{"id":1118,"date":"2014-05-28T20:07:26","date_gmt":"2014-05-29T01:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/?p=1118"},"modified":"2014-05-30T11:50:55","modified_gmt":"2014-05-30T16:50:55","slug":"donald-ross-and-jack-nicklaus-unexpected-kinsmen-in-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/golf\/personalities\/1118\/donald-ross-and-jack-nicklaus-unexpected-kinsmen-in-design","title":{"rendered":"Donald Ross and Jack Nicklaus: Unexpected Kinsmen in Design"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Nicklaus<\/a>

Nicklaus won the North and South on Pinehurst Number 2 in 1959, launching a life-long attachment to the great Donald Ross design.<\/p><\/div>\n

Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw deserve kudos for their restoration of Pinehurst #2. Their exertions amount to an extended homage to the genius of Donald Ross. The rejuvenation was overdue.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>As long ago as 1974, when he was playing in the World Open Championship on #2, Jack Nicklaus said he was \u201cshocked\u201d that the course\u2019s new owners \u201chad grassed in the famous sandy waste areas bordering the fairways [and] converted the greens from Bermuda to bent grass.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Despite his dismay with the obliteration of #2\u2019s \u201craggedy\u201d character (as well as his second place finish), Nicklaus nonetheless remarked to Dan Jenkins that he had \u201cnever enjoyed playing a golf course more.\u00a0 I learned at least five things about design this week, and on a golf course more than fifty years old.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Asked recently what \u201cfive things about design\u201d he had learned, Nicklaus demurred. He had been speaking figuratively.\u00a0 But he offered a clue when he observed that the absence of water and trees as strategic hazards had \u201cstill shown through,\u201d despite the imprudent modifications.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He understood that Ross\u2019s best designs were restrained and subtle, not brash or gaudy. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Pinehurst\u2019s #2 was Ross\u2019s magnum opus, subject to countless revisions and improvements during the decades Ross lived and worked in North Carolina.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Nicklaus\u2019s pattern of continual improvements to Muirfield Village echoes Ross\u2019s polishing at Pinehurst. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Ross course where Nicklaus learned to play, Scioto, had \u201cdeteriorated badly\u201d by the late 1950s. The club hired Dick Wilson \u201cto do some rejuvenation.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Nicklaus remembered \u201cfollowing him around the course and listening to his ideas.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The final result, however, was not the hoped-for \u201crejuvenation,\u201d Nicklaus recalled, but a \u201credesign\u201d which \u201cun-Rossed\u201d the course, just as Pinehurst #2 would be shorn of its personality a few years later when its sandy wastes were grassed over.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>In 1974, when he was 34, Nicklaus established his own design firm.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Nicklaus was \u201cspending just about as much time and effort designing golf courses as playing them\u201d by then, although it\u2019s a measure of his greatness that he would still go on to win <\/span>six<\/span><\/i> more majors, completing a <\/span>third<\/span><\/i> career grand slam.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Famously analytical as a player, Nicklaus would bring his fastidious intelligence and deep knowledge of the game to golf design, and by looking for echoes of Ross\u2019s genius in Nicklaus\u2019s portfolio, we can begin to assess the master\u2019s influence on his most formidable and famous devotee.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

ROSS PRINCIPLE #1:<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>An \u201cEasy\u201d Start<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Ross Example: First hole, Pinehurst # 2.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Open yardage: 402, par 4<\/span><\/i><\/b>.<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGive the player a chance to warm up a bit,\u201d Ross said of Number 2\u2019s opener.<\/p>\n

