Musings

Current Musing by Larry W. Flatt, President of Flatt Golf Services, Inc.!

Real Golf, or Why Don't We Play by the Rules!

Design-Build for Remodeling/Renovation

The Truth About Golf Mastery

Real Golf, or Why Don’t We Play by the Rules!

Did you know that the first golf rules book contained only thirteen words? That’s right, but of course that was long before we had lawyers, spin doctors, and had absolved our individual personal responsibility. The fact that the rules of golf now contain more the 27,000 words and now have to be supported by Decisions on the Rules of Golf (case law for Golf!) that at least quadruple the number of words in the Rules of Golf.

“Play the ball as it lies and the course as you find it.” These were the only rules when golf began in Scotland almost a thousand years ago. Supposedly, today’s modern rule book is the rule maker’s finest effort to embody the original rules in light of our complex society, modern golf courses, and the changes in the game of golf.

Even more ironic is the situation where most of us golfers will tout and defend the integrity of the game of golf as compared to all other athletic and sport competitions. How many times have we seen and heard about the positive attributes of an offensive lineman being able to hold a defensive player without being caught and penalized. In golf we say that we, the competitors, are the referees and we call the penalties on ourselves. This supposedly makes us more honorable and makes our sport a notch above all others. Who are we fooling when most of us don’t even know the rules of golf, much less play by them. We aren’t calling the penalty on ourselves for the violation of the most basic rule of the game of golf.

Not nearly enough of us “play the ball as it lies and the course as we find it.” And since that is the basic fundamental rule of golf – how can we claim the higher ground on golf’s great integrity. The truth is we can’t until we get back to playing the game as it was and is intended to be played. It has always been my sincere belief that I am a better player and an improving player because I try to play the ball as it lies and the course as I find it. I have been playing this game for over 50 years and I can attest to this fact. I suppose that my handicap might be less and my scores might be lower if I moved the ball around for a preferred lie all the time, but I really don't believe so. Also, would I really be playing golf, or just some simple game where you hit a little ball around a green pasture into a hole 4 Ľ” in diameter? (Although, hypocrite that I am, I have to come true to you and admit that most of my golf now consists of scrambles and shambles where the ball is played up all the time, so I guess I don't really play any real golf anymore!)

Any person who has tried to improve their golf game and actually get more proficient at the game finds out quickly that as our physical skills increase, the mental requirements increase exponentially. Controlling emotions, recognizing our limitations, disciplining our self to play the smart shot rather than allowing our ego to tempt us to play the heroic (stupid) shot, and just plain old self discipline require great mental skills and dexterity. And, it is my opinion that this is truly what makes golf a wonderful game and worthy of the time, effort, and expense that it requires.

The truth is that I don’t think our handicaps will be higher and I don’t think our scores will be higher if we “play the ball as it lies and the course as you find it.” I believe that we will actually be better golfers and that we will have a greater source of pride in our ability to accept adversity and deal with the actual situation on the golf course when we get a “bad lie” or a “bad break.” I even think that the attitude of “playing the ball as it lies and the course as you find it” will carry over into real life and provide us a better prospective of how to deal with situations that occur in business and life. Therein is the reason that golf is such a great game – it mirrors life and improves our life, but only if we play by the rules!

By the way, please feel free to use any of the foregoing information as a reason to play more golf. I have found that most of our friends and particularly our spouses desire that we improve ourselves. I hope that I have provided you with additional justification that will allow you to hit the links more often and fulfill the desires of your beloved to improve yourself!

Design-Build for Remodeling/Renovation

The Design-Build process is a relatively new way to remodel or renovate an existing golf course, but it is a process that is gaining favor with many courses and owners. Design-Build, or D-B as we will refer to it, is the term that describes a process whereby there is a single source responsibility (Contractor responsibility for design and construction) for constructing a project.

Design-Build was developed for the purpose of:

Reducing the time frame from initiation of a project to completion. This is accomplished by: (a.) not having a separate Architect/Engineer selection process, (b.) reducing the design time frame, and (c.) using fast-track construction by starting permitting and site work before final design is complete.
Control the final costs of a project. This is done by: (a.) adjusting the design to fit the budget, and (b.) reducing change orders.
Provide a single source responsibility and eliminate arguments and miscommunication between the designer and contractor.

While the advantages of shorter time frames, controlling costs, and single point responsibility are attractive, there are some disadvantages. There can be political issues between best value bid and lowest bid and pre-selection of proposers. There is a perceived lack of control (giving everything to the contractor), and there still is a lot of inexperience with the process, because it is so different from the conventional Design-Bid-Build construction process.

