The fourteenth hole at Royal St George’s, which features on the cover of the new October 2022 issue of Golf Course Architecture, is known for its ever-present threat of out of bounds. Our main feature article considers whether OB has any merit in golf.

For most golfers, white stakes are perhaps the least welcome sight on any golf course. But once upon a time out of bounds was considered a legitimate strategic hazard. We ask whether OB is ‘the worst thing in golf?’, and golf course architects including Bill Coore, Mike Cocking and Neil Crafter share their own perspectives.

La Finca Golf Los Lagos will open in Madrid next year, almost 25 years after an initial routing was created for the site. The Stirling & Martin design will be the centrepiece of a luxury development in the heart of the Spanish capital. Toby Ingleton visits as the project finally approaches completion.

“If you can’t live with ups and downs, this is a very tough business to be in,” says Tom Doak, in an exclusive interview with GCA. He describes how, after thirty years building courses essentially the same way, he is now trying to find a new way of working. Read more about Tom Doak’s new approach in our interview piece.

There is plenty more in this issue too: Robin Hiseman of European Golf Design considers when, how and why a course might need tweaking just after opening; John Holmes explains how an Abu Dhabi club employed interseeding to help address its water supply issue; and Rob Gavarkovs says that synthetic turf could provide a solution to some of golf ’s pressures.

We start, as always, with our Tee Box section, which includes news of Brian Curley’s 36-hole project in Cambodia; an interview with Jim Wagner of Hanse Golf Design about the firm’s renovation of Narin & Portnoo Links in Ireland; a view of the new King-Collins-designed Landmand Golf Club that has opened for play in Nebraska; and news from AK Bars Golf Resort in Kazan, Russia, which has held a soft opening for its new Harradine golf course.

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