Not too long ago, Estates West sat down with Tour veteran Peter Jacobsen to learn how golf’s comedic spirit juggles course design and a busy competitive schedule, all the while recovering from injury.
 
I think the young players today are better prepared. Players are coming out and they are more physically fit. I think they know their swings better because of opportunities with teachers and ‘gurus’ as they call them. They know their equipment, they know their bodies and they know how they perform under pressure. And also, young pros coming out today have had the opportunity to play so much junior golf. When I was coming up, there weren’t junior associations; there was no AJGA or any of these junior tours. When I was a college at the University of Oregon, I only played two amateur tournaments a summer; the US Amateur and the Western Amateur. Since then, it’s exploded. I’m glad that it has exploded.
What is your favorite venue on Tour?
You really can’t beat the venues at Major Championships, U.S. Open, Masters, PGA, British Open and then certainly on the Champions Tour we have the same Senior Majors. But there are some special tournaments to me. I love the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am, I have always loved the Bob Hope because you interact with the amateurs, and the FBR Open right here in Phoenix, which is the most attended event on the PGA Tour by probably five times. It’s just incredible.
Do you have a favorite golf course?
Pebble Beach, there is just something magical and an energy around the course that’s unlike anything else.
When did you first get into golf course design?
I started in 1990, there was an opportunity and a piece of property to build a golf club in Portland called the Portland Golf Club and I started the design company with my design partner Jim Hardy. We’ve done about 20 courses. I got into that because I love the art of it.
How did you discover your love of art and design?
Funny story, when I was in grade school in Portland, Oregon, my very good friend was named Matt Groening. In class, Matt would flip his paper over and he’d draw cartoons and I’d flip my paper over and draw my dream golf course. And his character’s name was Matt, we called him ‘Matt the Brat,’ well he became Bart, which later became Bart Simpson. Matt hit the jackpot when he sold his Simpson’s idea to Hollywood and we all know that as The Simpsons. But Matt had a dream of drawing cartoons and I always had a dream of either building golf courses or playing golf. And we both accomplished our dreams.
Do you have a design philosophy?
I really like to keep the greens and the fairways on the same grade. When you elevate the green above the fairway I think it is unfair to the average golfer because there is nothing wrong with the ball rolling along the ground and onto the green. In golf you should be penalized for being crooked, you should not be penalized for being straight. I’m also very influenced by the back nine at Augusta National—you can make an eagle and then make a double or triple, then a birdie or a par, so I like to have that rollercoaster aspect in the courses we do. And the other thing we also focus on is letting all golfers of all levels have fun. There is no reason why a professional should be the only one making the birdies. There is nothing wrong with a 25 or 30 handicapper making a birdie or two.
What do you want golfers to take away from your courses?
I don’t want golfers to walk away from a course that my partner and I have done and say ‘this was a Jacobsen Hardy,’ because you can do that with a lot of architects. I want them to say ‘wow, I really enjoyed this—I wonder who did it?’
