Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands, is home to La Moye Golf Club, a links course that has seen designers George Boomer, James Braid and Henry Cotton leave their mark.

Now it’s the turn of Tom Mackenzie and Mike Howard of Mackenzie & Ebert (M&E), who are working with contractor MJ Abbott on a series of changes as part of a long-term masterplan.

“One of the main drivers was that the front nine is crammed into an area half the size of the back nine – we’re trying to loosen up its compact nature,” says Howard. “The back nine was extended in the 1970s and went into some amazing duneland, so we are also aiming to make better use of that.”

The first phase has included rerouting the second half of the thirteenth hole into dunes to the right and building a new short par-four fourteenth to replace the original par three.

“The off-site landscape they’ve got is amazing,” says Howard. “To build two new holes within some of this land, the club had to go beyond its boundary fences, do a lot of mitigation, and then improve and restore the duneland outside their boundary to offset some of the changes they’ve done on their own land.”

Heather Moran, general manager at La Moye GC, says: “Environmental stewardship was central to the project given the many protected species on our site. Local ecological consultants ensured the land, and its biodiversity, were protected at every step, and expert guidance from the R&A agronomy team helped us ensure the highest agronomic standards were met.”

MJ Abbott was on site between September 2024 and March 2025, by which time all playing surfaces were seeded. The holes are growing in before reopening in June 2026.

Howard believes the two redesigned holes offer something a little different for the club. “There’s an amazing view at the top of the plateau on thirteen,” he says. “Looking down this valley, you see the fourteenth green sitting behind the thirteenth green and in the distance, there is the fifteenth green sitting out on the promontory and then the seventeenth green is beyond that. I can’t think of anywhere that has that type of view.

“The aim for fourteen was to create a hole that plays over a huge valley to an angled fairway, so it is a real risk-reward par four. The back tee is set up so high that better players are going to be tempted into going for the green, but it’s just a bit out of reach.”

Mackenzie & Ebert’s masterplan aims to address the up-and-down nature of La Moye’s routing and introduce more variety in hole length and direction (Image: Mackenzie & Ebert)

This first phase also included rebuilding the tenth fairway, which previously didn’t drain well.

“MJ Abbott stripped the top 600 millimetres of heavy clay material, stockpiled it, excavated loads of sand and then swapped the material around,” says Howard. “It was a massive undertaking and a really important project.”

The M&E masterplan includes significant proposals for the fifth, sixth and seventh holes – all aimed to create more variety of par-three and par-four holes. Mackenzie and Howard have proposed a par-three sixth. Mackenzie says: “It plays along the top of the slope down the beach way below, making better use of the beautiful landforms in this area. The seventh continues that theme and is a short dogleg left that will tempt some players into making rash decisions – it will be a short par four playing in the opposite direction to the twelfth.”

“If the wind is one way, the seventh could be reachable,” says Howard. “And if the wind is going the other way, the new fourteenth could be as well.

“The removal of the thirteenth green opens space to move the tenth green onto better ground at the side of dunes. The new greens have to blend. The site is very exposed so we can’t go over the top with contouring. It is more of a case of getting them to fit within the existing landscape.

“The next phase involves building the new sixth and seventh holes. That then allows the existing par-three first to be removed and to be replaced with a giant putting green,” continues Howard. “This would free up those holes a bit, give them better facilities close to the clubhouse and make better use of the glorious landforms. The old fourteenth green would become the new short-game area. We couldn’t start with this phase because we had to produce all the material on site, which we now have from building the new thirteenth and fourteenth holes.”

“La Moye gave us a fairly open brief, and this first phase is the start for them to make the most of the incredible land that they have. Once holes thirteen and fourteen reopen, I expect the club will focus on starting phase two.”

This article first appeared in the July 2025 issue of Golf Course Architecture. For a printed subscription or free digital edition, please visit our subscriptions page.