Friday, October 16, 2009

PGA Sweden National, Links

So much has been said and written about the transformation of Kingsbarns in Scotland from ploughed fields into stunning linksland, that the development team at PGA of Sweden National could have identified architect Kyle Phillips with a Google search for ‘turning featureless farmland into great links golf.

However, we can be pretty sure this wasn’t the case, as it was only after Phillips had been engaged that a plot of featureless farmland near Malmo in the south of Sweden was chosen as the site for the PGA’s impressive new golf facility. Identifying an architect early in the development process is an approach that Phillips has championed in a previous edition of Golf Course Architecture (see GCA 2, p52), arguing that the architect’s expertise can be employed for identifying the site’s suitability for development, with a view to saving costs and minimising development time.

Phillips’ Kingsbarns has been one of the success stories of modern golf development. High rankings aside, it is an aesthetic delight. There are few better examples of a course that appears to have been crafted by nature, whereas every contour was in fact the work of architect and construction team.

The Links course at PGA of Sweden National provides the architect with a greater challenge, as it offers neither the dramatic coastline nor the historic setting close to the home of golf that both add to the Kingsbarns experience. With a completely bland site, it’s as close to a blank canvas as one can imagine, aside from a moderate gentle rise in elevation from the clubhouse to the eastern point of the site. Many would consider this an ideal proving ground of an architect’s skill, as the complete absence of redeeming features means that the success of the course is entirely down to their imagination.

So what about the course’s links credentials? With no sea within fifteen kilometres, it’s an inauspicious start. However, the site has been sand-capped and planted with traditional links fescue grasses from tee to green. This gives every opportunity for the firm and fast conditions that suit a bump and run links course. Most of the greens have been left open to allow this approach, and all are large and have plenty of movement, giving the skilled short game golfer an advantage.

Almost entirely exposed, wherever you stand there’s a fair chance you can see most of the rest of the course, and – as was the case on GCA’s visit – a very definite possibility of getting pummelled by wind and rain. Lead shaper Peter Scott has done outstanding work in producing a heavily crumpled terrain, creating muscular contours that define many of the holes.

There are no revetted bunkers, but the steep grass faced bunkers are particularly effective at the greensides where they are fed by heavy slopes. That’s not to say they don’t work well on the fairways, where some are particularly memorable, such as the imposing bunkers clawed into the fairway on the approach to the fourth and from the tee shot of the eighth. The latter shouldn’t come into play, but it’s intimidating enough to put some doubt in the player’s mind.

There isn’t a single tree in play (although plenty in view on the perimeter of the property), just a sea of high fescue which the fairways snake through. It’s a very simple and highly pleasing aesthetic. And with a design masterstroke, a burn comes into play on many of the holes closer to the clubhouse – in my view a far more desirable way to incorporate water hazards on a golf course than the large lakes evident on its in-progress sister course (although for the sake of variety that can be forgiven).

After a reasonably gentle opening hole, the course gains strength with a 541 yard uphill par five that looks alarmingly difficult, albeit with a fair degree of deception. The bunkers that seem peppered throughout the landing area are actually only in play from the tee if the drive is missed left. But if successfully negotiated, a central bunker forty yards short of the green creates indecision for the second. For the approach, all the trouble appears to be at the front of the green, but a swale also brings a rear bunker into play. The next two par fours are equally tough, and one begins to wonder whether it’s going to be a long day. But any such thoughts are soon discarded, as the second set of four holes are among the most enjoyable you’ll experience.

The fifth is a short but beautifully formed par three, with three deep bunkers waiting to collect the results of an underclubbed shot. The long 476 yard par four sixth twists to the right back down the hill, gently falling away to the left when the ideal approach is from the right. The seventh, another one-shotter to a superbly grand Biarritz green that is over 50 yards long, demands careful attention to pin placement in order to avoid three putt territory.

But the par five eighth is probably the cream of the crop, assuming some sadistic tendencies. Those good enough to avoid being psyched out by the large bunker that draws the eye from the tee might need to hold back the adrenaline otherwise they’ll get their first sight of the burn. Most, however, will be happy to have negotiated it safely with their second shot. The hole then climbs back up towards another large green essentially split into two by a grand tier that defines the best angle of approach required.

It’s a fantastic stretch that barely gives the golfer a chance to catch their breath. The adventure doesn’t stop there as the rest of the course, primarily on the lower land nearer the clubhouse, continues to stimulate the golfing senses, where nature itself had little to offer. A steroid-fuelled valley of sin on the par five fifteenth and the demanding par three seventeenth perhaps stand out, and with the final crossing of the burn to the eighteenth green, the tastefully furnished clubhouse will give players a chance to reflect on a very pure golfing experience.

Our recent feature article on golf in Sweden (see GCA issue 15, p42) suggested that its courses were finally beginning to match its golfing talent. The Links course at PGA of Sweden adds another fine feather to the country’s cap.

By Toby Ingleton
Golf Course Architecture

Labels: Kyle Phillips, Links Course, PGA Sweden

Thursday, September 17, 2009

'It's Time to Buy Gold'

Kyle Phillips is the creator of Kingsbarns, The Grove and many of the world's finest golf courses in 20 countries. Writing here for GBD, he believes the golf development industry has only itself to blame for many of the current ills, but feels with the right development model, the golf business can still succeed in a challenging environment.

