Two Time Masters Champion and Course Designer Ben Crenshaw

To the casual golf fan, Ben Crenshaw will always be known as the two time Masters winner & the

1999 Ryder Cup Captain who led the amazing comeback at Brookline, but to golf design aficionados,

traveling golfers and industry experts, he will be known just as much for the great design work he has

done on landscapes around the globe with partner Bill Coore.

(As a scribe, competitive Mid-Am, and Landscape Designer/Agronomist, this interview might be the

equivalent of a Green Jacket for me).

During the past two decades or so, Crenshaw-Coore have designed and constructed what are considered

to be some the best courses around the world. I have yet to experience Sand Hills, which is their most

celebrated design (located in Nebraska) and is on every raters Top 10 list. It has been my good fortune

to experience half a dozen of their designs: Dormie Club (N.C), Pinehurst No.2 - restoration (N.C),

Sugarloaf Moutain (FL), Bandon Trails & Preserve (South Coast of Oregon), and the new Streamsong Red

(in Fort Meade, FL).

Ben Crenshaw warms up to hit ceremonial 1st tee shot at the Streamsong Grand Opening on Jan.26th

I had the pleasure of meeting Gentle Ben at the Streamsong Grand Opening a few weeks ago, and spent

sometime with him this week at The Allianz Championship in Boca Raton. We spoke about Streamsong,

Bandon, The Ryder Cup, and what's on the horizon for the rest of 2013:

LinksNation: How's your game? (Ben had just finished his 1st round - shooting 74)

Ben Crenshaw: I do the craziest things, I played o.k in spots today . . . but I just hit 3 or 4 of the worst

shots you ever saw, I hit a couple of wedges fat, stuff like that.

LN: Is the design work keeping you from practicing on your game the way you'd like?

BC: I wish I could blame it on that, but I've played enough golf over the years . . . yeah I do work on

architecture and think about it alot, but that's what I want to do . . . I'll do that the rest of my life.The

golf - I've been very fortunate in the game, but the last couple of years I seem to do some strange stuff

out on the course, but it's still fun.

LN: We stood on the 1st tee watching your partner Bill Coore, and Tom Doak hit their ceremonial tee

shots during the Grand Opening at Streamsong (on Jan.26), what were your impressions from the day?

BC: The whole Golf community really came together well. Tom's enthusiasts from Renaissance design . . .

it's nice to see those people again. We had the best time, we'd work and then we had this trailer where

we'd have lunch and just throw these ideas around, it was fun.

LN: I had heard that during construction you were staying over in the small town of Mulberry?

BC: Yes we stayed at the Best Western out there. A few times I stayed in Tampa, but that's a hike.

LN: When you first arrived and were shown the property at Streamsong, what was your first

impressions?

BC: Bill (Coore) my partner went first, and he said "Ben this place is OUT here, but it looks very

interesting. Then I came down a couple of weeks later and I thought this could be something. It's very

unique and I can't say enough about Rich Mack's courage to convince their board . . . it's obviously their

property and have mined it forever. Rich is a big Golf enthusiast from Minnesota . . . our hat's are off to

him.

LN: I was at Streamsong last May for a site visit with Tom Sunnarborg, and when we stopped by the tee

on the Biarritz, my jaw dropped.

BC: Bill and I always liked that green site . . .  we thought, what are we gonna do here? I came up with

that idea and Bill said I really think we oughta do it. It seems to fit, certainly it's an exciting hole and we

hope that people have fun with it and I think it works there. There is no question, we tried to climb into

Seth Raynor's mind there, because it seemed like all across the landscape - that all of his replica holes fit

. . . so we thought what the heck, we're gonna try it. It's an ode to him.

Streamsong Red "Biarritz" 16th hole

LN: I know you're a big fan of Raynor's work, there is an amazing "Biarritz" at Mountain Lake, have you

ever been there ?

BC: I HAVE NOT! Can you believe all of the times I've been to Central Florida, I haven't gotten there! I

have been invited there by a member. I believe Mike Keiser (owner of Bandon Dunes and Cabot Links)

just stayed there. All I've ever heard is, that you have to see it.

The par 3 fifth "Biarritz" at Mountain Lake in Lake Wales, Florida.

LN: Some of my favorite designs are the ones that get very little publicity, especially places like Dormie

Club and Bandon Trails, which I think is sooo underrated . . . your thoughts.

BC: Trails has a lot of different looks, the sand and vegetation are beautiful which were alot of fun to

work with. The different looks yielded some really good situations, it has a little different atmosphere

because it is a little more inland (than Pacific, Bandon and Old MacDonald) . . . it has the feeling that

it is sheltered a bit, which is ok .

3rd hole at Bandon trails

LN: Sugarloaf Mountain, another of your brilliant works, (has fallen on hard times and temporarily has

closed), is there a word on that situation ?

BC: A great piece of property, the last we heard was that they were a daily fee operation.I haven't

heard anything lately. What a great piece of property that is.

Short par 3 eleventh at Sugarloaf Mountain (now closed) - which boasts the highest elevation in Florida at 324 feet

LN: Switching gears, Ryder Cup. I know what was said publicly, but when you finally head back to

your room that Saturday night . . .  what was said between you and Julie (Ben's wife)?

BC: Julie is a competitor, all the wives are too. We came away frustrated that day, we saw alot of

good golf that day and alot of good putts that just missed by a whisker. I knew that they were on

edge to burst out if they got a run going. Obviously, the key was how we started on Sunday, without

that it wasn't going to happen. We got some momentum and isn't it ironic that - that is what happened

in Chicago. I wrote a letter to Jose Maria Olazabal and I was so happy for him, he really inspired his

team. It is extremely ironic since he was on the other side of Justin Leonard's putt (in '99), he is such

a wonderful guy.

LN: Can you reflect on Payne Stewart and what it meant for him to be on that team ?

BC: He was the spirit of that team, everybody knew his personality . . . he fit in like a mosaic with the

rest of the team. You had Tom Lehman who was solid, and Hal Sutton was playing the best golf of his life.

Tiger, Phil, Mark O'meara and all of those guys,

but Payne really was the vocal spirit . . . it

meant so much to him to be on that team.

Obviously winning at Pinehurst gave him plenty

of points to get on that team. It was tragic that

we lost him just a month after that great time

that we had together. He had one of the

most beautiful swings you ever saw, graceful,

fundamentally proper and his personality allowed

him to wear those clothes and he wore them

very well. That was him . . . we miss him dearly,

we really do.

LN: Tom Watson is getting another shot at the

Ryder Cup in 2014, any chance if asked that

you might be interested in giving it another shot?

BC: The last one took years off of my life! No,

I probably wouldn't, I could never have a better

memory than in Brookline . . . it can't get any

better than that.

LN: 2013, How much are you going to play, what

Design work is on the horizon?

BC: I may play a dozen tournaments, maybe. Design wise we have a couple of things to chase

after. There is a Dallas project, and we are doing a few things at Maidstone, some bunker work.

They have some gorgeous sandy ground and some outlines and pits that were there, so we

will be bringing them out. Also some things down the road at Shinnecock. It should be a fun year.

- Thanks to Ben Crenshaw