Tom Doak and Ian Andrew have been selected as the new consulting architects for St George’s Golf and Country Club in Toronto, the first time the two architects will have worked together.
“We want to remain a top-tier golf course and for this reason we are evaluating all options with the new architect team to sustain and improve our world-class status,” said club general manager Joe Murphy. The course has frequently been listed among the world's top 100, and is regarded as one of Canada's finest.
“My first thought when I heard about the project was that I am generally not taking on new consulting clients anymore, because they chew up too much of my schedule, but that I had to make an exception for any course that was listed among my favourites in the Confidential Guide. That's how I got tied up with Royal Melbourne, too,” Doak said. “My second thought was that I knew Ian Andrew had done a lot of work at St George's a few years ago so I called him and asked if he wanted to collaborate.” Doak first visited St George's in May 1991, while writing his Confidential Guide to Golf Courses. In the book, the course was listed as one of his 31 Flavours of Golf.
Andrew led the bunker restoration project at St George’s for Carrick Design in 2001, after spending close to a year researching the history of the club before delivering a presentation to the membership on how to restore the legacy of original architect Stanley Thompson. Andrew has worked on more than two dozen Thompson courses including the restoration of Highlands Links.
“I’m thrilled to be back at St George’s. The bunker restoration project here was a turning point in my career as an architect and I have always held the club in very high regard,” said Andrew. “A few years ago I made a list of the architects I wanted to work with and Tom was right at the top of it, so I’m thrilled.”
Andrew said future work will be focused on maintaining and restoring the Stanley Thompson history and heritage of the golf course and altering it as little as possible as they move forward.