While historians will describe autumn 2008 as the beginning of the current economic crisis, they will only be describing the moment in time when we realized that we were sick. The virus was in our system long before. Sure, we were warned by a brave few that we were on the brink, but we did not want to believe them. Only after several "too big to fail" companies failed, and the markets tumbled, did we realize we had all caught the flu.

The golf industry is not immune either. Alarming numbers of "too big to fail" residential golf communities are on the ropes, being taken over by banks, or being ploughed under. In Dubai, not even the marketing brand of Tiger Woods has been enough to make the development sell.

But the problems we face today within the real estate development sector of the golf industry did not begin recently. This virus has been building up in our golf industry bloodstream for over four decades. It was in this period that golf started to become more incorporated in residential communities. Often the developers did not play or understand much about the game, but they did know that with a golf course, they could sell real estate for a premium. Unknowingly at the time, the real estate development industry began redefining the 'essentials' of the modern championship course for the golf industry.

No expenses were spared. Golf was sold with housing and memberships marketed like they were selling new cars. Impressive marketing firms were hired and glossy brochures were sent across their region. They proudly proclaimed that their golf course development was especially worthy to play, not only because they were par 72 and really long, but they had a state-of-the-art irrigation system, full length concrete cart paths, a waterfall behind the 18th green, a celebrity designer, and most importantly, they had built the biggest, most expensive clubhouse on the planet.

The Americans were particularly good at developing and refining this golf development 'success formula' to incorporate home sites around every fairway. Golf community master plans were judged on the basis of which land planner could get the most linear frontage of houses around the golf course. First they sprung up one by one, then two by two, and finally the 'formula' spread like McDonald's fast food across the globe, to places like Spain, Dubai, China and Mexico. We were even silly enough to pay steak prices for their hamburgers.

Tens of thousands attended countless conferences and seminars to learn how they too could incorporate the magic golf formula into their real estate development. The crowd would go wild at the proclamation that "golf does not make money, so damn the golf and build the houses".

And damn the golf they did, with the most 'successful' followers now bleeding at rates exceeding 50,000 Euros per month.

The magic formula gave golf no chance to be profitable. But when the question was raised, we were told that this was not a flaw in the formula, because the members would buy or be obligated to take over the golf clubs once all of the houses were sold. And besides, the members would never know just how much subsidy the course had been given through the sale of real estate until after they owned it for a year or two, or that the whole product they had bought into was nothing more than 'fools gold'.

While I have been known to enjoy a 'Big Mac' now and then, I could not imagine eating them every meal. But today the residential golf market is choking on Big Macs and the magic formula has been exposed for what it was all along, a recipe for failure. The marketing was great, but the substance was just not there. We were able to live in denial of this hollow reality, just as long as we never ventured out beyond the land of fast food golf.

However, every time we enjoyed a fine dining experience at a links course or one of the older classic courses from the last century, it became increasingly difficult to return to our Faux Golf and Country Club. No matter how determined we were to suppress the facts and embrace the magic formula, our hearts knew all along that these fine courses with their classic architecture, many designed by those who grew up playing on 'the links' of the British Isles, were still the gold standard in golf.

But times of crisis can also be of great benefit. It can cause us to stop, analyze and redirect our priorities. It can cause us to gain perspective of what is important and get back to the basics. Friends and family once again take their rightful place over personal wealth accumulation.

It is time for golf course developers to get back to basics and begin investing wisely again in golf. However, not all followed along with the sheep. There are those developers who jumped ship years before this recent crisis and invested successfully in golfing gold. Those golf course developers sought out hands-on designers who were capable of designing courses for the modern game, with architecture that evoked in our soul the elements associated with the traditional golf courses that we love. They developed and tested their business model to see that both the construction costs and the on-going operation costs would not place a burden on the ability of the course to operate profitably.

A primary objective of any new golf development should be to establish the name of their golf course as a 'brand' name that is known for quality within the world of golf. Golfers travel across the globe to old and new golf venues such as Pebble Beach, Turnberry, Pine Valley and Kingsbarns, first and foremost for the golf experience. I know this may not be in my best interest, but if the best thing you have to talk about is who designed your golf course, then you probably haven't created a special golf experience. While it is true that a golf course designer who has a track record of success can add credibility during the construction and growing in period, but once open, it is the quality of the architecture of the golf course that will differentiate the product. This is a fact seldom understood in emerging golf markets and with golf developers who have a nominal understanding of the origins of the game. They build course after course, each time hiring people famous as players, rather than famous as designers (they can be the same), spending more than enough money along the way, only to later wonder why the world of golf does not consider their course as a 'must play'.

The current model of the golf residential community development has lost the plot. This model fosters ‘cookie-cutter’ course designs that consume too much land to be affordable to maintain and uses too much water to sustain. It incorporates long walks between holes that ruin the rhythm of the game and forces us to play on riding carts. With out-of-bounds and mitigation areas galore, rounds can take six hours to complete.

The gold standard in golf is more than shooting a score; it is a sport, which has certain social elements that are an essential part of the sport’s pleasure. It is walking shoulder to shoulder with friends and family; youngsters learning the etiquette of the game while caddying; firm, fast playing conditions played over tawny, low fertility, rumpled ground; where shot making opportunities are more valued than the length of the course.

For future golf communities to succeed, new ‘golf parks’ must be designed to give life to the social fabric of the game, giving the sport of golf a chance to grow and flourish. When the game of golf is a success, then the business of golf can also succeed. Courses will need to be designed with an emphasis on its architecture, with the feeling and passion for golf, rather than in technician’s terms of length and linear meters of home sites.

