The great crash of 2008 onwards affected the entire golf design industry, but it hit the big-name ‘signature’ design firms hardest of all. Lower profile golf architects, mostly working on their own, were able to retrench their operations and survive – if not exactly thrive – on a diet of small-scale renovation work for local golf clubs.

But that sort of work is less appealing to a larger firm, with bigger overheads to cover. The decline of the US housing market, and the consequent oversupply of golf and real estate developments, combined with problems affecting developments elsewhere in the world, notably China, for some years golf’s one great boom market, put the signature firms under tremendous pressure. The fact that some of the industry’s biggest brands, especially Nicklaus and Palmer, were embodied in men who were well into their seventies or beyond, and thus less keen to fly across the globe at the drop of a hat in search of new business only made the problem more intense.

Greg Norman’s firm, though, seems to be bucking that trend. Norman is, of course, significantly younger than most of the true A-list signature names, and his global profile, as well as his pioneering work expanding his brand into other businesses, has kept the design firm ticking over. And now, as the development business in many parts of the world starts to kick back into life, he is facing the future with confidence.

But, he adds, lessons have to be learned. The days of excess in golf are gone, and both architects and developers need to realise this. Norman says that change has been coming for a long time. “My team and I actually saw a change occur before the recession hit,” he says. “In the eighties, courses were averaging twenty million dollars to build. Today, this is no longer the case. Today, we must approach each course development with an owner’s mindset, taking into account the long term cost of the facility while also taking a piece of land and creating the absolute best product we can. I have always said, you have to begin with the end in mind. The more we reduce at the beginning of the project, the better the outcome will be for sustainability in the long run.”

This ‘thinking like an owner’ mindset is crucial to the future of the golf design business. Owners need their advisors to identify with their needs, and take any failure just as personally as they do. But business models that have worked for many decades have not been invalidated by the recession, says Norman – they just need tweaking and improving to fit the new normal. During the worst of the decline, some commentators were proclaiming the death of the golf and housing model, but Norman says he and his staff are seeing now that this is far from the truth. “We are already starting to see a resurgence, and I believe the golf course and real estate model can work if we go back to the roots of building sustainable courses at a reasonable budget,” he says. “We need to adhere to doing just that and not getting the developer in such a deep hole that they never recover. At my company, we have recently begun to design and integrate clubhouses into our overall scope of work. By doing this, I feel we can give added value of each project that we are involved with.”

Part of this expanded role of the golf architect lies in telling clients truths they may not find too palatable. In the boom years, seemingly every development had to be five star (or more!) and every golf course fitted to host a major professional event, even if the likelihood of one being played on it was close to nil. Developers still like the ‘championship course’ tag, says Norman, and trying to persuade them it doesn’t always fit is one of the golf architect’s biggest challenges. “This is a very tough dilemma and probably one of the hardest items to achieve,” he says. “It is very easy to build the hardest golf course in the world, but very challenging to build a course that is playable from all perspectives, including the forward tees. As designers it is our responsibility to ensure the owner is getting what they want out of the course, whether that be developing a championship-style course or a more straightforward course for all handicaps. At the same time, I also feel it is just as important to

educate the same owner on the long term sustainability and costs associated with developing each style of course. It is important to remember that tournament play is only one week a year, so my team and I never set out to build a course only for that one week. It needs to be challenging yet accessible every week of the year for not just professionals to enjoy.

“Most have to realise, that as designers, we are given a directive most of the time by the owner. This directive can mean building a hard course. In the end we are responsible to outline and inform the developer of the ongoing costs, reputation and most times the need to come in a make changes over time to ‘soften’ the course due to these reasons. These changes incur further costs that would not be necessary, if the initial directive was more flexible from the beginning. As I said before, you have begin with the end in mind.”

These pressures seem to exist across the globe, but they are most intense in new, and perhaps less sophisticated golfing markets. In developing golf markets – the Middle East, where Norman’s firm has built many courses, and is working on several more, is perhaps the most obvious example – the ‘championship’ tag has been overwhelmingly preferred by developers. Golf architects, Norman says, have a responsibility to educate their clients in such markets, not only on the sort of course that most golfers will enjoy, but also on issues of environmental sustainability. “We must view these markets as opportunities for growth in the game of golf as well as opportunities to approach course development in a new way,” he explains. “I am always pushing the limits and trying new things in our business and I thrive when challenged with issues such as water supply. There are so many options out there today to help alleviate water usage and help support sustainability. We look at integrating indigenous landscapes and grass varietals that use the least amount of water to help reduce the demand. We also see new products coming into the market that help with water retention. By marrying the natural environment with modern technology, the opportunity to develop a sustainable course while also helping to grow the game of golf in markets such as these are becoming easier every day.” It’s also critical for designers to help developers in these emerging markets find new ways to attract local players to the game, rather than relying solely on expats and tourists. Norman says he takes a key lesson from back home on this score: competition and community are key. “My home country of Australia has created inter-club matches for adults which creates competition and breeds a sense of community around the locals and the game of golf,” he says. “Their model has proven to be successful with keeping golfers interested in the game, while engaging new players to participate. To spread this model across all generations, from adults to children, in each market where the game of golf is growing, will, I believe greatly enhance the game’s awareness and popularity. We also need to open up facilities that welcome the grassroots of the game, the novice that has dreams of being best player in the world or the kid that just wants to get out there with their music, social media, devices and friends to just have fun.

“My ultimate goal is to find the right developer and build a twelve-hole facility around a real estate development and play it as three six hole loops to make a par 72. This would greatly reduce cost and playable area and give more land for other amenities and recreation areas as well as more development returning a better ROI for the developer.”

This article first appeared in Golf Course Architecture Issue 38.