allowed me to design my own curriculum with approval from the department. The opportunity allowed me to choose my own site and explore the design process for building a golf course. Having this on my résumé helped me land my first job as a golf architect after graduation. TK: Very important but site experience is just as, if not more, important. We’d all love to spend days walking sites to find routings and ‘play in the dirt’ but the realities of most jobs require lots of work in the office to make sure the work done on the ground is efficient and helps keep clients and contractors happy and budgets in check… all the boring bits. Looking to the future, I’d probably expect this to become more important as technology and climate change lead to more remote working and less chance for quick visits to check on site work, unfortunately. AH: I think a varied approach to all education is best. The classroom is an important aspect of golf architecture, especially for learning and respecting the history of the game. On the technical side, one thing I’ve noticed is that you remember things more easily when in the field. I used to spend hours amending construction details using CAD, but it wasn’t until I saw them implemented on the ground that they became ingrained. RC: Training in golf architecture in a school is highly important. Having experienced the profession first, on-site, for three years, I had DES IGN CAREERS Riley Johns says that aspects of golf design that require more site-based creative expression or troubleshooting, such as routing, clearing, earthworks, shaping, finishing and grassing, are best learned in the field with time and experience
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