Mike Strantz Apprenticeship and early years

I've had the pleasure and frustration of playing several Strantz courses; Caledonia, Tobacco Road, Legends Parkland and both Wild Dunes courses.  Some of this work was on his own and some of his work was during his time with Fazio.  I'm hoping to play True Blue next month.  He also did Bull's Bay in Awendaw, a private seaside links course where Darius "Hootie" Rucker is a member.  I've fully enjoyed each course with the exception of Tobacco Road; it's a tricked-up design with some quirky holes including a crazy par 5 on the back nine.  My mantra about Tobacco Road is - if this was the only place to play, I'd give up golf and go fishing, and I don't like to go fishing.   

I played TR for the 5th time in May of 2019, I did a course report at the time. My wife was with me & was her 1st time there.

After playing about 5 or 6 holes she says to me, now I know why you always talk about this course, its beautiful, like a natural art.  I couldn't agree more. 

About the 13th hole, which I think DCH is talking about, I like the hole, a double dogleg, except for the full mound in front of the green with a 5 yard opening to see the very right side of the green only, causing a blind approach shot. Best bet is to try to get your 2nd shot as close to the right side bunkers in the dune as possible & have a diagonal pitch shot for a third into that shallow blind green. 

Besides the MB Stranz courses, I have played his Royal New Kent and 
Stonehouse in Williamsburg, VA.   RNK has a look like True Blue, Tob RD. 
Stonehouse is more traditional like Caledonia. 
 
RNK had closed down, but I read it was bought, renovated and reopened. 
 
His far out style courses appeal to avid golfers and golfers on vacation in 
resorts.   
 
I met Danny Young in the early years of the forum outing, but at that time,
I didn't know his connection with Stranz, so I never thought to talk to him 
about Stranz.   

@dch1950

You will appreciate True Blue. I think True Blue is a more easier course than Tobacco Road with his wide fairways and huge sandy waste areas, his huge greens and his friendly rough. Like Caledonia, the 18th hole plays very near of the clubhouse, so maybe some spectators will be there for to look at your approach shot. I would appreciate to read your report about your experience after your round.

@artmbgolf

Larry Young, Danny Young and Mike Strantz worked together at Caledonia, Royal New Kent and Stonehouse, for to name just these three courses. Larry and Danny Young's love of Scotland and Ireland was the principal reason behind the design of Royal New Kent. So there is a solid connection between them.

Posted by: @s333h

Like many golf architect and during his apprenticeship, Mike Strantz has worked in the employ of another designer,mainly with Tom Fazio. We all knows for Caledonia and True Blue. But he spent more than a decade assisting in the design, shaping and construction of a number of other courses in Myrtle Beach area like Heritage and Wachesaw Plantation. For Heritage, it is new for me. Strantz and Danny Young, son of owner Larry Young, redesigned all of the bunkering and green complexes at Heritage. Later he has worked at the Legends, being in charge of bunkering on the Parkland course. Doing so, he had a broader impact on golf courses building in Myrtle Beach than many realize. 

Strantz worked at Heritage during the construction of Caledonia, only some of the greens were changed, 12,13,18 and minor tweaks to others. Bunker work would have been limited to these green complexes. This work was done after the Legends complex was completed. Some greens at Heritage were also changed slightly during conversion to Champion in 2007. Mike did work on plans and sketches of Caledonia during construction in an upstairs office at Heritage Clubhouse, I have discovered physical evidence of this fact.

Of all his work for Fazio, Wachesaw Plantation is were he was given the most freedom to express his ideas. It was a busy time for the Fazio group so Tom let Mike handle the majority of project. During this time is when he would have met the Young's.

For several years in the late 80's and early 90's Mike was based in Mt. Pleasant. He rebuilt both Wild Dunes courses after Hugo's destruction in September 1989. He was also involved in changes to Art Hills Dunes West course in Mt. Pleasant after Hugo. Mike was called in by Young's to finish parkland course after Tom Doak and his young associate Gil Hanse bailed on project after disputes with Young's on the design. All of the bunker work that Mike was involved with at Parkland is gone at this point. We did a complete bunker renovation to course in 2017. This renovation was much needed to as bunkers had become difficult to maintain and play from for majority of players. Immediately before being hired by the Young's to finish Parkland course, Mike was working on golf course maintenance crew at Dunes West. During this period Mike also supported his family with his art work, mostly painting Civil War based work.

