30 Every successful championship golf venue begins with a clear design vision. Our role at Turfgrass is to help the golf course architect bring that vision to life under tournament conditions, collaboratively and with full respect for the design. We bring global expertise to the planning of both development and redevelopment projects at venues aspiring to host tournament golf, but we always operate in support of the design, ensuring the architect’s strategy performs technically, ecologically and operationally on the ground. From design concept to tournament week, our philosophy is simple: architectled, agronomist supported. Over the past two decades, we have worked on numerous major championship venues on both sides of the Atlantic for both the men’s and women’s game. Alongside architects and owners, we also support governing bodies, acting as an extension of the rules team when it comes to venue selection, setup and tournament delivery. Our involvement usually begins at an early stage, so that architectural intent is aligned with the realities of a site’s soils, microclimate, construction logistics and available maintenance resources. We develop agronomy specifications, rootzone profiles, grassing plans, irrigation strategies and grow-in programmes that correspond directly to how the architect intends the course to play and evolve. We add the most value in the unseen layers that make championship golf reliable. This includes advanced soil engineering, ensuring drainage systems are designed to perform during peak rainfall periods, and tree management plans that coexist with turf while protecting broadcast sightlines. Working with the architect, we review teeing ground sizes and hole location flexibility so that strategy is upheld, maintenance is practical, and setup provides options for the various environmental conditions. Tournament infrastructure is considered with the same understanding. We help identify optimum spaces and viewpoints for grandstands, hospitality and spectator mounding, and model Early engagement between architect and agronomists helps to deliver courses that are tournament-ready. A clear vision for championship conditions JULIAN MOONEY INSIGHT
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