Reinvigorating Isaberg’s West Course

Caspar Grauballe: The club at Isaberg initially approached me with the aim of modernising and enhancing the playing experience. They recognised that, given the quality of the site and its natural surroundings, the courses had untapped potential. Isaberg has two courses, and we agreed to concentrate our efforts on the West Course, which is the venue for most tournaments.

Set beside a large lake and river, the West Course unfolds across rolling terrain, dominated by mature pine woodland and swathes of heather undergrowth. During my initial assessment, it quickly became evident that several of the issues the greenkeeping team faced in particular with drainage and turf health stemmed from the design of the green surrounds. In many places, water would flow directly onto the greens and poorly placed bunkers had created bottlenecks where wear and tear became an issue.

Water management around the greens is critical in the Nordic climate, where winter ice build-up can significantly impact playing conditions well into the short playing season. The challenge, then, became one of improving strategy for the players while enabling the greenkeeping team to maintain higher-quality surfaces through smarter design.

While a full reconstruction of the greens would have been ideal, budget constraints made that unfeasible. In fact, the project began at a time of limited resources, so we opted instead to rebuild the green surrounds and bunkers without altering the green surfaces themselves. This also meant that construction could be carried out with minimal interruption to the playing season.

The renovation work began seven years ago and was undertaken entirely by the club’s own team, with my close involvement on site to ensure the design intent was fully realised. From a design perspective, I focused on reducing the number of bunkers and rethinking the strategic character of each hole to encourage more thoughtful shot-making. A key objective was to make the course fairer for players with slower swing speeds by opening up ground-based options and removing green-side bunkers that previously blocked running approaches.

To retain interest and variety, the new surrounds now feature more pronounced undulations and closely mown run-offs. Bunker construction has been upgraded with Capillary Concrete liners and a small DuraBunker edge, resulting in vastly improved durability. The bunkers now retain their shape without constant edging, and wash-outs have been eliminated, freeing up staff to focus on overall course presentation and detail work.

The project has been a resounding success. Players enjoy a more strategic and equitable course, while the maintenance team can now concentrate on elevating the overall conditioning, rather than continually firefighting issues caused by the original design.

Although the transformation is ongoing, just five holes remain to be completed. Notably, the 4th hole will receive a completely new green, dramatically repositioned on higher ground overlooking the lake. Once finished, it will surely stand as one of the most striking and memorable holes on the course.

Caspar Grauballe, EIGCA Past President