thestar.com

The architect will spend several days walking a property. Neither [Thomas McBroom] nor [Douglas Carrick] designs from the skies. ("You don't really find golf holes from 5,000 feet; they're at eye-level where you can assess shot values.") But aerial photos might play a part later when actual routing is done.

Back-to-back par threes are generally no-nos ("They back up play," Carrick notes), but there are exceptions to everything. McBroom points to the late Alister Mackenzie's Cypress Point at Monterey, Calif. "It may have the two best par threes in golf, the 16th and 17th."

color photos (THOMAS MCBROOM AND ASSOCIATES) OUT OF BOUNDS: Environmental concerns are key for designers, such as this hole at Heron Point, where marsh area is strictly off-limits to golfers. (DOUGLAS CARRICK AND ASSOCIATES) DREAM TO GREEN: Building the 10th hole at Osprey Valley Heathlands (photo sequence) required extension of an existing pond. Says designer Douglas Carrick: "One thing we have lost (in course design) is the natural imperfections of the land that were left in the days of horses pulling scrapers." Thomas McBroom; Douglas Carrick.