25 is also a very comprehensive, 20-acre practice facility that will give players the facilities required to work on all aspects of their game. Can you provide some insight into the routing process? The family allowed me to use the property as needed to create great golf, with development then positioned around the layout. This is a somewhat rare opportunity to create a public golfing experience that is uninterrupted by the adjoining development. Golfers don’t traverse any neighbourhoods from start to finish, making it a core golf course that prioritises the golfer’s experience. The divergent characteristics of the site also made the routing somewhat straightforward. The most interesting ground for golf wasn’t necessarily going to be good ground for development, and conversely, the ground that I left for development had very little natural interest for golf holes. It was then just a question of getting the holes organised on the interesting ground. There was definitely a handful of what I call ‘anchor’ holes. Regardless of how my various concepts were laid out, these holes were always going to be a part of the final routing. This group comprises holes eight, nine, eleven, twelve, fourteen and fifteen. Another focus of the routing process was the opportunity to create multiple smaller golf course options. The layout has players returning to the clubhouse after the sixth and ninth. This will allow Bella Ridge to offer three- and six-hole rounds besides the traditional nine- and eighteen-hole rounds. What will the playing experience be like at Bella Ridge? I hope players will use words like ‘fun’, ‘adventurous’ and ‘engaging’ once they have played at Bella Ridge. As I’ve said since I started my own design firm over 20 years ago, ‘fun is the foundation’. The way this is accomplished at Bella Ridge is by giving players as many options of play as possible. One of the main defences of the course that players will need to be aware of throughout the round are the ground slopes in the fairways and around the greens. Once the course gets firm and fast, the slopes will be big factors either helping players or potentially hurting them depending upon where the slope takes the ball. There will be a lot of room in the fairways and a substantial amount of short, bentgrass surrounds that will create options and variety around the greens. Read the full interview with Schaupeter on the GCA website. Image: Art Schaupeter TEE BOX
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