\"Pinehurst<\/a>

Pinehurst #2’s Getaway Hole<\/p><\/div>\n

Nicklaus was also enamored of the shrewd challenge of this hole, with its<\/span> \u201cmedium-sized green guarded by only one bunker situated to the left of the green and extending three-quarters of the way back.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>If they \u201cplay away from this bunker,\u201d however, players may \u201cend up in the pronounced hollow to the right of the green. Then they face a much more difficult shot than the one they would have had from the bunker, for the hollow is filled with undulations, and it takes an exquisite touch chip to run the ball up the bank at just the right speed and have it roll dead near the cup. If Donald Ross had put in a second bunker to the right of the green–and most architects would have–it would have made the hole blunter, easier, and much more prosaic.\u201d<\/span><\/span>[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Nicklaus Example: Shoal Creek.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Major yardage: 401, par 4.<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Known as \u201cthe Starter,\u201d Shoal Creek\u2019s first is \u201cone of the easiest holes on the course. The fairway is fairly narrow and the green is nestled behind two medium sized bunkers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Shoal Creek was the first of Jack Nicklaus\u2019s courses to host a major championship when the 1984 PGA Championship was held there under controversial circumstances.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The course\u2019s developer had defended the club\u2019s lily-white membership, which was politically volatile although it had nothing to do with the quality of the course, which is universally regarded as one of the region\u2019s finest.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>There are few if any prominent southern country clubs which can lay claim to a history of progressive racial policies.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Pinehurst was as segregated as any other southern resort until the 1960s, but that fact doesn\u2019t taint Donald Ross\u2019s legacy any more than Shoal Creek\u2019s former policy tarnishes Nicklaus, who created a great championship venue at Shoal Creek.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ROSS PRINCIPLE #2:<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Create a \u201cshort but demanding\u201d par 4, ideally playing uphill to a small green.<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/b>Ross Example: <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Hole 13, Pinehurst # 2.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Open Yardage: 385, par 4.<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Pinehurst<\/a>

Pinehurst #2’s 13th. An Ideal Ross Short Par 4.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The best example of a short par 4 at Pinehurst is 13, which plays slightly uphill\u2014a modest twenty-five feet of elevation change over 385 yards.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Unlike Nicklaus\u2019s 13<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> at Valhalla, which is slightly shorter at 355 yards, Pinehurst\u2019s best short hole is defended entirely by the bunkers and the contour of the green, in typical Ross fashion.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The neck of the hole is thirty-five yards wide, with a fifteen yard wide Adam\u2019s apple between guardian bunkers on the right and what\u2019s being referred to as the restored \u201csandy floor\u201d on the left.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Imagine the profile of someone with a weak chin lying on his back to get a sense of the contours of 13.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>If a player\u2019s shot doesn\u2019t edge its way up to the chin, it\u2019s going to roll back down to the chest.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The bunkers have defined edges and are raked, while the sandy floors may have pine straw, wispy grass or other impediments to a useful lie.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The 13<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> green sits atop a ridge which it shares with the 14<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> tee, giving that hole a downhill path which mirrors 13<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup>\u2019s ascent.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The green\u2019s area is only about 3,600 square feet.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nicklaus Example:<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>13<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> at Valhalla, Site of 1996, 2014 PGA Championship<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Valhalla;s<\/a>

Valhalla;s 13th: An Ideal Modern Short Par 4.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Valhalla\u2019s 13<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> hole played an exhilarating role in the 2008 Ryder Cup, because it sits at a pivotal point for match-play.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Unlike Ross\u2019s 13<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup>, which seems benign but can bite, Valhalla\u2019s 13<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> has bared fangs.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The hole is only 355 yards, but the green sits securely behind a moat, perched on a rocky rampart.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>At roughly 5,200 square feet, Valhalla\u2019s green is a bit larger than the 13<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> at Pinehurst, but there is no room for error.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The green tilts slightly from left to right, which means it can hold a slight draw from a right-handed player.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>A perfect short hole for the aerial era, requiring players to control the spin of their approach shots.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>And also like a good short Ross hole, Valhalla\u2019s 13<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> has a generous fairway.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

ROSS PRINCIPLE #3:<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Generous Fairways<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Ross Example: <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Pinehurst # 2\u2014Throughout the \u201cRestoration\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Ross biographer Brad Klein notes that Ross\u2019s bunkers are intended to punish the \u201cbrawny\u201d competitor, leaving the bright, adaptable player an unhindered path to the green.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Because the fairways will be firm and fast for the Open, controlling the tee shot is going to require exceptional skill.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Pinehurst # 2 does not have the quirky bunkering of a British links, but rather Ross\u2019s well-placed, benign-seeming, flat-bottomed, grass-faced archetypes, accented by the sandy floors which will embrace errant shots.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The angle of the fairway\u2014that is, the diagonal thrust of the dogleg\u2014effectively shrinks the landing areas, which is going to mess with the players\u2019 minds.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>About the third or fourth time a perfectly hit shot dribbles off the fairway, muttering can be expected from the offended party. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Still, many of the landing areas at #2 are now sixty yards wide, freed of the wiry Bermuda roughs, in notable contrast to the narrow constrained fairways of Opens past.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The 16th’s Generous Fairway at Pinehurst #2<\/p><\/div>\n

