Three more holes complete as New Zealand progresses with restoration project

Work on the ninth, tenth and eleventh holes at New Zealand Golf Club in Surrey, England, has been completed in the latest phase of a long-term restoration project.

Overseen by Frank Pont of Infinite Variety Golf Design and Edward Cartwright, with construction work by Conor J Walsh Golf, the latest changes follow last year’s work on the sixth, seventh, twelfth and thirteenth.

The design team has restored Tom Simpson’s lacy-edged, multi-angled bunkers on the short par-three tenth. The hole has been changed several times since Simpson redesigned the course with the assistance of Philip Mackenzie Ross in 1931, and Pont and Cartwright have referenced historic low-level aerial and ground photography to ensure their work is sympathetic to Simpson’s design.

Other changes include the restoration of a lost bunker among rough to left of the ninth green, and the reworking of hazards that protect the eleventh green.

The club has also acted on advice from John Nicholson Associates for a new, phased woodland management plan. The first phase has been completed on the ninth, tenth and eleventh holes, with a focus on improving air and light circulation, which will also help to preserve the heathland.

“The fact that our work is now being complemented by a comprehensive woodland management plan should mean that, over the next few years, the course’s overall characteristics will be even more in keeping with its origins and the heathland will be in a far healthier condition,” said Cartwright.

Roger Marrett, secretary of New Zealand GC, said: “The club has adopted a long term and patient approach to the course’s restoration, and we are very happy with the results achieved thus far. I hope that the restoration of these three holes will be the template for future phases.”

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