How many present day golf course architects’ work do you admire and make the effort to see?
Admire: Three to four Make the effort to see: Between five and ten 22.If George Thomas’s body of work remained fully in tact today, how do you think he would be viewed when compared against MacKenzie, Colt, Ross and Tillinghast? As good as any of them, and I really don’t think that is a mere bias of mine. I think many who have studied his remaining work and the old photos would agree. Whitemarsh Valley, if restored properly, would be one of the more interesting in Philadelphia despite its yardage, which too many view as its big negative. Bel-Air was the West Coast version of Somerset Hills until Dick Wilson got his hands on it. Riviera, before kikuyu and ‘before the flood’ (as Hogan referred to the design pre-1939), was nearly as perfect a design as you could dream up. LACC North was going to be Thomas’s most intriguing in terms of having his many ‘courses within a course,’ with all the different sets of tees and pin placements and daily setup possibilities that he envisioned. Stanford