Nicklaus Example: None on the Major Courses<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Most American championship courses\u2014even those designed by Ross, such as Oakland Hills, the Inverness Club and Oak Hill\u2014are parkland courses whose strategy and character have been transformed by the growth of trees, irrigation systems, and remodeling.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>When Nicklaus started designing courses, the paradigm established by the USGA in setting up its Open courses inevitably influenced golf course architects, especially when clients demanded \u201cchampionship\u201d courses.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Lush fairways, deep rough, and super-slick greens\u2014many designed when it was impossible to mow greens lower than one-quarter inch, meaning that historic green surfaces resembled what golfers now expect on tees\u2014made scoring well an exercise in precision and patience.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>As the greatest champion ever on USGA set-ups, Nicklaus understood what a real \u201cchampionship\u201d course required, and delivered it at Valhalla and Stone Creek, as well as at Muirfield Village and elsewhere. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>When they\u2019re set up for members\u2019 play, these private courses have generous fairways, even if narrower than the behemoths at Pinehurst #2.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/b>ROSS PRINCIPLE #4:<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Read the Angles to Understand the Hole<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ross Example: <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Tenth (619 Yard Par 5) and Eleventh (486 Yard Par 4) at Pinehurst #2<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The 10th and 11th at Pinehurst #2<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ross used what Brad Klein calls \u201cshifting gear rhythms\u201d in routing a course.\u00a0 Ross would require a draw from the tee, then shape the green for a fade.\u00a0 The following hole would then demand just the opposite: fade off the tee, draw to the green.\u00a0 This wasn\u2019t a strict rule but a prevailing idea.\u00a0 At Pinehurst # 2, the par 5 10th<\/sup> and the par 4 11th<\/sup> illustrate Ross\u2019s method.\u00a0 The longest hole on the course, 10 is a real three-shotter, but nonetheless requires careful placement of the second to assure a viable approach shot to the green.\u00a0 The remnant of a cross-bunker eliminated when Ross lengthened the hole in 1935, when the original sand greens were replaced, provides more of a target than a hazard, but the bunker on the left 110 yards from the green will be in play.\u00a0 A dogleg left, the tenth\u2019s green is designed to hold a faded approach shot.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 11th<\/sup> is a long dogleg right par 4, with a bunker guarding the left side of the landing area.\u00a0 The 11th<\/sup> green is flattish and guarded by echelon bunkers on the left and a single bunker to the right.\u00a0 The green requires a draw on the approach, but will be hard to hold, with balls tending to run off the edges, creating that merciless Ross pitch or chip.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nicklaus Example: Eleventh (522 Yard Par 5) and Twelfth (454 Yard Par 4) at Shoal Creek<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Shoal<\/a>