There are very few of us, in the golf course design business, who have focused our careers on designing golf places based on this gold standard model; where the norm has been working with smaller budgets and achieving better results.

The industry buzz from America of golf “going green”, is only news in America. In Europe, we have been “going green” for decades. The architecture of the courses we have been designing in Europe allows for excellent playing conditions with firmer, faster surfaces (less water), low fertility maintenance programmes (less fertilizer), and thus less maintenance cost (less mowing). It is these types of courses that can become the ‘must play’ courses and will remain sustainable in tough economic times.

In this evolutionary process, certain species will become extinct and others will adapt and live to the benefit of the total population. It is not a time of despair, but a time of correction for all sectors of business. We now have the opportunity for the golf industry to actively redirect the priorities for future golf course developments back towards the origins of the game. It’s time to invest ourselves fully in sustainable golf course developments. It’s time to buy gold.

Kyle Phillips
Featured in Golf Business Digest
August/September 2009

Labels: Kyle Phillips

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Morocco & a Kingdom of Golf

"...AI Maaden, a high-end developer of golf resorts, who have commissioned Kyle Phillips, arguably one of the hottest designer of the modern era to take on the task of making their course a Moroccan star."

THE FIRST PORT OF CAll FOR OUR BYE-DAY MOROCCAN golf trip is the Palmeraie Golf Palace & Resort, an oasis of luxury and refinement nestled in the heart of a lush, cool palm grove ten minutes from the hustle and bustle of Marrakech. This exquisite property is richly decorated in intricate Moorish designs that feature large archways, opulent furnishings and a decor in rich earth tones. After checking in we are asked to make ourselves comfortable on a collection of carpets and cushions by a water fountain in the tiled foyer area.

Before long, resident tea-maker Mr Aziz Igouzoulen appears through an archway wearing a flowing white robe and a maroon fez hat, carrying a silver tray with an elegant metal teapot packed with fresh mint leaves, tea and sugar. After the tea has brewed for a few minutes, Aziz makes a spectacle of pouring the fragrant golden liquid from a great height into the small decorative glasses. With a grin wider than Tiger Woods after winning a major, he hands us the tea, overflowing with the delicious aroma of fresh Moroccan mint and says, "Welcome to Marrakech and I hope you play some good golf."

Although the mint tea is certainly refreshing, we are keen for a different kind of tee time at the hotel's Robert Trent Jones Snr Palmeraie Golf Club. This 18- hole layout is a good introduction to Moroccan golf and is laid out on a spacious valley featuring generous fairways bordered by hundreds of palm trees and seven lakes that frequently come into play. Numerous sand hazards add the pearly whiteness of the Atlantic beaches to this lush scene, with the ochre walls and green tiles of the magnificent Moorish styled clubhouse forming a striking centrepiece to the whole design. Caddies are available for hire to add some local colour and knowledge to your round.

MAGICAL MARRAKECH
In the late afternoon we visit the centre of stunning and exotic Marrakech, founded more than 1,000 years ago with its distinctive ochre ramparts, Andalusia-inspired arches, souq marketplaces and distinctive skyline of mosques set against the majestic snow-capped High Atlas Mountains.

We get thoroughly lost in the souqs of the medina, where labyrinthine passageways and lanes seethe with a human tide of endlessly streaming humanity. Covered bazaars are crammed with fruit and spice stalls andworkshops of every kind with artisans at work fashioning slippers, weaving rugs, dyeing textiles and hammering metals.

In the heart of the dty is the world famous Djemaa el-Fna, a town square named by UNESCO as part of Humanity's Universal Heritage. This rultural and artistic crossroads is used not only as a meeting place for local people, but also for storytellers, acrobats, musidans, healers, fortune tellers, magic potion sellers and snake charmers. We grab a prime seat and a chilled drink at Le Grand Balcon overlooking the square and watch the drama unfold - frantic non-stop activity that overloads the senses.

As the orange sun travels across the sky and the minarets and palms gradually fall into silhouettes, chefs begin to cart in the makings of some 100 food stalls and before long the aroma of barbecued meats, kebabs, meatballs and harira (a thick soup of meats, garbanzos, tomatoes and lentils) fills the air. When the sun finally sets, all the music in the medina ceases for one of the most evocative of travel sounds, the
muezzin's call to prayer. Soon, another muezzin in another mosque starts up, then another and another until the entire dty is filled with these fervent sounds.

In addition to street eats, Marrakech offers some wonderful fine-dining opportunities at palace restaurants most of which are converted riads (a traditional house or palace with an interior garden). Part of the charm of these places is that they are difficult to locate, and the Narwama is no exception hidden away down a narrow alleyway covered in Berber rugs a short stroll from the medina. Situated in a glorious 19th century
riad with 21st century Zen decor, the Narwama offers an award-winning combination of Moroccan and Thai cuisine and the best Moroccan mint mojito in town. After your meal relax in the rustic bar that has hookah pipes at each table.

"The food we serve is Fez cuisine, the finest in Morocco and one of our house spedalties is lamb tajine with pears," says the owner Ali Bousfiha, The tajine is one of Morocco's most famous dishes and the name refers to the conical-lidded pot in which it is prepared, as well as the intricately spiced stew of meat and vegetables, sometimes with dried fruits and nuts, cooked very slowly over a charcoal fire.

