Techno Golf
Landscape architects explore the boundaries of digital technology at the U.S. Open.

By Joseph Campo

Acanthus Studio

If you watched the U.S. Open golf championship on television last summer, you were treated to some very cool tee-to-green 3-D animations. You took off on a flyover starting from the tee. You saw the different cuts of grass, the topography, the trees surrounding the course, and the sand traps as you approached the green. (Maybe this is what the golf ball would see if it had eyes.) As you approached the green, you moved behind it, and suddenly 200 golf balls appeared above the green. The balls dropped to the green then rolled to various locations depending on the topography of where they landed.

What you may not have known is that a landscape architecture firm created these 3-D animations. This amazing achievement demonstrates how the landscape architecture profession is pushing the boundaries of digital technology.

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