The key completed new golf course projects for me since 1998 have been Castleknock in Dublin, and Brno in the Czech Republic.
At Castleknock I was lucky enough to work for a most indulgent and enthusiastic client, Paul Monahan. His new golf course, which has been developed around a high quality 145-bedroom hotel (owned by Tower Hotel Group), in a dramatic location on a plateau overlooking the river Liffey, is the most prestigious development in Ireland at the moment. It is built to championship standard, very much of its location, but also influenced by the very tv-friendly American style courses.
The client trusted me completely with the design, and I feel this is probably my best golf course yet. I was greatly helped in bringing the design into being on site by working with the project manager and agronomist, James Healy and his team, all of whom share with me their vision of the finished course.
I am gratified to hear that Castleknock regularly receives the highest praise. Visitors to the course, and those who work there, love the quality of the greens, and the drama and beauty of the setting. So much of this comes from the ecological value of the site. We had to confer with Fingal District Council to gain approval for a course in such a prominent and important riverside location. Happily, they have been delighted with the results. Wetland areas have been retained within the site, and it is completely self sufficient for water, with an intensive drainage system that collects rainwater, takes it to numerous storage lakes, and reuses this water supplemented by springs on site to irrigate the course.
My first project in eastern central Europe is now approaching completion in Brno, Czech Republic.
There are 55 other golf courses in Czech Republic, reflecting a burgeoning demand for golf in this and the surrounding central European countries. So the course at Brno, for local engineering company ALTA a.s., has been developed to satisfy this demand, and as such will provide full open access for golfers of all levels of ability. Many of the existing courses are 9 holes, and so this one, at 27 holes, will be one of the largest in the country.
I have designed it as 3 circuits of 9 holes, each of them over 3000m in length, with a 300m driving range and a 6-hole academy course. These are the kind of facilities essential to a rise in profile of the sport, and the course at Brno has already generated a great deal of interest, not least because of the quality of construction. Our experienced British project manager, Chris Johnson, oversaw a team of local Czech constructors to produce a course that I believe will offer golfing enthusiasts a whole new level of quality in their playing experience.
Surrounded by ancient oak forest, with long views over the countryside, it has the potential to become an enchanting location for a long afternoon round of golf, both for Czech players and golf tourists. The first 9 holes will be open this summer, along with the driving range, while the remaining 18 will be open for play the following summer.
I have two ongoing projects of particular interest at the moment.
These are Burstwick near Hull, and Ramside Hall in County Durham.
Two years ago, I built 9 holes in a lovely rural location on gently undulating farmland at Burstwick for a new development by local farmer, David Key. He has been so pleased with this first 9 holes and driving range, and its success, that I have now been appointed to design and build a further new 9 holes this year. It is a pay and play development which satisfies the demand for golf in an area where most courses are private members’ clubs.
The interesting feature of this course is that it is only between two to nine metres above sea level, and although two miles from the sea, its low-lying position means that the water features are affected by the rising and falling tides. This not only affects the way the course looks at different times of day or year, with the changing tides, but gives it a links feel, as some of the water is brackish, lending the wetland areas we have created there a maritime character.
I have a very warm place in my heart for the people and the golf course at Ramside Hall. I designed and built the first 27 holes here in 1994, for a great client, the larger-than-life Mike Adamson. This hugely popular and hospitable hotel course and driving range is one of the busiest and most enjoyable locations to play at in the North East of England. Mike’s course manager, Roger Shaw, led the greenkeeping team in the construction of the first 27holes with great success.
I am delighted therefore to have now been asked to design a new extension and adaptation of the original course to 36 holes. With continuing ambition, and due to the high level of use, we are going to use a similar specification to that used at Castleknock, which will raise the level of play and quality and offer a greater challenge to golfers, creating a course over 7,000 yards in length. The extension of the course forms part of the upgrading and extension of the hotel complex and facilities.
Again, well positioned with rolling views over County Durham, this is a beautiful course to play, which is just getting better all the time, and it is a privilege to be able to continue my association with this ambitious development.
The Future
Much of the activity in golf course development, as many will have noticed, is in Europe.
Through my work and experience in Brno, I have come to be appointed to the first stages of a new 27 hole development just outside Prague, in association with Hans Erhardt, an experienced golf course architect based in Austria.
Hans is one of a strong network of contacts and consultants I am delighted to have built up throughout Europe over the last few years, among whom are agronomists, project managers, finance specialists and other architects.
When it comes to working in Europe, master planning projects that combine golf and residential development are also key areas of interest, and the experience of our company gained on the high profile development at La Zagaleta in Marbella in Southern Andalucia has led to my work on master planning projects in Cyprus, Sardinia and Bulgaria.
All such projects place a major emphasis on getting the environmental impact of our work right for each individual location. I believe my training as a landscape architect has been a factor in allowing me to negotiate so successfully with planners and ecologists all over the UK and Europe to produce golf courses that can actually be environmentally beneficial, as well as successful in terms of the demands of the sport.
New golf course developers in Europe and beyond are looking for a blend of imagination and down-to-earth, practical experience. British architects are considered to be some of the best trained in Europe, having developed their understanding of their trade playing and studying some of the oldest and best courses in the world. This sense of history now has to be forward-looking enough to compete on a much more high profile world stage, and offer value for money at the same time!
It is a challenge I love to tackle, and feel eminently qualified to take on with this new stage of my career, as Gaunt Golf Design. I look forward to working alongside my trusted associates and staff and successfully building on my portfolio over the years to come.
Gaunt Golf Design Ltd www.gauntgolfdesign.com (from 1st March)