Perhaps more revolutionary was the shift across the South from heavy, common bermudagrass surfaces to faster, firmer dwarf bermudagrass fairways and bentgrass greens, allowing the ground features of a golf course finally to come into full play. Open and helped popularize golf. Designer Robert Trent Jones Sr. With 20 Modern courses on the list, Fazio is far and away the leader among active designers. No one today has more recognizable signature.
Nobody is stronger today in shaping vertical depth into ground features.
Visually, his work is stunning. Whether it proves a strategic challenge is another matter. Perhaps the test will ocme when one of his courses finally hosts a major event. Anyone who thinks that the list of classicals is etched in stone should take a closer look at our seven newcomers. Our Modern list has 10 courses making their debut.