GOlF UNDER THE ATIAS MOUNTAINS
Moroccan golf courses are renowned for their visual appeal and the 27 holes at the Amelkis Golf Club, a short car ride from our hotel through olive groves and orange trees, may be one of the most eye-catching and exdting to play. Located at the foot of the ever present Atlas Mountains, the "Amelkis' owes its name to the queen of a Berber tribe in the Atlas.

Designed by Cabell B.Robinson this is an expansive course with undulating fairways, seductively mounded and heavily bunkered, to say nothing of the lakes, fountains and the unique waste bunkers created from crushed rock whose colour complements the landscape. The large greens are relatively easy to find, but
three putts are not unusual. Paul seems to really take to the Amelkis and shoots memorable all time best round of 12 under par a hardly need to add that's a nett score - and off a dodgy handicap at that).

The Amelkis' next-door neighbour is the Marrakech Royal Golf Club created in the 1923 by the Pacha of Marrakech and the second oldest course in Morocco. Throughout the club's history distinguished players such as Winston Churchill, David Uoyd George, llze Eisenhower and his late Majesty King Hassan 11 have trodden its fairways and greens.

This is a course that suit all levels of ability and the main attraction here is the lush setting with fairways lined with standing cypress, eucalyptus, olive, orange,
apricot and palm trees. A new addition of nine holes in 2008 called the Menara now complements the original two nines (the Koutoubia and Agdal).

On the Menara nine look out for the 481-metre par 5 4th that plays over a pool of water, that's an exact replica of the Menara of Marrakech, bordered by hundreds of olive trees and ending with a superbly defended dogleg. Standing on the tee of this unique hole, we're in two minds whether to pull out the driver or change into our swimming trunks! Other memorable holes include the par-4 4th (Agdal) with the snowy Atlas summits in the background and the 173 metre par-39th (Koutoubia) that's got more curves than Scarlett Johansson The green is hidden behind two grassy mounds separated by a bunker plus an additional hazard of two high palm trees blocking the angle of the tee shot.

This trio of established layouts will soon be joined by two new exdting 18-hole developments that will make Marrakech the Moroccan dty offering the most for visiting
golfers. Firstly there's the Samanah Country Club, a Jack Nicklaus design with most holes already open forplay and AI Maaden, a high-end developer of golf resorts, who have commissioned Kyle Phillips, arguably one of the hottest designer of the modern era to take on the task of making their course a Moroccan star.

Says Phillips: 'The golf course has been designed in grand rolling terrain, placed at the foot hills of the nearby Atlas Mountains. Strategically placed bunkers give players multiple lines of play from the tee and tightly cut spill off areas around the greens gather errant shots, providing a variety of exdting recovery opportunities.
Keeping with the traditions of golf, AI Maaden is designed as a walker friendly course, with a surrounding designed landscape and geometric water features that give a feeling of playing through a Moroccan garden." AI Maaden is open for play towards the end of
2009.

THE ROAD TO AGADm
The next day we load the dubs into the hire car and head to Agadir. As the last dwellings of Marrakech are left behind, expansive stony plains open up and offer a
window on Moroccan rural life. We observe more donkeys by the side of the highway than on Blackpool beach at summertime. Berber nomads sit on rocks keeping a watchful eye on their goats and sheep, women carry boodles of firewood back home and kids play football on dusty pitches at the foot of soaring mountains, where simple earthen houses ding defiantly to their predpitous slopes.

Sitting by a vast sweep of protected beach, with an average of 300 days of sushine per year, Agadir is perhaps best known as a short stay holiday destination for package tourist from Europe.

However, Agadir is fast developing into Marrakech's golf rival, and the existing Royal Agadir Golf Course (9 holes), Golf Les Dooes (27 holes) and Gold Du Soleil (36
holes) will soon be joined by the Ocean Golf Club (27 holes) and Taghazout, a 36-hole golfing fadlity currently ooder construction about 10km north of Agadir right by the crashing surf of the Atlantic on the coastal road to the popular seaside town of Essaouira.

Our home in Agadir is the five-star Tikida Golf Palace, where the luxury suites open onto Golf Du Soleil IS splendid 36 holes that feature water fOootainS and several lakes with water coming into play on 10 holes. There are also plenty of bunkers to negotiate and if you take a caddie get used to one of their favourite comments: "You're in the Sahara again." The beauty here is that you can just stroll from your room to playa few holes on the Blue course, which is espedally pleasant later in the afternoon when it starts to cool down.

With warm weather, an exdting culture, only a short flight from the major European countries, and a strong golf development programme with many big name designers, Morocco is set to become an increasingly popular destination for the travelling golfer.

Andrew Marshall
Golf International Magazine
August/September 2009
www.golfinternationalmag.com

Labels: Al Madden, Kyle Phillips

Sunday, September 7, 2008

So, who should design your golf course?

Corporate Golf World

So, who should design your golf course...Signature designer or course architect...A Nicklaus or a Kyle Phillips? James Norman investigates the very different benefits each brings to a course design project.

When Mark McCormack started to turn Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player into major companies in their own right, one key element of that strategy was a golf design division. It started a trend that today means you can play a Ballesteros, an Els, a Faldo, a Norman, a Montgomerie and even a Woosnam design. Tiger's first course is only a few years away in Dubai.

