Restore, renovate, or re-design?

Need for change

Over the years all golf courses undergo some form of changes. If not deliberately from owners, members committees or other influential parties such as greenkeepers, golf pros, managers, golf course architects of nature itself.

Nature does, literally speaking take its toll on golf courses. Erosion problems, soil changes and invasion of unwanted grasses and vegetation maintains a constant threat to the uniformity and playability of the golf course and its playing characteristics.

Many golf courses adopt a ‘no change’ policy to try and preserve the course as it is. This often means prohibiting changes within the playing areas. While this can be a good policy it is often forgotten that the landscape changes constantly and an effort will have to be made to preserve the characteristics of the golf course. It is no advantage having the same contours within the fairways and greens if the whole character of the course has been lost as a result of landscape changes, for example heathland has changed to parkland, or an open landscape becoming suffocated with trees and shrubs.

Choosing to improve an established golf course should always aim at the relatively simple ambition of maximizing the potential of the golf course. To achieve that, a multitude of factors must be analysed and addressed.

A considered approach, from a talented, knowledgeable and well educated golf course architect, can not only help the course reach its full potential but also provide an unbiased outside opinion which can be a good driving force in the overall process.

Course of Action

There are generally speaking three methods of improving established golf courses:

• Restoration
• Renovation
• Redesign

While most redevelopment projects incorporates a mixture of, or all of these methods, it is imperative for the golf course architect and the club involved to understand the differences between these terms to determine the best approach for the individual club.

In the end ‘every precaution should be taken to ensure that any changes to be made shall be of a permanent and lasting character’ – Dr Alister MacKenzie

Restoration

The restoration of golf courses has become increasingly popular around the world. To restore a golf course involves bringing it back to a ‘former and more desirable condition’ and will aim at recreating the exact look and layout as it used to be. Restoration projects are normally only done on courses of significant historical and architectural value.

The decision to restore a golf course is often made as the direct result of realising the course has actually deteriorated since it prime days. Like when restoring an old building, the aim of the restoration project will be to bring it back to the exact state when the course was deemed at its best.

To successfully restore a golf course, evidence of what it used to look like must be available. Old aerial photos can provide a good plan view of the holes and the locations of their original features. But photos from eye height are most often required to determine the height of the sand faces and vegetation. This level of documentation is often unachievable and as a result many restoration projects will be impossible.
To ensure the success of the project, the club will need a golf course architect with a strong passion for golfing history and who is not afraid of leaving his ego at the front door to restore the work of another architect.

Case Study – St Georges Hill Golf Club

The green nine at St Georges Hill was once an eighteen hole course designed by Harry Colt. After WWII the course was reduced to nine holes and many of the original features lost. Part of our research has been to identify original features and restore them back to the current playing strategy. The historic aerial images are a valuable tool.

Renovation

Many golf courses have a strategically good and challenging layout but have seen it decline over the years as a result of an increased amount of play and the rapid evolution in golfing equipment. Unlike restoration projects, where the aim is to restore the exact playing and course characteristics of the past, renovation projects will aim at updating the course to meet modern demands or improving maintenance flaws. The changes will often include rebuilding greens, adding tees and renovation bunkers while keeping the overall layout intact.

Providing the golf course with a ‘facelift’ can be a good way to highlight its best features and enhance its visual appeal to members and visitors. By lengthening the golf course a lot of the original design intentions can be maintained – especially in regards to fairway bunkers which now are often taken out of play by the technology of new drivers and golf balls.

However, it is important to remember that lengthening courses should be done with the utmost care and consideration of the original design intentions as the demand for more yardage often result in lengthening of shorter holes which intentionally were meant to play short to test the finesse rather than the strength of the golfer. It is important for the club and architect to remember it is the best golfer who primarily manages to take advantage of the technological advances. Therefore to challenge this set of golfers it is the long par fours and fives which need strengthen to return them to the original design intent.

Case Study – The Richmond Golf Club

The of the fourteenth hole at The Richmond Golf Club in London shows how big a visual impact a change in bunker styling can have on a golf hole and how the apparent challenge is now perceived. Be changing the shaping and edges of the bunkers they now stand out more clearly and ask more of a question of a golfers ability. The Richmond Golf Club won Renovation of the Year 2012 from Golf Inc magazine with the lowest budget, but proved to be the biggest impact.

Redesign

Redesign, or reconstruction of a golf course basically involves rebuilding (parts of) the existing golf course from the ground up, sometimes with scarce homage paid to its original design. The decision to redesign a course is often made as a realisation of the fact the original design might be considered faulty or unsuitable and that the course cannot be considerably improved by means of restoration or renovation. Redesigning a golf course can also be a necessity if the course loses land to new roads, housing projects or the like.

The most important aspect of a successful redesign is to make sure that any changes made to the course actually increases it strategic interest and improves maintenance regimes.

Redesigning a golf course is no simple matter and significant achievements are rarely accomplished in the spare time of the maintenance crew.

Case Study – Woking Golf Club

The club required a redesign of the par three, sixteenth hole because it was located too close to the property boundary and constantly being affected by a poorly drained location. The redesign required a re-alignment of the hole which addresses these issues whilst retaining the spirit and look of this historic heathland golf course.

This article originally appeared in ClubHouse Europe Autumn 2013, a magazine for members of the Club Managers Association of Europe (CMAE).
clubhouseeurope.com/