D-B is being utilized by the military, by federal and state agencies, universities, county and municipal governments. Private developers have benefited from D-B processes for a significant number of years. In our experience with D-B on golf course renovation projects, we have observed some additional advantages. For example, the golf course owner can see several different design solutions for a project before committing to a designer. The seamless relationship between the designer and contractor allow the pricing to be more sharply focused initially, as compared to value engineering efforts (after price has been determined) in a conventional project. This permits an owner to receive greater value for the dollars spent. It is our opinion that D-B offers an opportunity for golf courses and golf clubs to achieve great results in a shorter period of time and stay within the budget for the project.

The first essential of any club or course that is contemplating a renovation, remodeling or upgrade is to first have a golf course designer develop a long range master plan for the golf course. The master plan, at the minimum, should contain the following elements:

A conceptual scale plan locating all existing features such as greens, tees, bunkers, fairways, lakes, ponds, cart paths, trees, etc. and illustrating via an overlay, all of the proposed changes and their relative location and configuration.
A hole by hole narrative analysis of existing holes providing an in-depth explanation of the changes proposed.
A narrative report addressing the condition and or need for update of all support infrastructure, such as, irrigation, pump station, drainage structures, cart paths, bridges, etc.
A detailed cost estimate for all elements of improvements proposed. The cost estimate should be developed on a hole by hole basis, and be based on estimated quantities and current unit prices.

With a master plan in hand, the owner can proceed with determining the scope of work desired and the cost of such work. This is a first step in any project, but it is especially critical in a D-B project. In determining the scope and cost of the proposed project, the potential schedule must also be determined.

If a D-B process is chosen over a conventional Design-Bid- Build process, and the staff lacks experience in developing D-B Request for Proposals, this is the time to enlist the assistance of a golf course designer/consultant to develop the RFP and assist the owner through the process. The D-B process generally follows the following outline. More or less information may be required in each step based on the scope of work, the budget, and the time table.

Develop the technical Request for Proposal. The technical RFP shall contain the bid proposal form, technical requirements, basic site information, existing conditions information, general and special conditions, submittal requirements, and an explanation of the evaluation process that will be utilized to select the successful contractor.
Pre-qualify contractors and/or select contractors that will be invited to submit a proposal.
Issue the Request for Proposal to the selected contractors.
Hold a pre-proposal conference on site to provide additional explanation, emphasize key elements, and answer questions.
Receive and evaluate proposals. Select team (contractor and designer) based on best value to accomplish the scope of work. The low bid may or may not provide the best solution and the best value!
Award a contract and authorize the design process.
Review and approve design submittals at 50% design and 95% design stages. Issue limited notice to proceed at 50% stage.
Issue full notice to proceed.
Monitor construction and make progress payments based on percentage of work done.
Final inspection and acceptance.

This is not an exhaustive explanation of the D-B process, but I hope it has been informative and helpful to those of you who may be contemplating using D-B on a future project. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me or email me and I will try to answer you questions.

If you are looking at a renovation project in the near future and want to consider D-B, I will visit (at no charge) your course to talk with leadership in greater detail about what is involved. As you might expect, we are interested in being hired to prepare the RFP and assist your course or club through the process to a successful completion. After our visit to your course, and at your request, we can provide a detailed proposal for the services we would provide and our fee to provide such services.

The Truth About Golf Mastery

The truth about the mastery of the game of golf is that the game can only be mastered as much as we can master ourselves. There is no more discipline required activity, outside of life itself, than the game of golf. You can achieve Golf Mastery a little bit at a time with solid fundamentals, by making proper adjustments in response to your actual results, by never being satisfied, and by hard work. So much for a "secret" to golf. Tiger Woods is the best ever -- and he knows better than anyone that there is no "secret" to golf -- only hard work. Tiger Woods has been and continues to be the hardest worker!

Fundamentals are essential. We must hold the club properly, we must stand to the ball correctly and we must provide a coordinated swinging motion of the club through the ball to produce quality golf shots. And, of course, like life, knowing, practicing, and perfecting fundamentals does not absolutely insure success in golf -- it only optimizes our opportunity for success.

Circumstances (the actual events occurring on the golf course) and how we react to them is the other part of Golf Mastery. To be successful in golf, we must appreciate what we are doing (right or wrong) and constantly be making adjustments to deal with circumstances. In addition to fundamentals, we must be able to see ourselves and make correct adjustments to keep our games on track.

I recently read a great quote from Jim Furyk, an outstanding (with an unorthodox swing) Golf Professional. He said "Golf is 90% mental -- and the other 10% is mental also." I concur with him and I will guarantee you that the better you and I are able to strike the ball, the truer this statement becomes for each of us.