Here is another MB historical fact.....Strantz was under contract to redesign Sun Gull but unfortunately he passed away for cancer before they could get started and Tom Walker was brought in to do project. Can you imagine how much differently Founders Club could have turned out?

I know of two golf authors who are considering writing a book on Strantz. Maybe someday we will have a definitive history of his legacy.

I just did a short video for Play Golf Myrtle Beach about the Young's and their overall impact to golf course design in MB. I will share it on this thread when it comes out.

@artmbgolf both RNK and Stonehouse are currently open.

RNK did go through an extensive renovation, looks to be back to it former glory which is great. You need to go down there and give us a report. Can't imagine it is too far from you in DE.

Stonehouse is probably in need of a type similar renovation to thrive again.

Tot Hill in Asheboro,NC is also a Strantz design. It's under new ownership but conditions are still in need of improvement.

@jkh75

Thanks for sharing these information. Mike Strantz is my favorite golf designer. I will certainly read those two books concerning Strantz when they will be in store. At my knowledge, he did just one interview for Golf Club Atlas in June 2000 ( https://golfclubatlas.com/feature-interview/mike-strantz/). He said that he has been influenced by Alister Mackensie, Pete Dye and of course Tom Fazio. He admired Tom Fazio because of his attention to and respect for the native environment. He said also that it is an important thing in golf to make holes look much more difficult than they really are. Many holes at Tobacco Road has been built on this philosophy. There is a lot of misconception concerning him. One is that his golf courses are too hard to play.

@jkh75

Recently, Royal New Kent has been honored by Golf Inc Magazine as the 2020 public course renovation of the year. During the restoration, the greens were converted from bentgrass to Champion Bermuda.They reconstructed the Royal New Kent bunkers, the irrigation system  and the drainage. Substantial clubhouse upgrades were also performed.

Stonehouse has been purchased in December 2018 by an area resident. He has reopened in June 2019. The new owner has done a lot of improvements since then but the greens is the largest concern there.

@jkh75

Thanks for the Stranz stories.  Reading your story that Tom Walker
replaced Stranz on the Founders Club design, it looks like Walker may 
have tried to have FC look like a Stranz course.   
 
I played RNK + Stonehouse once on the way home from MB, before 
they went downhill.   The hardest part of my drive from DE to MB is 
the half of the trip from DE to Richmond.   If I play them again, it will 
be on the way home.      

Thanks for all the background info on Mike Strantz.  His work is renowned, justifiably.

I live about 45 miles from Stonehouse and about 60 from Royal New Kent. When they opened, they were unlike anything we'd ever seen in Virginia. Stonehouse seemed tougher and starker than RNK to me. RNK clearly shows Scottish/Irish influence. I haven't played RNK since the reopening, but I recall one hole similar to the par 5 at Tobacco Road DCH1950 mentions with the green tucked behind two mounds. There are a number of links courses in Ireland and Scotland with similar holes with the one I remember most at Strandhill, just outside of Sligo on Ireland's west coast. The one at Strandhill is a short dogleg par 4 where a long iron or three-wood puts you in a valley below the tee. You then turn a hard right and shoot slightly uphill to a green protected by a dune on each side of the green and a very narrow opening. Unless you've fortuitously put your tee shot in exactly the right place, you won't see the pin although you know the green is there. It's a great hole.

The problem with RNK, Stonehouse, and a lot of Strantz designs is the expense of upkeep. Strandhill and its Irish and Scottish links cousins are all generally made from the land as it exists without major changes. The green on the hole at Strandhill is located where it is because it takes advantage of a natural feature--one that doesn't require a lot of maitenance.

Maintenance expenses overwhelmed both Stonehouse, which was counting on a golf boom around Williamsburg (that kinda happened but not to the level needed for Stonehouse), and RNK, which opened next to a race track after Virginia approved off-track betting. The race track never really prospered, after awhile, the golfers didn't come, and the course couldn't keep up with maintenance expenses.

Strantz's designs are memorable, but the maintenance costs left behind for owners to keep that "just opened" look might have found him out of favor amongst daily fee course developers had he lived given the current emphasis on sustainability in mainstream golf course design.

@lwildernorva

Maintenance demands are likely to neuter the reputation of some golf courses built by Mike Strantz to some extent but those best preserved will shine for a long time because they’re unique in terms of design. He has builded 1-1.5 courses per year, so it's doubly sad he didn't have a longer career, and we could see how his work would have evolved over time. However, i believe that his golf courses will stand the test of time. Strantz was definitely ahead of his time.