Many traditionalists find the principle of the tour pro-turned-designer 'bad form.' In their eyes, it is just pure commercialism. The player gives his name to the project; a golf architect does all the work, the tour pro tweaks the design when he sees the project, often with the media in tow, only a couple of occasions before opening. Then when the course opens for the public the pro gets an Oscar for the best impression of a golf architect and receives a big cheque in the process.

Mark Chapleski, who runs the Middle East Division of Troon Golf – the world's leading golf operations/management company with over 185 courses worldwide – sees it differently; "The debate will always rage on this subject. It's emotive for the architects. Tour pros have a major role in the development of golf as they are the 'face' of the industry to 97% of the golf market. It is highly appropriate for them to be involved with course design. However, the key is to get a good balance between the input of the tour professional and of the design team that works with him. If that balance is off, then some tour pro signature designs can lack quality.

"Because someone is a very good golfer it doesn't mean he can be a great designer. It takes time to learn the 'art' and that is why it is critical for the active tour professional to have a strong design associate working with him, especially when he is still active in his playing career. Having said that, some active players put a lot more heart and soul into the design aspect than others and ultimately that shows in the end product.

"Ernie Els is a great example of a player who is hands on. Here in Dubai, Troon has been working with Ernie Els Design for the past 18 months on The Dunes course at Dubai Sports City and it is turning out fabulously. The Big Easy has made six trips here in total and walked the entire course on several occasions. When course quality combines with a pro's name, it's a very strong mix as we have seen with the The Montgomerie, Dubai which is now one of the most popular Troon golf courses in the world"

The best of the tour pro designers is undoubtedly Jack Nicklaus. He has three courses in the Top 100 of the world rankings according to Golf Digest magazine's 2005 ranking. There is no Faldo, Player, Palmer or Norman in the list. The only other tour pro is Ben Crenshaw, who is widely regarded as a great architect following his work with partner Bill Coore. It is interesting to note that Nicklaus is a member of the Golf Course Architects Society of America, which requires a rigorous application process, and only a handful of players have earned that distinction. So in Nicklaus's case the line between tour pro designer and architect is truly blurred.

Today there are 255 Nicklaus golf courses worldwide where you can play. There are many more to come. Nicklaus has used his brand cleverly so that there are varying degrees of Nicklaus, from his own signature courses to those designed by his sons or his team. His company even worked in the past on course designs for the likes of Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia. The next "great" Nicklaus design is undoubtedly Monte Rei in Portugal, which opens later this year. It stands a very good chance of becoming one of Europe's top-ranked courses.

Golf architects are a funny breed; part golfer, part mathematician, part artist. Many are good golfers. Most are not good marketers. Some of them are not keen on tour pros and their involvement in their industry. They are usually the ones who feel that they have not received the recognition that they deserve.

Golf architects rely on the quality of their design for their brand recognition. In the last century, the British led the way: Alister Mackenzie (Augusta, Cypress Point, Royal Melbourne) and his partner Harry Colt (Wentworth, Sunningdale, Royal County Down) were at the fore of this movement. Today the Americans, Pete Dye, Tom Fazio, Tom Doak and Kyle Phillips are the elite. The former two are household names amongst golfers, particularly in the US. The latter two are the next generation who are looking to have a greater international reach than their elders. Amongst many great designers, Dye (81) is famous for his work on Whistling Straits in Kohler and the TPC as Sawgrass. Fazio (62) is famous for Shadow Creek, Pinehurst and Los Cabos, Doak (46) is known for Pacific Dunes and Cape Kidnappers (both in the Top 50 in the World), whilst Phillips (48) is renowned for Kingsbarns and The Grove.

A leading golf architect brings a special dimension to a commercial golf proposition. Put simply, it is all about the quality of the golf course. Yes, they do reach a tipping point where the architect's name brings certain expectations and recognition. But, at the end of the day, it is all about how the elite of the golf world interpret the design, which then leads to the rest of the golf world usually following suit.

Adds Chapleski: "The great modern course designers do not necessarily come from tour player backgrounds, however it is more difficult and takes them longer to establish themselves as their only avenue to the general public is quality golf design. However, a great golf course design can bring pure integrity to a development without the name of a well-known golfer. The high quality design increases the popularity of the venue and thus the perfect example of this."

So if you want to build a new course which route is best? Well, a tour pro definitely brings marketing to a design. The argument goes that they also bring incremental revenue. Indeed, according to independent reports, including the Golf Research Group and Norton Consulting, a Nicklaus course generate the greatest returns compared to other named designers, when all measurable aspects such as retail value, memberships and green fees are taken into account. A golf architect brings a pure golf experience which is more about the golf course itself. The golf course then shapes the commercial proposition. In simple terms, it depends on the project.

Labels: Kyle Phillips, Press

Tuesday, January 1, 2002

Q & A with Kyle Phillips

Golf Course News International 2002-2003
By Trevor Ledger

Kyle Phillips spent 16 years with Robert Trent Jones II before creating his own practice. His first course in his own name is the highly acclaimed World Top 50 course, the Kingsbarns Links near St Andrews. This summer he opens another spectacular new layout: The Grove in Hertfordshire. Trevor Ledger talks with him.

GCNI: 16 years with RTJII. What prompted you to branch out on your own?

KDP: Working with Bob and his team was really great and I could have stayed there forever. I just felt the time for me to start my own firm was right. I was 39 and our children were 9 and 12 years old. If I had waited, it would have become more difficult for them to relocate.

GCNI: Kingsbarns was a great opportunity for you, wasn't it?

