Thoughts on Design
The business of golf is extremely competitive. Implementation of a well conceived course improvement plan, supported by a strong financial plan, is the most effective way to attract new golfers and retain existing patrons. By staying current with today’s technologies, we can create a project that keeps you ahead of the curve.
By studying the golf course’s history and looking at its current membership and players, we develop a fiscally responsible and realistic plan to maintain a competitive edge. Whether it is to add yardage, improve strategy, or give a new look to the golf course, we are committed to enhancing your course in order to increase play, reduce maintenance costs, and add to the golf experience.
Creating
By making a career designing golf courses, reading books, and studying other architects, you learn that there are many ways to design a golf course. You begin to get a solid sense of the principals of golf design that were laid out by Donald Ross or Alister MacKenzie. These architects had a great feeling of the land and how the game is played.
Golf is different today due to the advancements in technology. This includes new construction techniques, improvements in agronomics, and the distance changes of the golf ball. With these advancements we can now become more creative in developing new styles and still keep within our clients budgets. This allows even the smallest budgets to reveal some creative solutions.
Preserving
With over 600 years of history, golf is all about tradition. In the United States, many of the greatest golf courses were designed in the Golden Age. This included courses laid out by Ross, MacKenzie, C. B. MacDonald, Seth Raynor, Perry Maxwell, George Thomas, and Tom Bendelow. After years of changes many of these courses are now embracing and going back to their roots. It is another exciting time in golf design.
When working with these courses you study the existing layout and their past history. Past renovations left some of these courses unrecognizable to there original design. Researching and studying the works of past architects is just as much fun as implementing the restored design. By using these design principals we can go back to preserving these layouts and bring back a sense of history and pride to America’s greatest courses.
Enhancing
One of the greatest things about the game of golf is that it is always played on a different surface. This surface not only varies from course to course, but also from day to day by changes in the weather. When studying a golf course, you gain a sense of what makes this course special. In many ways, a 5,400 yard executive course is just as unique as a 7,400 yard major championship course.
The task faced is to pick out the special parts of a course and look to enhance them. This could include unique landforms or environmental factors. As designers of the land we must take pride in working with what nature has given us and enhancing it for future generations to enjoy.