Kingswood Golf and Country Club in Surrey is set to see some of its original James Braid bunkering renovated under the direction of Swan Golf Designs.
The renowned Braid designed the original course back in the 1920s and Swan Golf Designs has carried out a comprehensive analysis and made recommendations for its sympathetic renovation.
Owner, Tom Hilliard, vice-president of the Variety Club of Great Britain Golfing Society, has great aspirations for the course, in raising its profile and image further than that presently achieved and work has already started with bunkering on some eight holes in the first phase of the renovation.
Swan and his team will breath new life into the bunkering of the par-fives and, most spectacularly, to a significant number of the par-threes and par-fours in the central portion of the course.
New tees are also being created as part of the project, increasing the length of the course from the championship tees to 6,960 yards.
The appointment follows the success of renovations under Swan’s direction at courses such as Goodwood, Workington and Middlesbrough, all originally designed by Braid, who used to live at nearby Walton Heath, where, for a sizeable part of his career, he was club professional.
Excited at the prospect of the imminent improvements, Hilliard, who also owns and operates Swan designed Silvermere Golf and Leisure, said, “The original course was designed by James Braid in the 1920s, so that layout now needs to evolve to meet the standards of the modern golfer. Changes need to be sensitively and professionally managed, with results that are natural but at the same time distinctive and challenging.
“We want, however, to retain and enhance that James Braid legacy. Howard and his team were an obvious choice for this project, given their sympathetic work on the other Braid courses and I look forward to seeing the transformation unfold.”
Kingswood Golf and Country Club www.kingswood-golf.co.uk
Swan Golf Designs www.swangolfdesigns.com