Golf is a landscape game that originated on ”linksland”, a particular type of Scottish landscape characterized by a windswept, treeless, sandy coastline. The evolution of golf over centuries is about the dispersion of both a game and a landscape type.

This presentation explores golf’s migration from Scotland and the subsequent changes in golf course design. Golf history forms an ideal case study of the evolution of design as a response to new environmental, cultural and cultural circumstances. The struggle to adapt to new situations and the desire to retain elements of the basic golf course ideal are ever-present-a perfect model of the magnetic push and pull of design tradition and innovation.

The Coachella Valley is the home to one the greatest concentrations golf courses in the world. The presentation pays particular attention to golf as it has emerged in the desert landscapes of the Coachella Valley. If you are a golfer the presentation will not improve your game, but it will enhance your appreciation of the courses as designed landscapes where the game is played.

The presenter is Kenneth Helphand, Philip H. Knight Professor of Landscape Architecture Emeritus, University of Oregon.