37 Photo: Landscapes Unlimited Those days were some of the most interesting in my career. It’s a much more professional industry now, because of the proliferation of golf in the late twentieth century. Of course, competition increased, but the cream rises to the top. A lot of our success is down to collaborating well with architects and we’re proud of those relationships. Our collaboration efforts extend to the development side of our business – Landscapes Unlimited has owned over 30 golf courses in its history, and still owns 12. We are always developing one or two courses alongside a partner, and sometimes that partner is an architect. One example is Sutton Bay in South Dakota. Architect Graham Marsh designed the course, and he became a close friend during this project. It opened in 2003 but within 10 years, the site was experiencing landslips where some areas were settling. The course was built on land overlooking Lake Oahe, a large manmade reservoir that was formed when the Missouri River was dammed in the 1960s. In response to the site’s instability, Graham, myself and founding partner Mark Amundson raised funds for a second course to be built on a more stable site. Landscapes still operates the club today. Things slowed down after 2008. The United States went from building 300-400 courses a year down to 25 – that’s quite a change! The industry, therefore, has had to change. There is a lot more renovation work now, whether that be new greens, bunkers or irrigation, and we’re rebuilding those courses that were built 30 to 35 years ago. I have built courses around the world, in places like Scotland, Portugal, Mexico and China. We constructed five golf courses in China, the first being Shanqin Bay on Hainan Island. Landscapes Unlimited actually helped designers Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw get the job! Bill Bill Kubly established Landscapes Unlimited in 1976 and the business has since been involved in more than 3,000 projects “ A lot of our success is down to collaborating well with architects and we’re proud of those relationships”
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