Municipal Golf: What Does the Future Hold?
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THE GLOBAL JOURNAL OF GOLF DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT January 2014, Issue 35, £4.95 www.golfcoursearchitecture.net Municipal golf: what does the future hold? Plus: The International, Steensels’ Amsterdam design; Digital green scanning, at Philadelphia Cricket Club; The Swinkels, on converting farmland to a golf course designed by Frank Pont; Punchbowl, The tale of Tasmania’s Greg Ramsay Davison’s great debut at Penati Doak’s new putting course at Bandon Welcome January 2014 www.golfcoursearchitecture.net I have lost count of how many times, over the last five years or so, that I have either read or written a sentence along the lines of ‘The golf industry appears to be emerging from the downturn’. If the wish were father to the deed, golf development would have entered another boom period back in late 2008. Nonetheless, sitting here at the end of 2013, I feel I can type the sentence with a straight face. The end of the year always brings a bunch of state of the nation communications from architects, contractors and developers. All have an incentive to big up the market – tales of woe are bad news for everyone – but this time, it seems to me they have legs. The true boom years of the middle Nineties or the first few years of this century are not coming back: you don’t have to be Cassandra to reach that conclusion. The US remains the key engine of golf, and, even if the American real estate market continues to prosper, we are not returning to the days of 300 new courses a year across the States in my lifetime. Nor should we: there simply is no demand for that amount of golf, and developers have learned to their cost that, fine amenity though golf is, a course needs to have its own logic, not just to be an anchor for housing sales. Yet I do believe the industry revival is real. Talking, quietly and off the record, to golf architects, more are reporting that they are busy than for many years. It is, to be sure, a partial revival, but as Canadian architect Ian Andrew explained a while back, the years of pain have been brutally Darwinian for the industry. The weak have perished, and the strong have become stronger. Call me a hyper if you like, but I genuinely believe golf is back. And I look forward to reporting on the projects, this year and in those to come, that will prove me right. Adam Lawrence Editor Sponsors For over 40 years, Arnold Palmer Design Creating and Refining Classics of the Greenscan 3D pioneered the use of Laser Infinite Variety Golf Design is Europe’s Company has been intimately involved Game. Golf Course Architecture by Caspar Scanning and HD3D Modeling of putting leading restorer of classic era golf in designing beautiful, strategic, and is all about delivering projects which can surfaces in the late 1990s. 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The Toro Company is proud of its legacy of high-quality turf equipment, Effective. Maintainable. Sustainable. Fun. of quality and innovation. Customers environmentally conscious and delivering around the world rely on Toro for high enhanced performance for customers. (re)GOLF performing products and the company From golf courses to the World Cup, for also leads the way in environmental more than a century, the most important We design for golfers. innovations, making products safer, turf has been manicured by our brand. www.regolfdesign.com cleaner and quieter. www.jacobsen.com www.toro.com Page 1 Contents January 2014 www.golfcoursearchitecture.net 08 Plans have been revealed for the development of three new courses on the southern Oregon coastline, close to Mike Keiser’s Bandon Dunes resort. Our Tee Box section includes much more, including reports on the completion of Trump’s Ferry Point course and Mackenzie & Ebert’s work at Royal Troon ahead of the 2016 Open Championship. 20 Municipal courses have helped countless golfers discover the game over their 100 year history. But what does the future hold for the muni in today’s market? GOLF BUSINESS 26 We learn more about Barnbougle founder Greg Ramsay and his latest plans for golf in Tasmania and further afield. 30 Dutch farmers Hendrik and Harrie Swinkels have made the radical decision to leave agriculture and get into golf. DESIGN AND BUILD 34 Jonathan Davison’s new build at Penati in 20 Slovakia is an impressive debut. 38 GCA finds out why the new course at The International near Amsterdam is receiving high praise after its first year of play. 40 Architect Keith Foster used a new scanning technique when restoring Tillinghast’s work at Philadelphia Cricket Club. COURSE MANAGEMENT 42 Stuart Yarwood discusses the story behind 26 Tom’s Locker, his new shop for greenkeepers. 44 Our regular round-up of course equipment 08 news, including new Huxley practice facilities at Strawberry Hill in London. OFF COURSE 46 GCA considers the impact of third party tee time services on golf course operators. HOLING OUT 48 Tom Doak explains the story behind Bandon Dunes’ new Punchbowl putting course. 38 34 Page 3 (re)GOLF www.regolfdesign.com Letters [email protected] twitter: @regolfdesign E-mail us at: [email protected] We are delighted to receive letters from readers, and the best in each issue will be rewarded with a GCA golf shirt. Send letters by post to 6 Friar Lane, Leicester, LE1 5RA, UK, or e-mail us at: [email protected] Dear Editor After a terrific golfing summer here in the UK at least, winter has hit us with a bang since the start of December. It seems as though the rain has never stopped! When I was a boy, a high proportion of members would put their clubs in the attic in October, only to be seen again when the days started to lengthen again with the coming of spring. Now the hardcore of British golfers play year round, so long as the course is open! Dear Editor modernisation of older courses – which can This has put huge pressure on club When I read your magazine, it strikes me that be great, but can also be about eliminating managers, especially greenkeepers, to keep Europe is some way behind America in our features that have challenged golfers for up courses in better condition throughout appreciation of great golf course architecture. to a hundred years. the cold months. Golfers are often rather This might seem a strange thing to say, I am not against modern golf courses, unsympathetic to their problems. Even in the given that the UK is the birthplace of the or modern features like extensive water dead of winter, they get complaints if they game, and, across Europe there are many hazards. Here in Germany, I have played are forced to make use of temporary greens. wonderful classic golf courses built through many excellent new courses. But I do not I’d like to make a plea to golfers. Don’t every era of the game’s history. But I do not think it is a good idea to rip up a fine old blame your staff if they can’t achieve believe the skills of course architects are course to make it look as though it was summer conditions when the grass isn’t properly appreciated in Europe yet. built only a few years ago. Let the old be growing! Just be grateful if the weather In your magazine, we repeatedly see old! If they have been good enough for a allows you to play at all. evidence of historic American clubs coming century, why are they not now? to terms with their history, and attempting Yours sincerely to discover more about how their courses Yours sincerely have developed since opening. I do not see James Simpson much evidence of a similar trend across Hans Erlichmann Birmingham, England Europe. Here, we are still excited about the Munich, Germany GOPHER WATCH Given the global nature of Sandy’s travels, it’s always hard for us to predict when his visits will lead to a bumper crop of responses, and when readers will struggle to figure out where he is. We had thought that Casa we de Campo’s Teeth of the Dog course in the Dominican Republic, though pretty well-known, might be a little of the beaten path for some readers, design but in fact we had a record response, with correct answers from as far afield as Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and Belgium, as well as lots of Americans, as one might expect. But the first name out of the hat was for Australian Luke Bradstreet, so a GCA shirt is on its way to Sydney. golfers. There’s a particularly prominent landmark on show in the photograph from Sandy’s latest golf trip, so hopefully no clues are necessary.