57 me a base that still influences almost every decision I make today.” While with McDonald & Sons, Green had the chance to work on a lot of different projects, ranging from pure construction, through renovation, to full newbuilds. “Working in construction exposed me to a few architects with different philosophies and very different ways of getting their ideas onto the ground,” he says. “I was able to see what translated successfully from a drawing into the field and what didn’t. I also learned how much of golf course architecture ultimately happens during construction. I was kind of stunned by the level of detail that was missing from the process. A plan can establish the idea, but the details that make a golf course interesting – the contours, transitions, bunker edges, drainage, tie-ins and small movements in the ground – need to be understood and resolved in the field, and you better be paying attention! I also learned the business from the contractor’s side. Understanding costs, schedules, manpower and production has been incredibly valuable as an architect. It taught me that creativity and practicality don’t have to work against one another. It is also why my projects need a reliable schedule, budget and sequence, and we work at being accountable to each. “King Carter Golf Club in Virginia was the second course I helped design and build from the ground up. I was supposed to be the on-site architect but went from doing layout and painting bunkers less than six months out of college to running the entire job as the project manager. Being responsible for every single piece of that project, including the first few months of grow-in, makes you learn fast and understand how each decision builds on the next and last. “Historic research started to be a huge part of my process at Sunnybrook, Bidermann and Whitemarsh Valley in the greater Philadelphia area. These three projects really allowed me to study how three wildly different architects (William and David Gordon, Dick Wilson and George Thomas) each designed their course, how they thought about the land and each shot, then how the memberships either embraced, adjusted or just let the properties evolve. Connecting the original intent to the current status of each, then communicating to a group of leaders about what was missing, what their course could be, and then Photo: Inverness Club King Carter in Virginia, one of the first courses Green helped design while at McDonald & Sons Photo: King Carter Golf
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