31 TEE BOX Crafter and Van Der Veen focus on embracing linksland feel at Glenelg A four-year renovation project is under way at Glenelg Golf Club in Adelaide, Australia. The plan was developed by Neil Crafter of Crafter + Mogford Golf Strategies in collaboration with Glenelg life member and former professional golfer Bob Tuohy and the club’s project and construction manager Ryan Van Der Veen. Six greens will be completely redesigned, and the remainder will be renovated, bunkers will be rebuilt, and the irrigation infrastructure will be upgraded to a new Rain Bird IC system. Crafter’s plan also includes adding more teeing options, reducing the amount of maintained rough, increasing fairway areas for more shotmaking options, and restoring sparsely vegetated sandy areas with indigenous plantings. Work has been completed on the eighteenth and is in progress on the thirteenth, following preparatory work on the nineteenth hole (pictured). “The extended use that the nineteenth hole will see over the next four years was the reason upgrade works have recently been undertaken on it to expand the tee and fairway areas and eliminate one greenside bunker,” said Crafter. On the eighteenth, the club reconstructed bunkers, expanded fairway areas, resurfaced the green and replaced an ageing retaining wall to the left of the green. A hybrid style of fairway bunkers that combine revetted and natural sand faces will be developed. “Reducing bunker numbers while enhancing strategy has been a real design challenge, but I expect the reimagined holes will provide a good test of golf for all levels of golfers,” said Crafter, who expects the project to be completed in late 2025. “The visual appeal of the course as an inland links – Glenelg is located on sandy linksland less than a kilometre from the ocean – will be enhanced by the additional sandy rough areas and hybrid bunkers we have envisaged,” said Crafter. “Working collaboratively with Ryan Van Der Veen, an experienced architect and shaper in his own right, is proving very rewarding and the club is gaining the benefits of our combined skills and expertise.” Read more about the Glenelg project on the GCA website Photo: Gary Lisbon
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