New course at London Club
2 May 2012
The London Golf Club in England is partnering with the European Tour to build a new training centre.
The club has submitted plans to local authorities for the construction of a new European Tour Performance Institute, including driving range and a nine hole academy course. European Golf Design is leading the academy course project. Planning permission has already been granted for a 130 bedroom five star hotel and spa.
The club says the EPTI, which includes a fully-covered driving range and a short-game facility, will be the first of its kind in the UK. It will use the latest technology, biomechanics and tools developed by elite professionals and medical specialists on the European Tour.
Club general manager Austen Gravestock said: “We are a very forward-thinking club and I firmly believe the new ETPI, academy and nine hole golf course will elevate our status.”
With the plans now submitted to the local authority for their consideration, Jeremy Slessor, EGD’s managing director, said: “It’s been a fascinating start to the project – combining the evolutionary approach to performance and training of the ETPI with an Academy facility that will support, without replicating, the two existing courses at the London Club. Trying to marry the requirements of the European Tour with the need to provide a bespoke training course, concentrating on game improvement, has been challenging – but we feel confident that this is what we’ve achieved. Added to this has been the desire to restore the terrain from an open agricultural field to one with a diverse environment, supporting diverse habitats resulting in a richer ecological landscape.”
London-based architect firm Mackenzie Wheeler has designed the EPTI facility, as well as the hotel – cut material from whose construction will be used to build the new nine hole course..
Partner Duncan Mackenzie said: “We think the tendency for the driving range element of similar installations to adopt a barn or other agricultural building form can backfire. So in this location we have adopted various techniques to make sure that the new building blends quietly into its environment.
“There is a tendency for driving range structures to be rather intrusive, adopting shed, barn or agricultural building forms. In this location we have applied some simple techniques to ensure that the building blends quietly into its environment.
These techniques include a preference for landscape over building, the use of lightweight or transparent materials where possible and adopting earth colours to exposed elements.”
“These techniques include the creation of a landscaped feature, so that parts of the building are earth-bermed, and using lightweight or transparent materials where possible, with earth colours to exposed forms.”