Ballybunion is the course on which many golf architects should live and play on before they build golf courses.
Golf in India is considered an elite sport. It is not possible for everyone to play in private courses. We need to give opportunities to all who want to play the sport. And for that, we need public golf courses.
I love design in general, the creativity. Whether it is golf courses, my apparel line, ads we do or our business with AriZona, design is fun.
It's a different style of golf; that stands out for sure when you come over to America. The style of play and the golf courses in America. Most golf courses in America either stretch your game, and test different elements of your game and the margins for error are smaller.
Tiger had the advantage of high school, college, and a father who knew golf. I was self-taught. Blacks really won't play golf in great numbers until some of these basketball and football stars buy some golf courses where blacks can play.
I don't think the philosophy really changes between men and women. I think golf courses need to become more distance-friendly overall. I think golf courses almost need to develop a more generic set of tees instead of calling them black, blue, red or whatever.
I started when I was three, and on some courses they wouldn't let me play because they said I was too little. They wouldn't accept that a child could play. So my parents had to argue at times with some people at golf courses so I could.
I've wanted to design golf courses ever since I was a kid. I suppose it comes from the way I've played the game. To find the proper way to play any hole, I've always begun by asking myself what the architect has tried to do with it.
I've gotten to play so many of the great courses around the country and overseas. Sometimes it pays to be the golf guy. People always want to take me to the golf course. I love it.
You have to understand, I don't play golf for fun. It's my business. When the mailman starts delivering mail on his off day, that's when I'll start playing golf for the hell of it. I like to play in tournaments. There are many great courses around the world that I have never played that are next door to tournaments. I have not played them because I don't play for fun.
Almost all the golf courses in Staten Island double as something else.
The socially redeeming aspect of golf lies in the vast number of lawyers and bankers and managers who play it, and when you think of the damage they would do if they were at the job instead, you can see why golf courses are a wise investment for any municipality.
Golf course architects make me sick. They can't play themselves, so they rig the courses so nobody else can play either.
I wouldn't like to live in a castle now, but I'd enjoy a visit to Restormel in Cornwall in its 13th century prime. It's a circular castle with the rooms built against the outer walls and quite intimate in size. Life there wouldn't follow the pattern of more classic castle design.
Archery is not a sport for everyone. The equipment costs a lot, and it is not easy for everyone to find a place to play. It is perhaps similar to golf, but of course there are more golf courses than archery fields.
I move around and play different golf courses. I just enjoy it.