iPhone Magnifying Glass, The Superintendent's Newest Tool

An image from the iPhone Magnifying Application/Setting

Some of you may remember that 6 years ago, I let you know about a wonderful new shade application called SunSeeker. A smart twenty-something had shown it to me when I was working on a shade problem with my "old school" techniques. Sometimes new technologies are indeed more than hype.

Well, here is another great piece of technology. Your iPhone and iPad have one of the best tools that I've seen in a long time, a magnifying glass.

HERE'S HOW TO ADD IT TO YOUR DEVICE:

1. ENABLE MAGNIFIER IN SETTINGS

• Open the Settings app
• Tap ‘General’, then the ‘Accessibility’ tab
• Tap ‘Magnifier’ and tap the toggle to enable it
• Optionally tap the toggle for Auto-Brightness to enable automatic brightness and contrast adjustments based on ambient light while using Magnifier

2. TRIPLE-CLICK HOME BUTTON TO ACTIVATE MAGNIFIER

Once enabled, you can now open the Magnifier from anywhere with a quick triple-click of the home button, including from the lock screen.

AND THEN YOU CAN SCREEN SHOT IT: 

You can capture the screen on your iOS device using the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons.

1.    Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button on the top or side of your device.

2.    Immediately press and release the Home button.

3.    To find your screenshot, go to the Photos app > Albums and tap Camera Roll.

Presidio Renovation Continues for Suny, Zokol Golf Design

 Presidio Golf Course

Hole #14

The Par 4, 346 yd 14th after bunker renovation and green expansion, temp green in foreground

The Presidio Renovation is going very well and this hole represents the halfway point with 9 holes completed and 9 to go. Our mission at Presidio was to create an Era-appropriate renovation. This golf course has been designed, redesigned and altered by so many hands from the greats, Fowler and Simpson to Palmer to various golfing Generals that had "ideas." So, unlike many great old courses, where golf architecture historians can identify a specific period of time when the golf course was deemed to be at its best, the Presidio was in constant flux. Dick and I, along with the folks at Presidio, felt that using Fowler and Simpson and in particular Simpson for our design cues and general concepts was in keeping with and enhancing the property's golf history.

Before

This was a typical look at the Presidio with no real story told from the tee or for the approach shot, We, Suny, Zokol Golf Design, tend to favor visuals to help tell the story or to help the golfer generally identify the strategy or better yet for them to develop their own unique strategy.

Take a look at the front bunker in the before and after pictures. The bunker in the before picture was a green-side bunker, in the after photo, that bunker is some 25 feet in front of the green. This is simply a depth perception manipulation that we used to create a subtle challenge to the golfer that knows the yardage but looks at what is perceived as a green-side bunker that is actually much closer. The green was enlarged by almost 1,500 square feet and extended to the players' right with some great pin placements. A false front was added to allow players to "see" the green from the fairway. Short grass is being added around the back and right side of the green. We can't wait to see how the golfers react to the finished hole and we're looking forward to the next nine holes!

Runoff Areas- Rewriting Golf Course Architecture History

In the last couple of weeks we have seen runoff areas featured at Pebble Beach during the US Open and at Aronimink for a PGA Tour event. Some modern golf course architects and so called restoration experts have convinced golf's oligarchy that runoff areas are historically accurate and were prevalent features for some golf course designers of the "Golden Era" of architecture.

In the 1920s and the 1930s there were no runoff areas on golf courses. It's just that simple, the revisionist golf course architecture history is purely a fabrication. How do I know this? Good question and the answer will appear self evident. Fairway mowing heights in the 20s and 30s were generally between 1 and 1.5 inches or about the same as today's intermediate rough height. Does a ball roll very far in intermediate rough? No, it settles down very quickly. It really is that simple, the great designers of the 20s and 30s could have wanted to have runoff areas but the mowing heights didn't allow it to happen. Greens in the 20s and 30s were maintained at 3/16 to 1/4 of an inch or about the same as the most closely cropped runoff areas of today.

Now mind you, I really like short grass around putting surfaces, although I have difficulty understanding why most modern designers only utilize short grass to take the ball away from the green. It seems as if a balance of run-on areas and runoff areas would be more interesting golf architecture but that's another blog for another time.

Having worked at Aronimink some thirty plus years ago, I really enjoyed seeing the golf course on TV. I did golf course setup there for three years and knew the golf course fairly well. I thought the changes were an improvement to the golf course but to call them historically correct in regard to playability is just flat wrong.

Below are two articles from the 1930s that talk about fairway mowing heights. We might assume that in the 1920s the mowing heights were even higher.

1933. The Bulletin of the United States Golf Association Green Section. May. 13(3): p. 86-87.