KDP: Indeed it was. To have such as strong location as St. Andrews and the natural coast line along the North Sea provided a good foundation. My good friend, Richard Wax, with whom I had worked closely during our years with RTJII, introduced me to the site. The original developers were looking to sell. I was then able to bring together an American developer for whom I had already designed a course, his financial partner and Southern Golf, the contractor with whom I had an excellent relationship during the construction of the Wisley Golf Club. This formed a solid team.

GCNI: What did you think when you first saw the property?

KDP: When I first walked the property at Kingsbarns, I wondered how the guys at Pebble Beach must have felt when they explored that truly outstanding site. I knew a golf course could be designed on the existing farmland, but what I envisioned was to transform the farmland into a dramatic links-style course.

GCNI: How do you feel about the results?

KDP: For purity of a "land meets sea" venue, I feel that Kingsbarns is unbeatable worldwide.

GCNI: Kingsbarns has received remarkable ratings by Golf Magazine and more recently by Golf World's panel of judges. Why do you think this is?
KDP: One of the reasons is that many players perceive the course as a natural links--even though it was all man-made. Also it can be set up for all levels of play. At the Dunhill Links Challenge, the pros enjoy the strategy from the back tees. The amateurs also derive great pleasure from their tee boxes as the tee shots leave both levels of players facing similar strategic decisions to achieve their scoring objectives.

GCNI: The Grove in Hertfordshire opens this summer. Could you describe the development?

KDP: This remarkable property lies within the M25 less than 25 miles from the centre of London and is also easily accessible from the airports of Heathrow, Stanstead and Luton. The British developer owns two successful hotels in the London area. They researched and identified the need for an hotel and golf venue where both elements were top quality. The users will be hotel guests, conference and event clients as well as some green fee play.

There will be a 227 bedroom five star hotel. A world-class spa is in construction as well as banqueting facilities for 500 guests. A feature will be the landscaped gardens around the restored mansion which was the former home of the Earl of Clarendon. It is destined to become "London's Country Estate".

GCNI: What were the site and soil conditions like when you began?

KDP: The site had two levels, both very flat with very different technical issues. The upper level was largely gravel with only a thin layer of topsoil, while the lower level along the canal had a high water table. The site also required removal of a considerable amount of old concrete from the old chicken sheds and military style buildings that were left from earlier owners.

GCNI: What theme did you incorporate at The Grove?

KDP: In general, I like to create courses that look and feel old-even though they are new I like them to look and feel as though they have existed for many years. At The Grove, it seemed only appropriate to design a course that would look and feel traditionally English. I have always liked the heathland style of architecture, particularly the

Harry S. Colt designed courses. I visited several different English Style courses with the owner and shaper, so that we all were in sync with what we were striving to create-not only how the course would be designed and constructed, but also how the course would be maintained.

GCNI: What sort of golfer is the course aimed at?

KDP: Even though it is true that the course was designed to be capable of hosting professional tournaments and is ideal for viewing by large galleries, the primary user will be 15-25 handicap players. Besides having a choice of 4 tee locations, bogey players will find available to them alternate angles of play, allowing them to play around hazards instead of always over them.

GCNI: The previous boom of golf courses springing up everywhere has apparently died. What can bring such days back? Do we want them back?

KDP: The marketplace is simply supply and demand. Currently there is an oversupply of certain types of golf facilities within certain markets. Just as in the lean times of the early 1980's and early 1990's, developers in the next several years are going to look harder at where each dollar is spent. Hopefully we will come out of this period with a greater appreciation of the importance of architecture.
GCNI: Where do you see golf going from here?

KDP: In the short term, I do worry about many of the new courses out there that have under achieved architecturally. They have a good location and all of the bells and whistles-- nice clubhouses, irrigation, green construction and so forth, but the architecture of the course is either uninspiring or just plain no fun to play. For whatever reason, these courses have failed to realise that the architecture, not the infrastructure of the course is ultimately every course's sustaining attribute-the architecture is the engine that drives it's success.

In competitive markets, these courses are certain to struggle against the courses that may have less infrastructure, but are better designed and more enjoyable to play.

One thing that is certain in these uncertain times, great architecture will stand the test of time. It always has.

GCNI: What is your major influence when considering golf course design?

KDP: I like to carry out extensive visits in the region of the proposed golf course with the construction team. In the case of Kingsbarns, I went with the developer and shapers to visit some of my favourite Scottish links courses, photographing the bunkers and green complexes prior to commencing the site works. In the case of The Grove in Hertfordshire, we were welcomed by the club secretaries and greenkeepers at the fine Surrey and Berkshire courses, where designers such as Harry Colt were masters of the art of strategy.

GCNI: Finally, with which other projects are you currently involved?
KDP: Southern Gailes in Ayrshire will also open in the coming Summer. It is at the heart of one of the greatest concentrations of classic courses in the World: Turnberry, Prestwick, Royal Troon and adjoins Western Gailes. Morgan Creek Country Club, near my home in California is nearing completion of construction, and we are in the design phase of new courses in Spain, Italy and just across the bay from San Francisco.

GCNI: Is there anything else you would like to contribute to modern architecture?

KDP: Probably two things. One is that I really enjoy traditional golf courses and hope to be able to demonstrate that new courses can look old while providing the functionality of the modern game. The second is to impress upon developers that a great design does not cost money; it makes money. Ninety to ninety-five per cent of the construction costs are predetermined by the site the owner has chosen and the expectations of the marketplace.

