49 and David Fay in the Bethpage parking lot and the next day the newspapers reported that Shinnecock must have some real problems, so they’re going to hold the US Open at Bethpage. As a publicly owned course, it had been neglected and overgrown, but its original features were still there. We had to add length for the Open, and added or relocated many bunkers in the same style, but it was easy to see what had to be done.” Bethpage Black will host the 2025 Ryder Cup. Another publicly owned course Rees has completely redesigned for championship play is the South course at Torrey Pines in San Diego. As well as two US Opens, Torrey Pines hosts the PGA Tour regularly. Unlike Bethpage Black, one of the five courses at the facility, which embraces its reputation as a man-eater (as the famous sign by the course’s first tee shows), Torrey Pines needed to remain playable for average golfers, as well as a challenging test for the best. Jones says this is one of the hardest challenges for any architect. “I think Torrey Pines accommodates the recreational golfer, because of the varied contoured diagonal greens, which help create shot options. Torrey Pines South plays over 80,000 rounds annually, even though it can accommodate a PGA Tour event. The real challenge with designing courses that host professional tournaments isn’t just accommodating crowds and stands and such, but to create a course that is visually interesting and exciting for the viewer at home, while ensuring it can later be set up in a way that makes it enjoyable and playable for golfers of all levels.” Golf architecture is not known as a collaborative business – the marketing for golf courses, when it relates to architecture at all, generally focuses exclusively on the big name deemed to be responsible for everything. Rees has seen a lot of that, but he is quick to give a lot of the credit for his projects to the designers who have worked with him for decades, Greg Muirhead for 41 years, Steve Weisser for 34 and Bryce Swanson for 25. “We have worked together for so long, we are like a well-oiled machine. They are incredibly talented designers in their own right. The success of the company is because I was fortunate Photo: Larry Lambrecht “ When I went on my own, we were in a downturn, but it was a good time to establish my name”
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