Golf Course Architect, Rees Jones
Rees Jones has designed golf courses from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but until he was retained to design Black Lake Golf Club, he had not worked in northern Michigan's golf hotbed.
"The land resembles a lot of courses we see in New England or Connecticut. I did a course in Greenwich, Connecticut, when I first started with my dad and this land reminded me of that. But what is so wonderful about this land, unlike rocky New England terrain, is that it's all sand so you had multiple design opportunities," Jones said.
"Simply put," Jones continued, "the holes were here, we just had to find them. We were trying to build an old style, classic course. You'll notice we don't have mounds or moguls. We just have sweeps and natural grade. We strive for holes blending with the natural terrain. There is nothing artificial or contrived at Black Lake."
Rees, youngest son of Robert Trent Jones, the patriarch of American golf course architects, graduated from Yale University in 1963 and then attended Harvard University's School of Design before joining his father for 10 years and overseeing all of the company's East Coast projects.
Rees formed his own firm in 1974, in Montclair, N.J., and has become one of the most acclaimed designers in the game, earning Golf World magazine's Architect of the Year award in 1995.
Jones has designed or redesigned more than 100 courses and his standing in the game is underlined by the trust that officials of some of America's greatest courses have shown in hiring him to remodel their courses prior to major championships: Pinehurst No. 2 for the 1999 United States Open, The Country Club at Brookline, Massachusetts, for the 1988 U.S. Open (and some freshening for the 1999 Ryder Cup), Congressional Country Club Blue for the 1997 U.S. Open, Baltusrol Golf Club Lower for the 1993 U.S. Open and Hazeltine National Golf Club for the 1991 U.S. Open.
Jones also has renovated the A.W. Tillinghast-designed Black Course at Bethpage State Park on Long Island, site of the 2002 U.S. Open.
Jones reworked storied East Lake Country Club in Atlanta, Georgia, Masters Tournament founder Bob Jones's home course, for the 1998 PGA Tour Championship, and Sahalee Country Club in Redmond, Washington, for the 1998 PGA Championship.
Freshening up and working on courses designed by such masters as Donald Ross, Tillinghast and his father, Robert Trent Jones, have given Rees Jones an appreciation for classic design. He wants the golfer to see what lies ahead of him and he has done precisely that at Black Lake.
And because all golfers aren't created equal, Jones has provided multiple tee pads at Black Lake with nine on the dramatic par 3 14th. Jones found that hole in a natural sand pit and sand borders the right side of the hole for 180 yards. The tee pads range from 235 yards to 145 yards.
Jones is no stranger to number one rankings for his courses. Nantucket Golf Club on Natucket Island was named Best New Private Course by Golf Digest in 1998, as was his Atlantic Golf Club on Long Island in 1992. Sandpines Golf Club in Florence, Oregon, received Golf Digest's No. 1 ranking as America's Number 1 Affordable Public Golf Course in 1993. It's worth noting as well that Rees's on-site designer for all three projects -- Greg Muirhead -- also handled the day-to-day design tasks at Black Lake.
Other Jones public course designs have also been honored by Golf Digest and Golf magazine. They include Bryan Park Champions course, Greensboro, North Carolina; Montauk Downs Golf Course, Montauk, New York; Pinehurst No. 7, Pinehurst, North Carolina; Burnt Pine Golf Course, Destin, Florida; Stoney Creek Golf Course, Wintergreen Resort, Virginia; Legend Trail Golf Course, Scottsdale, Arizona; and Duke University Golf Club, Durham, North Carolina.
Jones's philosophy might be summed up in three short phrases: See it, play it, enjoy it.
"I want the hole to tell the player how he should play it and my ultimate goal is to build a course golfers enjoy and want to come back and play again and again," Jones said.
And from Black Lake's multiple tees, the challenge is visible. There is an opening at the front of the greens -- Jones calls them "ramps" -- for those who play the ground game instead of aerial and the greens were designed to accept, not repel shots.
"A good course, in my view, should at once be a test of championship golf while at the same time affording an average golfer playing from forward tees an enjoyable round," Jones said.
"At its core," Jones concluded, "golf course architecture is a craft. You have to feel your way around the design. Many people think that an architect can simply send a client a set of plans and then go out and build a great golf course. A good set of plans is just the beginning. An architect and his team have to work with the contractor, with the shapers, make all the necessary changes -- much as they did in the old days. So, I think the misconception may be that a golf course can be built like a parking lot or like a building with a mere blueprint. But in fact it really needs a good deal of hands-on attention. Fortunately, we had that here at Black Lake and the course shows it. Our on-site team led by Greg Muirhead with a lot of help from everyone involved, including the UAW's consultant on the project, Gary Schaal, past president of the PGA of America and a highly regarded developer and owner of golf courses around the country, took the time and trouble to get things just right. As a result, golfers of all levels are going to be impressed. Very impressed."