Today many sites that are available for golf do not possess interesting natural landforms. As at Kingsbarns, the landforms must be created. If we are going to restore golf course design to the greatness it provided some eighty years ago, then we must do a better job of creating natural looking landforms. I hope my work at Kingsbarns, Southern Gailes and The Grove will broaden the vision of developers and designers to realise that a minimalist look can be achieved without necessarily possessing a superb natural site from the outset.

Labels: Kyle Phillips, Press

Thursday, March 1, 2001

Design Special

Sacramento Magazine, March 2001
By Mike Bowker

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to design a golf course, consider this. You are standing in the middle of a 300-acre oak forest , your view on all sides blocked by hillsides covered with poison oak and cut through by a half-dozen streams choked with blackberry bushes. If you can envision that perfect par 5 that runs up the glade, around the bend, across the creek and between the two big oaks to a perfect little green that slopes from left to right - not too severely, mind you, because this is a difficult hole to reach in two - then you might be cut out to be a golf course architect.

For those who have this incredible "sixth sense," and who are lucky enough to find a slot in the harshly competitive world of golf course architecture, life can be good. If you are successful, chances are you will be asked to design courses in some of the more spectacular places in the world, such as Hawaii , the Caribbean , the Far East and Northern California.

Your work will likely stand for decades - if not centuries - as horizontal monuments to your talent. And you can make a comfortable living, if not become downright rich.

Of course, there are downsides. Every golfer who misses a putt, catches a bad lie or just has a bad day will not only call into doubt your design ability, but possibly the legitimacy of your ancestry. And then there are the developers - who pay your salary - who usually get their way when they want to unbend your perfect dogleg so they can cram in another house or two. Perhaps worst of all is the current and unfortunate trend for a "name" golfer to be paid more than you to place his name on the project and take credit for your work.

But, all things considered, many of us might gladly take on the challenges of being a big time golf course architect. We caught up with one from Northern California.

If you've played the 12th hole at Granite Bay Golf Course, you can understand my mistake. It's a long, uphill par 5 that looks like it was plucked from the Scottish Highlands. "This one has a great natural feel to it," I told one of my playing partners, Kyle Phillips, who happened to be the course designer. Phillips immediately broke into laughter. So did our other playing partner, Dave Cook, one of the principal developers of Granite Bay.

"We moved more dirt on this hole than just about all the other holes combined," Phillips explained with a grin. "But, you saying that is about the biggest compliment I could ever get. It's the effect we were trying to achieve."

As we finished the hole and looked back down the fairway, I realized the hole is a microcosm of the Phillips style, which already is breaking new ground for golf course architects worldwide. A former protégé and employee of perhaps the most famous course designer in the world - Robert Trent Jones Jr. - Phillips designed more than 35 courses on several continents under the Jones logo. He also has completed work on courses in five countries since going out on his own in 1997.

Last fall we spent a day hitting it around Granite Bay and talking about his philosophy of architecture, which was pure heaven for a golf course design junkie like me. We also talked about his split from the Robert Trent Jones II Design Group and the reasons behind his relocation to the Sacramento area. But, most of all, we talked about the future of golf. Phillips was easygoing and unassuming - he enjoyed talking about his family as much as he did his work. But by the end of the evening, it was easy to understand why he is considered one of the world's most thorough and innovative designers. His naturalistic style may well play a major role in influencing what golf courses will look like in the future.

If Phillips, 43, were a writer, you would say he had spent most of his career as a highly successful ghostwriter. For 16 years he served as a principle architect for Jones Jr. never receiving public credit for his work. (Although you will never hear Phillips complain about it.)

For example, few Northern Californians know Phillips did most of the design work on the Bodega Harbour Golf Links, The Resort at Squaw Creek, Granite Bay Golf Club and Adobe Creek in Petaluma.

The reason is that the marking of the golf industry is still a celebrity-driven phenomenon and the Robert Trent Jones name is highly salable. Jones Jr., of course, is part of the most famous lineage in golf course architecture history. His father, the late Robert T. Jones Sr., designed Spyglass Hill in Pebble Beach and the Mauna Kea in Hawaii , among many other famous layouts. Phillips joined Jones' design company is 1981, fresh out of Kansas State University.

"I'm not sure I knew how lucky I was to get the job," said Phillips, who moved in 1981 to the Jones Jr. headquarters in Palo Alto . "All I knew is I loved what I was doing and so did everybody else. There was a tremendous amount of energy in that office."

During the 1980s, Jones Jr.'s company went from being a popular course architecture firm to a burgeoning international conglomerate, handling the design of hundreds of new resort courses around the world. Phillips was one of four primary designers under Jones' tutelage. As a results, he traveled the world to places including Barbados , Austria , Malaysia , Portugal , Italy , France , Finland and Aruba , building golf courses. Although the junior architects did much of the work, all the courses are considered Robert Trent Jones Jr. designs.

"At the time, it was well worth the trade-off", said Phillips. "I learned a tremendous amount from Bobby and his father. We didn't always agree on things and more than once Bobby called me 'strong and wrong,' but he gave us a lot of leeway to design courses our own way."

In 1997, Phillips decided to make a break from the Jones fold. It was a gutsy move because working for Jones Jr. was interesting, lucrative and secure. "I really did some soul searching," Phillips said. "In the end, I knew if I was ever going to make a mark on my own, I had to try it. I didn't want to reach the end of my career with regrets that I never took that step."

