Golf Course Architecture - Issue 74, October 2023

21 TEE BOX Brandon Johnson of Arnold Palmer Design Company is leading a renovation at Omni Barton Creek Country Club at Lakeside in Texas. Work includes restoring the original shapes and sizes of greens, realigning edges and expanding them in selected places to recapture significant square footage that had previously been lost. “We are reintroducing lost pin locations and establishing new ones, which improves shot set-up options,” said Johnson. The architect is also addressing issues with thatch, organic build-up, and poor surface drainage on greens, while also recontouring the surrounds and approaches to introduce strategic playing opportunities and increase recovery options. Bunkers will also be realigned, repositioned and recontoured to give them a “much stronger visual and strategic presence”. In several areas, removing and/or reducing the bunkers will open up new sightlines and increase playability. Tees will be realigned, reshaped and laser levelled, while new forward tees will be added. Select trees will also be trimmed or removed to alleviate shade issues and open up angles of play. Brandon Johnson remodels Omni Barton Creek Photo: Brandon Johnson For the cover story of the latest issue of By Design magazine – produced for the American Society of Golf Course Architects by the team responsible for GCA – Gil Hanse, Andy Staples and Tom Marzolf share their thought processes for designing for match play. “When it’s match play, the hole needs to taunt the player into offense or defence, depending on how the match stands,” says Marzolf, of Fazio Golf Design, who helped to redesign Adare Manor in Ireland ahead of it hosting the 2027 Ryder Cup. The Fall issue of By Design also includes an interview with Frank Jemsek, a profile of The Battlefield course at Shangri-La Resort in Oklahoma, and insight into the GCSAA First Green program. To download the latest issue and subscribe to By Design, visit www.asgca.org. “The hole needs to taunt the player into offense or defence” GOOD READ

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