“Golf’s Grand Design,” a new 60-minute HD documentary, debuts on PBS stations across the United States on Friday, August 3, 2012 at 10 p.m. (check local listings). The program, produced with the assistance of American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA) President Bob Cupp and “Golf Digest” golf architecture editor Ron Whitten, examines the history and role of American golf course architecture and explores the unique relationship between the people who play the game and the places where they play.
The program features interviews with Cupp and fellow ASGCA members Jack Nicklaus, Pete Dye and Bill Coore, among many others. To view the documentary’s preview, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_BiFHRTn60&feature=youtu.be.
Golf’s playing fields have recognizable characteristics – fairways, greens, bunkers, and water hazards – but golf is the only sport played on a field with no specifically defined dimensions. “Golf’s Grand Design” focuses on golf course architecture from the 1880s through present day and highlights some of America’s best known and most influential courses.
Cupp and Whitten, 1996 winner of the ASGCA Donald Ross Award, have written a companion book for the documentary, also called “Golf’s Grand Design.” The book, published through a grant by the Stransky Foundation and utilizing the assistance of the ASGCA Foundation, will be available for purchase through Amazon.com, PBS and the ASGCA website, www.asgca.org, after the documentary airs in August.