Shoal Creek, 11th Green<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Water is a hazard at Shoal Creek, unlike at Pinehurst, which has one tiny pond which will not come into play.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The Eleventh has a creek bisecting the fairway at the end of the landing area (about 330 yards at most from the tee), which means it\u2019s a layup for today\u2019s touring pros.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The approach shot then is roughly 200 yards to an elevated green defended by water front and right, tilted to accept a fade.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>The Twelfth is a dogleg right playing downhill from the tee, then slightly uphill to a long narrow green.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ROSS PRINCIPLE #5:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Variety in length and direction on Par 3s<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Ross Example:<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Pinehurst # 2, holes 6 (223 Yards), 9 (190 yards), 15 (205 yards) and 17 (208 yards)<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Ross believed, as Nicklaus does, that par threes should be iron shots, with variety in the lengths and orientations of the holes.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Pinehurst #2\u2019s par three conform to this ideal, with 6 playing southwesterly, 9 playing north, 15 mostly west and 17 mostly east. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>6 has a steep slope off the front, while 9 has a massive bunker on the left with a green surface designed to hold a draw<\/strong>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The Par Three 9th at Pinehurst #2<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Nicklaus Example: Valhalla, Three (210 Yards), 8 (190 Yards), 11 (210 Yards)<\/span>, 14 (220 Yards)<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Although there is less variety in the lengths of the par threes at Valhalla than at Pinehurst #2, the four par threes are distinguished by their orientations and the shapes and characters of the greens. \u00a0<\/span>The 11<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> has a false front, providing a defense very much in the tradition of Donald Ross.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Comparing Ross and Nicklaus as Golf Course Architects<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Most contemporary critics of golf design tend to place Ross and Nicklaus on opposite ends of the spectrum, with Ross praised for his minimalism, restraint, apparent simplicity and occasional \u201cquirkiness,\u201d to borrow Klein\u2019s characterization.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Nicklaus, on the other hand, was once regarded as the virtuoso of the contrived and the manufactured, given to designing holes ideally suited to his own controlled fade, and tolerant of forced carries.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>But a deeper look reveals that Ross and Nicklaus have a lot in common, especially when the character of their eras is factored into the inquiry.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ross and Nicklaus were each the most prolific designer of his times.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Brad Klein, in \u201cDiscovering Donald Ross,\u201d credits him with 399 courses.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Nicklaus\u2019s current count is \u201cabout\u201d 390.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Klein believes that Ross\u2019s success was advanced and facilitated by the talented associates working with him in the 1920s.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He also speculates that Ross made site visits to no more than two-thirds of the courses he designed.<\/span>\u00a0 That sort of observation would be the kiss of death for a contemporary designer. \u00a0<\/span>Ross could sense the character of a site when he walked it, but he needed someone with training as a civil engineer to convert his ideas into plans a builder could comprehend. Much the same could be said of Nicklaus. Nicklaus\u2019s collaborators have also been among the best practitioners of their time\u2014not only Pete Dye and Desmond Muirhead during his apprenticeship phase, but Ron Kirby, Bob Cupp, Jay Morrish, and Rick Jacobson as the company evolved, all contributing to the Nicklaus portfolio, as has his son, Jack Nicklaus II.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

One other similarity between Ross and Nicklaus is their endless quest to perfect the course they\u2019re most closely associated with\u2014Pinehurst #2 for Ross, Muirfield Village for Nicklaus.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Each course was tinkered with and tweaked on a regular basis, a process still ongoing for Nicklaus.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Each was motivated by the desire to improve his creation and respond to changes in the game and the skills of players.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Ross lengthened #2 as steel shafts and longer balls made the shorter version of the course obsolete; Nicklaus has stretched Muirfield Village from its original 6,978 yards to its current 7,221.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Nicklaus as Major Champion and Major Course Designer<\/span><\/p>\n

Jack Nicklaus is one of tiny handful of contemporary designers whose courses have hosted major championships. Two Nicklaus courses, Shoal Creek and Valhalla, have hosted a total of four PGA Championship (counting this year\u2019s at Valhalla.).\u00a0 Given that only two American majors provide any opportunity for a designer to show his skill, and given that the USGA has been holding the US Open on daily fee courses only over the last decade and a half, four is an impressive number, even accounting for the politics of the site selection process. \u00a0Nineteen Ross courses, on the other hand, have hosted forty-four majors. There\u2019s nothing complicated about the reasons behind this disparity.\u00a0\u00a0 There were proportionately many more Ross courses in the early years of American golf than there are Nicklaus courses today, making the likelihood of one being selected for a major much higher.\u00a0 The courses Ross designed were often the best and most prestigious in their towns or cities.\u00a0 And once a championship\u2014especially a US Open\u2014had been held on a course, the weight of history made a return visit likely.\u00a0 Finally, as with the British Open, once a sort of \u201crota\u201d of courses was established, it was very hard for a new course to break in, as Chambers Bay and Erin Hills have done, but only after the USGA broke with its own traditions and started holding the Open on municipal courses.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
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[1]<\/a> Jack Nicklaus, \u201cThe Greatest Game of All.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>My Life in Golf.\u201d P 352<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Photo Credits:\u00a0<\/span>Pinehurst Resort for the Pinehurst # 2 Images;\u00a0Jim Mandeville\/Nicklaus Design for Shoal Creek and Valhalla Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw deserve kudos for their restoration of Pinehurst #2. Their exertions amount to an extended homage… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,9,944159,18,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf-course-architecture","category-golf","category-emag","category-lifestyle","category-personalities"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2014\/05\/Shoal-Creek_JM_0608.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1118"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1146,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1118\/revisions\/1146"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}