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Who says America's bitterly divided political parties aren't capable of working together?
In February, with rare bipartisan support, a bill was introduced in the United States House of Representatives that could have significant ramifications on golf course design and construction, both in the physical world and the digital one.
Co-sponsored by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.) and Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), the Bolstering Intellectual Rights against Digital Infringement Enhancement Act - a.k.a. the BIRDIE Act - would extend copyright protection under United States law to golf courses for the first time in history.
The bill itself seeks "To amend title 17, United States Code, to expand the copyright protection provided to architectural works to golf courses, and for other purposes."
Enacting the BIRDIE Act would mean golf courses built on or after December 1, 1990 to be eligible for copyright protection under Section 101 of title 17 of the United States Code - specifically "the design of a course on which golf is played (except for any course on which mini golf, or other similar game, is played) as embodied in any tangible medium of expression, including an architectural plan or drawing.”
The bill enumerates nine specific features to which the relevant section of the law would apply: "Landscaping;" "An irrigation system;" "A path;" "A golf green;" "A tee;" "A facility in which golf is practiced;" "A bunker;" "A lake;" and "A topographical feature."
As it waits to make its way through the gears of government, the BIRDIE Act has received full-throated support from the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA).
“The BIRDIE Act isn’t just good for golf course architects, it’s good for golf course owners as well," said ASGCA past president Jan Bel Jan. "It acknowledges golf courses for what they are: creative works of art. Golf course architecture isn’t just planned on paper; it’s also created on site by visionaries making the most of a setting."
While the BIRDIE Act would protect golf course architects from worrying about their original golf courses and features thereof being lifted and reproduced on other properties in the physical world, it also is meant to address reproductions of courses in the digital realm.
"I recently had a friend tell me he ‘played’ one of my courses, only to learn he had never been to the facility but had experienced it using a virtual reality device," said current ASGCA president Jason Straka. "Someone had copied the course in detail without permission from myself or the club and made it available to be played virtually. The bill being discussed would prevent this from happening without approval.”
"Tribute" and "replica" golf courses have existed for decades, with developers choosing to mash up reproductions of famous golf holes rather than engage in wholly original design. World Tour Golf Links in Myrtle Beach is one of these courses, as is Renditions Golf Course in Maryland. The Highlands at Harbor Springs in northern Michigan, a Boyne Golf property, is home to the Donald Ross Memorial Course, which reproduces 18 holes from the portfolio of the great Golden Age architect, himself a founder of the ASGCA.
Copyright questions have arisen before around replica golf courses. In 1995, Pebble Beach, Pinehurst and Sea Pines (Harbour Town) banded together to sue Tour 18 over replica designs at its two courses, in Houston and Dallas. While the court found Tour 18 had infringed on certain aspects of the courses trademarks with the way it advertised its courses, the company had not specifically violated the protections of the golf hole designs themselves.
One golf course architecture trend that seems safe to continue even in light of golf-related changes to American copyright law is the adaptation of various template golf holes, which originated on courses in the earliest years of design.
Election years like 2024 tend to slow the already sluggish progress of bills through the House and Senate, so it may be a while until the BIRDIE Act is adopted. But its introduction and support from the ASGCA raises interesting questions over the extent to which golf holes and courses should be protected by law.
More golf course news & notes
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GOODBYE, MANDAI - Singapore's lone remaining public golf course's days are numbered, spelling an end of accessibility to the game in the small but prosperous country. [LINK: Channel News Asia]
NEW S.C. PRIVATE CLUB PLANNED - Set to open by early 2027, Kawonu Golf Club outside Greenville may be rising-star architect Andrew Green's first from-scratch original design. [LINK: Greenville Journal]
RENOVATION UNDERWAY - Oak Marsh, a 1972 Pete Dye design at Omni Amelia Island Resort in Florida, is embarking on a seven-month, $7.4 million renovation by architect Beau Welling, who built the resort's 10-hole short course, Little Sandy, in 2022. [LINK: The Golf Wire]
GOLF-ADJACENT - A new 36-hole mini-golf complex recently opened near Pinehurst. It's called Wee Pines, and its two courses, Calamity Jane and Bullseye, have a throwback vibe.
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