2018 Design Excellence Recognition Program honorees announced by ASGCA
The South Course at Arcadia Bluffs, Arcadia, Michigan/Dana Fry, ASGCA, and Jason Straka, ASGCAThe project is a unique design inspired by the Chicago Golf Club design from early American golf course architects CB Macdonald and Seth Raynor.
Arcadia Bluffs South Course – A True Modern Classic
Thankfully, public golfers now have another opportunity to play the sort of course Macdonald and Raynor would have designed, the South Course at Arcadia Bluffs, at the resort of the same name in northern Michigan. When pictures of the new layout—a mile inland from the resort’s tremendously popular first course, which fronts Lake Michigan and was designed nearly 20 years ago by Warren Henderson and Rick Smith—began appearing last year, the reaction was almost universal shock and astonishment at the rectangular bunkers cut into wide, straight-edge fairways or bordering huge, square greens, geometric features common to Macdonald/Raynor courses.
New Arcadia Bluffs course offers a fresh take on a familiar idea
Once you start playing the South Course, you’ll realize that all its right angles and parallel lines are less noticeable at ground level than from aerial views or diagrams in the yardage book. What is important isn’t the trigonometry of the various features. It’s their positions on each golf hole that make the difference. In carving this course out of a bland barley field, Dana Fry ran the risk of producing golf’s equivalent of a game of Checkers. But his brilliant bunker placement and green contours elevate Arcadia Bluffs South to a game of three-dimension Chess.
Golf is Better in Pure Michigan
With the sun shining and warm breezes blowing every Golfaholic’s mind wanders to traveling to new and exciting golf destinations.
Dana Fry: The Golftime Interview
Dana Fry discusses his new South Course at Arcadia Bluffs, being a fitness buff, and how the U.S. Open at Erin Hills has changed his life.
A sight for square eyes at Michigan’s Arcadia Bluffs
Last summer, a few photos started to leak out on social media and elsewhere on the internet, to a reaction of ‘What the #$@&! is that?’ from incredulous viewers. The first word that springs to the mind of anyone who sees pictures of Arcadia South is ‘square’. For what Fry has built is a love letter to Chicago Golf Club, one of the oldest clubs in America, possessor of a CB Macdonald/Seth Raynor course that, although rarely seen by outsiders (the club’s membership is tiny and a guest invite is among the most highly sought-after tickets in golf), is universally regarded as among the world’s finest.
Hail to Michigan
Enhancements at Arcadia Bluffs and Belvedere Golf Club make golf even greater in the Great Lakes State.
Changes at former Sand Barrens course following Union League’s purchase
The Union League of Philadelphia has acquired the former Sand Barrens Golf Club in Swainton, New Jersey, and hired Fry/Straka Global Golf Course Design to create a masterplan for the club.
The firm has been tasked with beginning the process of moving from a public and resort facility to an upscale private club, which will be known as Union League National Golf Club moving forwards.
GCA spoke to Jason Straka of Fry/Straka Global Golf Course Design to find out more about his firm’s plans.
2017 Design Excellence Recognition Program honorees announced by ASGCA
The sixth annual American Society of Golf Course Architects Design Excellence Recognition Program honorees have been named. Projects from 11 courses have been cited for their work with ASGCA members in addressing unique design challenges.
Since its creation, the Design Excellence Recognition Program has highlighted the innovation and problem-solving skills required of today’s golf course designs, from new 18-hole layouts to practice facilities and renovations of various sizes.
The 2017 nominations were reviewed by a panel of golf industry leaders, including representatives of the Club Managers Association of America, Golf Course Builders Association of America and Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.
Native Grasses Yield Water Savings
The Ambiente golf course at Camelback Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, was almost 35 years old and needed renovations. The management team wanted to improve the golfer experience and create a more sustainable golf course by reducing water use.
Less turf + better turf = better for golf
Los Robles Greens Golf Course in Thousand Oaks, Calif., is known for the mighty oak trees that line the fairways (“los robles” translates to “the oaks” in Spanish). But those out-of-play areas under the oaks were a stumbling block for course Superintendent Ron Kerley.
Innovations in golf course construction
Before a summer trip to Brazil to visit a client’s course, Jason Straka reflected on how much his job has changed in the past decade.
Fry/Straka talks golf course architecture and course maintenance with Turfes.com
Dana Fry and Jason Straka discuss their beginnings in the profession and expanding the game in Latin America.
2017 Interview Series: Dana Fry & Jason Straka
Dana Fry and Jason Straka have worked together for many years in the golf architecture business. Fry and Dr. Michael Hurdzan formed an extraordinarily successful partnership for a long time, before Hurdzan/Hurdzan and Fry/Straka became separate entities. 2017 will witness the debut of Erin Hills golf course, Wisconsin USA, as a US Open site. Comparisons with Chambers Bay (Washington State, USA), the other and heralded ingenue of a public-course-turned-USOpen-site will be inevitable. The truth is, the two are completely different courses, just as Fry and Straka are from other architects. On a whimsical, spur-of-the-moment type, Mr. Fry and Mr. Straka sat for an 11th-hour interview with BuffaloGolfer.Com. Grateful? You bet. Here goes.
The Making of a U.S. Open Course: Six Part Series
How this intoxicating patch of land came to be Erin Hills, site of golf’s prestigious U.S. Open next month, is a story filled with drama and conflict, triumph and tragedy. But it started with a small ad in the newspaper.
2017 U.S. Open preview: Erin Hills
Beautiful Erin Hills is ready to host Wisconsin’s first-ever U.S. Open. But once upon a time, it wasn’t the happiest place for turf.
Looking at it today, it’s hard to believe that back in 2008, Erin Hills, site of the 117th U.S. Open, didn’t look good.
Nature’s Gift to Golf
“Wow...” It’s a word uttered by many when they first set eyes on the golf course at Erin Hills. And 17 years ago, it was the word that quietly passed the lips of ASGCA Past President Michael Hurdzan, ASGCA Fellow, as he gazed across over 400 acres of pasture land in Erin, Wisconsin.
“The scale and setting is so grand it’s almost unbelievable when you see it,” says [Dana] Fry. “Your eyes can’t take it all in.”
Longer Hitters will have a BIG advantage
June is United States Open Championship month. Every year, future US Open sites are announced by the United States Golf Association (USGA) with much fanfare. In 2010, it was announced that Erin Hills would play host to the 117th US Open slated from June 15-18. USGA estimates a $130 million economic impact for Southern Wisconsin - including direct, indirect and induced spending leading to and during the championship. Golf Digest India spoke exclusively to Dana Fry, one of the three architects who were entrusted with the design and layout. Fry speaks on a variety of subjects related to golf architecture, including how the Erin Hills was built, and later selected to host the second Major of the year.
Beyond the spirit
A Southern California megacollaboration demonstrates how water conservation projects are being taken to the next level.
Fry/Straka begins renovation of the Heron Course at The Oaks Club
A year-long renovation project is underway at the Heron Course at The Oaks Club in Osprey, Florida.
Architect Jason Straka will lead the renovations and said the project aims to enhance playability and improve irrigation and drainage at the Heron Course, which was originally designed by Willard C. Byrd.