Around the Horn – Making the Rounds: Installment 49

This column features recollections of the author’s 38 years as a golf writer. These installments stem from his many travels and experiences, which led to a gradual understanding that the game has many intriguing components, especially its people.

AI Update

My September 3, 2026, column (https://golfcoursetrades.com/random-links-making-the-rounds-48/) hashed out the pros and cons of artificial intelligence and golf. The conclusion: golf’s better. 

Though not likely edified by my words, most Americans are also getting turned off by AI. 

New national polls by ABC and the Washington Post found that 57% of Americans believe the technology is bad, and 63% said it posed a moderate risk of destroying humanity. The public is also thumbs-down about a future with massive job losses, widespread breach of secure computer systems, chatbots interfering with elections, major environmental impacts, and the fear that AI will surpass human intelligence.

In addition, most Americans oppose or don’t trust that the private corporations profiting from the technology can or will adequately self-legislate and self-police AI. The majority favor independent or government-led guardrails instead. Surprisingly, politics don’t factor in the polling: Republican and Democrat voters and both parties agree that AI is an existential threat.

Moving On

I’ve met many golf course architects over the years. Their personalities run the gamut from scholarly, nerdish, outgoing and promo conscious, and everything in between. Here are a couple of memorable and interactions.

Let’s start with Bill Overdorf, a Virginian who resettled permanently in the small Washington town of Lynden near the Canadian border. I met Bill in the late 1980s. He was an early subscriber to my golf project tracking report, the first of which focused on his market, the Pacific Northwest, and later covering all 50 states in the website Golf Construction News. 

My initial sources were a handful of newspapers and golf magazines. I also talked to hundreds of folks during research for my book, “Golf Courses of the Pacific Northwest.” I found the best leads were always the locals, who are keen to know what’s happening in their backyards.

Bill suggested signing up for a newspaper-clipping service that could mail me all the golf-related stories they could find. I’d then flesh out real and rumored golf projects to determine who was backing them and give my industry subscribers a legitimate contact to call. They appreciated this service for 17 years until I shuttered GCN in 2008.

Initially, I had no money for a clipping service and Bill kindly forwarded me his “used” clippings. Once my subscription levels increased I paid $50 a month for fresh clippings; with the national GCN the bill rose to $400. I used Allen’s Press Clipping Bureau, founded – incredibly – in 1888. I’m sure its business model has changed with the demise of so many print publications.

Thanks to Bill’s kindness, I followed his projects in his prime years, the 1980s and ‘90s. He died in June 2015 at the ripe old age of 81.

Most of Overdorf’s work was in Washington state with Homestead Farms in Lynden, Meriwood (now Hawks Prairie) in Lacey, and The Classic in Spanaway. The latter course was named by the property’s non-golfing owner Harold LeMay, who operated a major garbage disposal company in the south Puget Sound area.

LeMay used his gathering and business acumen assembling one of the world’s largest collections of classic cars, ergo the course’s name. When Harold passed, many of his 3,000 cars were moved from dozens of storage facilities into his bespoke America’s Car Museum (https://www.americascarmuseum.org/) in Tacoma. The exhibits in this 165,000-square-foot space regularly rotate thanks to LeMay’s massive inventory of rare vehicles. 

I visited Bill at The Classic midway through construction to get a feel for the future golf course. He drove me around the muddy, slippery site in a creaky old Suburban. It was a hairy ride as Bill kept his enthusiasm going with frequent shots from a flask of bourbon. 

Overdorf also ventured into Oregon to design Aspen Lakes (www.aspenlakes.com) near the western-themed town of Sisters. The course was built on a 440-acre site owned by Keith Cyrus and his family. Keith and his brothers, Matt and Brian, ran Sisters Aggregate & Construction, whose heavy equipment shaped many of the new developments and roads proliferating then in central Oregon. 

I scheduled a meeting with Keith at their farmhouse on the property. This was the first stop of the day and I showed up at 7:30 a.m. Bill must’ve put a good word in for me as Keith warmly invited me in for breakfast with his family. I eagerly accepted and chowed down alongside his wife Pam and their children – all of whom later helped run the course.