One of his motivations for going out on his own was to further explore his ideas about creating the most natural-feeling golf courses possible. A major tenet in any Phillips design is detailed attention to what he calls "landforms." These are the slopes, ridges, mounds and rolls that occur naturally within the local landscape. They are critical elements to Phillips, who is a master at extending what nature gives him.

"That's what you saw on the 12th at Granite Bay ," he told me. "We took what was an unplayable slope and created an acceptable fairway by building the same type of long ridges that occur naturally on the rest of the course."

Phillips' concern with natural landforms is a distinct departure from the design concepts that have dominated golf for the last four decades. Beginning in the 1960s, course architects moved away from the approach of designers such as Jones Sr., who turned as little dirt as possible. Instead, designers began a long love affair with a singular design tool - the bulldozer. The minimalist or naturalistic trend that produced courses such as Pebble Beach , Spyglass Hill , Riviera , The Olympic Club, Shinnecock Hills, Winged Foot and other classis courses was shipwrecked by a fleet of D-8's. Many of the '60s courses turned out flat, long and virtually featureless.

Later, artificial mounding became the vogue, leaving many courses hemmed by mogul-like bumps that looked like the aftermath of an invasion of giant moles. Golf course design reflected the disco styles of the late 1970s and early '80s - loud, flashy and about as natural as an oil slick. The '90s brought about even more radical designs, full of blind, 90-degree doglegs and nightmarishly tough greens.

Today, Phillips is helping pioneer a new style of naturalism. His inspiration comes from the great architects of the past. He talks with great reverence about "Tillinghast bunkers," "MacKenzie greens" and other trademarks of the classic designers.

"What we're doing now is looking back at what they did and recognizing that we haven't actually been moving forward in the past few decades," Phillips said. "Hopefully we're through with this era of demolishing the natural terrain."
One of Kyle Phillips Golf Course Design's first contracts was to remake the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Manassas , Va. , site of the 2000 Presidents Cup. His work drew high praise from the PGA Touring pros.

Tom Lehman, for example, once said: "He improved the course dramatically. It's just a much better test." Phil Mickelson agreed. "I thought the remake of the greens was fabulous," the lefty said. "I thought all the subtleties made it a much improved track."

It was praise enough to leave one red-faced, but even that was nothing compared to the reviews Phillips has received for the most ambitious project he has taken on since leaving Jones in 1997 - the Kingsbarns Golf Links near St. Andrews , Scotland.

"Kingsbarns was a total challenge for me because the area was nothing more than a flat field that once housed horse barns for the king of England , " Phillips said. "Really, the land was pretty uninspiring".

Before he turned a shovel of dirt, Phillips studied the shape and sizes of the surrounding landscapes. Then he went to work recreating similar slopes, berms and landforms on the Kingsbarns site. "I created the landforms first, then fit the golf course into them," he said. "That, I believe, is the difference between me and many other designers. I think a golf course goes beyond flattening the terrain, then just building tees, greens and bunkers. Building a course is like peeling an onion. There are layers of detail. In the end, a designer has to consider every single land form when finishing a course. It is the subtle details that separate the great courses from the others."

Did Phillips succeed at Kingsbarns? It would appear so. The February 2001 issue of Golf Digest rated Kingsbarns the Best New International Course. "Whatever it takes, get there," wrote Ron Whitten. "Kingsbarns is worth a king's ransom to play."

Dave Perkins, a respected golf writer, wrote that in Kingsbarns, "Phillips has produced a reputation-making course that one day may stand beside Pebble Beach as Jack Neville's first-time wonder."

This is all high praise indeed for the work of a virtually unknown golf architect from Granite Bay , California.Yet Phillips appears unaffected by his success. He rolled his eyes and laughed when I called him a world-renowned course designer. He was more eager to talk - with a father's obvious pride - about his son, Aaron, 16, and his daughter, Kelsey, 13, than he was about the fabulous places he has been. His children's welfare was a big reason Phillips and his wife, Jill, chose the Sacramento area for their home in 1997.

"The quality of the schools and the community were a big draw for us in Sacramento ," said Phillips, who sometimes flies home from an overseas project just to watch his children's weekend soccer games. "We were considering several different cities around the country, but Sacramento seemed to have everything we wanted as a family."

Phillips' next project, currently on the drawing board, is the Morgan Creek Golf and Country Club just northeast of Sacramento in Placer County . He and Dave Cook are working together on the project, a private course that will wind through a subdivision. "It should be an exciting course when we are finished," said Phillips. "Right now we're in the longest phase of any course development. That, of course, is getting all the permits we need."

By the time we finished our round at Granite Bay , I had become aware that Phillips the "ghostwriter" also was a fan of mysteries. What I noticed was that most of the greens at Granite Bay are only slightly visible from the fairway. And what you can see looks a bit imposing, as though every angle into the hole is a tough one. Yet, when you reach the greens themselves, you realize the visual intimidation is mostly bluff. The greens are far more receptive to approach shots than they appear. When I called Phillips on it, he just grinned.

"A little mystery and complexity makes golf more fun, don't you think?" he said. "A good design should help players experience the course with all their senses. They should feel they are walking a natural landscape, and they should feel a bit of intimidation and a little triumph, too. I like to build courses that reveal a little more of themselves every time you play them."

Labels: Kyle Phillips, Press

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