News. Views. Raves. Reviews.
Silva’s Gold
Brian Silva’s design philosophy, built on angles, options and the opportunity to “fail positively,” offers a deeper way to understand the golf holes we think we already know. Click on Read More to see the article by Steve Derderian in MassGolfer Magazine .
Brian Silva completes Ross restoration at Maketewah
In 2010, the club hired Brian Silva to create a masterplan that would restore the course’s Ross identity. Click on Read More to see the article written by Richard Humprhreys in Golf Course Architecture Magazine.
Silva & Johnson Form New Partnership
Veteran golf course architect Brian Silva invited longtime colleague Brian Johnson to partner in a new design firm, Silva & Johnson, Ltd., whose roots, ethos and client list each reach back to the golden age of course design. Click on Read More to see the article written in Golf Course Industry News.
Metairie in Golf Course Architecture News
The photography alone in this cover story is worth a button-click below. Kudos to Larry Lambrecht, and if your read between the lines, you’ll gather that Brian Silva and NMP Construction had very little to work from at Metairie — in terms of discernible Raynor features. So we used our understanding of Raynor and the templates to create something unique and totally in character.
Maketewah to Host LPGA Event
Maketewah Country Club will host the LPGA Kroger Queen City Championship in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 2010, the club hired Brian Silva to create a masterplan that would restore the Ross identity. “This is a layout more like it was in the 1920s and 30s, and it is more fun, aesthetically pleasing and strategically captivating,” Silva says. Click the button below to read more about Maketewah and next year’s tournament.
Biltmore Revival — in Florida
In reporting on Brian Silva’s transformation of The Biltmore in Coral Gables, Florida, Golfweek had some very nice things to say. [Of course, this work is not to be confused with Brian’s long-term work at Biltmore Forest CC in North Carolina.]
Dedham Golf & Polo, from Above
We applaud the trend of commissioning new flyover videos prior to meaningful tournament. Dedham, a Raynor original that’s been subject to the Silva’s transformation process, played host to the Massachusetts Women’s Amateur in 2023. The aerial videography below presents the design work, old and new, in a way nothing else can. Short of playing it.
Fried Egg on Black Creek
The original design in Chattanooga opened for play in 1999. Twenty-five years later, The Fried Egg checked in and confirmed the club’s founding principle: Not only do Raynor-inspired designs stand the test of time, but Brian Silva’s personal flourishes make the place utterly unique. While you’re at it, check out the Fried Egg’s take on Silva’s Raynor reno at Southhampton on Long Island.
Back to Annandale
The firm led by Brian Silva and Brian Johnson was founded in New England, and a great deal of their work can be found there. But the company has worked in 25 states (and counting), plus Italy and Japan. Click the button below to read a nice summation of its work transforming the original Billy Bell design at Annandale Country Club in Pasadena, Calif.
‘This is not Bowling!’
When Redtail Golf Club in Devens, Mass., was chosen to host the USGA Women’s Publinx, in 2007, Golf Digest chatted with Brian Silva about the course — but also about the idea of ‘fairness’ in course design. “It’s an American term. It’s modern. But it’s not supposed to be fair.” We’ve always liked the piece (click below) because the idea of fairness is also tied to ‘sameness’.
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