Most of the 7,833-square-mile Central Oregon is comprised of red-hued Steens basalt, the remnants of eruptions and “shield volcanic” floods 17-14 million years ago. 

When the topic of bunker sand came up, Keith had a wild idea: “How about we use crushed basalt instead of the expensive white sand seen everywhere else?” Othe old pro Overdorf replied, “Sure, why not?” The result is Bill’s best work – a 7,300-yard layout now adjoined by dozens of large-lot homes in a spectacular part of the West.

Other Jaunts

The hang-on-tight ride with Bill was like those I had with architect Bunny Mason at Awbrey Glen in Bend (https://golfcoursetrades.com/making-the-rounds-part-2/) and, years later, Gene Bates at Salish Cliffs (https://salishcliffs.com/) a course that debuted in 2011 next to the Little Creek Casino in Shelton on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.

Gene Bates Design was selected for the project by the Squaxin Island Tribe as the elders were impressed with their work at Circling Raven in Worley, Idaho (https://www.cdacasino.com/golf/), for the Coeur d’Alene Tribe of North Idaho. 

While at Cybergolf I wrote a three-part series on the three major stages of Salish Cliffs’ development: design and site prep, construction and the grand opening, where local hero Fred Couples was the star attraction. My task was to be at the site to chronicle each phase. [The tribe hosted me for two overnight hotel-casino stays. My “guide” there was a rep from its PR firm. The uninformed, sloshed spendthrift was fired soon after.]

The site prep visit involved Bates’ design associate Andy Johnston; the follow-up was with Bates. Every few weeks, one of them would fly to SeaTac Airport from Palm Beach Garden, Fla., and drive a rental car to Shelton to check on the progress.

Johnston was eager to show me the still rugged site. Perhaps too eager. While driving across the 200-acre property (110 ultimately dedicated to golf turf) in a brand-new Jeep Cherokee we traversed all 200 feet of its elevation changes. The contractor, Landscapes Unlimited, had begun digging some irrigation and drain lines but hadn’t staked all of them yet. 

As we descended a steep hill in thick brush – CLUNK! – the Cherokee jolted to a halt face-first in a ditch. We soon discovered that the entire front bumper assembly had been violently ripped off. Johnston calmly threw all the automotive parts into the back of the rig and our tour continued. 

Bates piloted my second visit. Though not as dramatic, more demolition derby ensued when Gene gave me a hole-by-hole excursion in another new Jeep Cherokee. With the cart paths still unpaved, our cross-country expedition through many tight passages left deep scars on both sides of his rental rig. 

And Now for Something Completely Different – Trolls

Danish artist Thomas Dambo has built and installed 50-plus wooden trolls in 18 states. Another eight states are on the coming-soon list. As of July 2025, his team had erected more than 175 trolls in 20 countries, a number certain to rise.

Each troll is different in appearance and name. The six in western Washington and Portland are Pia the Peacekeeper, Bruun Idun, Jakob Two Trees, Frankie Feetsplinter, Oscar the Bird King and Ole Bolle. 

Dambo recruits local volunteers to help with installation on a site. Each troll is built with recycled and discarded materials: scrap wood and old shipping pallets, and reclaimed lumber and rundown furniture sourced from nearby businesses and communities. All incorporate native branches, twigs, and natural foliage for hair and beards, and reengineered internal rafters or screws for structural support and stability.

The purpose of his art is to reuse and redefine “trash,” showing that discarded items can become art and encourage a circular economy. 

It’s a very pleasant surprise to be walking along and, even if expecting it, be greeted by one of Dambo’s gentle behemoths. What he does is very cool and exactly what the world needs now,

eff Shelley has written and published 12 books as well as numerous articles for print and online media since 1987. Among his titles are three editions of the book, “Golf Courses of the Pacific Northwest.” The Whidbey Island resident was editorial director of Cybergolf.com from 2000-15, co-founder of the Northwest Golf Media Association and president of the nonprofit First Green (https://www.thefirstgreen.org/). To contact Jeff: fairgreens@seanet.com.