Montclair, New Jersey-based Steve Weisser obtained his bachelor of science degree in landscape architecture from Texas A&M University in 1989 and, after working abroad for two years, joined Rees Jones, Inc. Among his projects of note are Quintero Golf and Country Club in Peoria, Arizona; the Golf Club at Briar’s Creek in St. John’s Island, South Carolina; Club de Golf Santander in Boadilla, Madrid, Spain; Lake of Isles Resort’s south course in North Stonington, Connecticut; and the Golf Club of Cape Cod in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
The new construction site is where to find the most rewarding and most stressful part of the design process. Until then, all design ideas are theoretic and disposable. The site is where that work comes to fruition and the golf course belongs to the designer and the construction team.
It’s where the infinite variety that is the Earth makes each design unique.
It’s where the course is made and will likely remain–where ideas are realized and lessons are learned.
It is a strangely bittersweet process. As each area is shaped, the golf course begins to appear, and as it is refined, the finished product becomes apparent. One by one, each hole is completed and covered with turf. Soon the course becomes playable. The golf course has left the hands of the designer and becomes the domain of the superintendent and, in turn, the golfer. The architect’s thoughts and designs move on to the next piece of earth.