Interviews

Oakmont: An interview with Gil Hanse

With the 2025 US Open arriving at Oakmont, Richard Humphreys spoke with the architect, who renovated the course in 2023, about what to expect

Martin Ebert: Design journey

With a portfolio that includes eight of the ten Open venues, Mackenzie & Ebert occupies an enviable position in the golf design industry. Adam Lawrence spoke with principal Martin Ebert to learn how they got there

Designs for the big screen

Chad Goetz and Agustin Piza discuss their design decisions for the virtual holes that featured in the first season of TGL

Bob Harrison: Wizard of Oz

The Australian designer has had a long career and, like many of his countrymen, has spent much of it away from home. Adam Lawrence listened to his tales from the road

Ben Cowan-Dewar: Shock and awe

Golf development firm Cabot now has properties in six countries. Richard Humphreys speaks with co-founder and CEO Ben Cowan-Dewar about what makes a great site, selection of golf course architects, and more

Team building

Turfgrass has launched its US arm with the appointment of John Lawrence, Adam Moeller and Brad Owen. Richard Humphreys speaks with them, Turfgrass founder John Clarkin and director of agronomy Julian Mooney to find out more

Brian Curley: Life of Brian

The designer has surely clocked up more air miles than anyone else in the business. Adam Lawrence caught up with him in between flights to discuss his career and his new venture with Jim Wagner

Oakmont: An interview with Gil Hanse

With the 2025 US Open arriving at Oakmont, Richard Humphreys spoke with the architect, who renovated the course in 2023, about what to expect

Martin Ebert: Design journey

With a portfolio that includes eight of the ten Open venues, Mackenzie & Ebert occupies an enviable position in the golf design industry. Adam Lawrence spoke with principal Martin Ebert to learn how they got there

Designs for the big screen

Chad Goetz and Agustin Piza discuss their design decisions for the virtual holes that featured in the first season of TGL

Bob Harrison: Wizard of Oz

The Australian designer has had a long career and, like many of his countrymen, has spent much of it away from home. Adam Lawrence listened to his tales from the road

Ben Cowan-Dewar: Shock and awe

Golf development firm Cabot now has properties in six countries. Richard Humphreys speaks with co-founder and CEO Ben Cowan-Dewar about what makes a great site, selection of golf course architects, and more

Team building

Turfgrass has launched its US arm with the appointment of John Lawrence, Adam Moeller and Brad Owen. Richard Humphreys speaks with them, Turfgrass founder John Clarkin and director of agronomy Julian Mooney to find out more

Brian Curley: Life of Brian

The designer has surely clocked up more air miles than anyone else in the business. Adam Lawrence caught up with him in between flights to discuss his career and his new venture with Jim Wagner

AML
/ Categories: News

Rees redo for Tilly's Tulsa track

US architect Rees Jones is working on a renovation of the AW Tillinghast-design Tulsa Country Club in Oklahoma.

The club, which dates to 1908, moved to its present site on the outskirts of the city in 1916, when Tillinghast was employed to redesign an existing course.

Jones says much of the character of the original Tillinghast design had faded over the years, and, that with limited historical documentation available, the challenge was imagining what Tillinghast had intended for the site.

“We took inspiration from what we did at Baltusrol’s Upper and Lower courses,” Jones said. “Mindful of the membership’s expectations, we tried to instill Tillinghast’s design imperatives back into the golf course.” He noted that while the layout and sequence of the golf holes did not change, nearly everything else on the course is new. 

The US$4.7 million construction budget had to cover the installation of a new irrigation system and pumphouse, which together accounted for a third of the sum. The remainder, Jones noted, was spent on building eighteen new USGA greens and surrounds, rebuilding and relocating tees, new fairway bunkering, regrading fairways for better surface drainage, and other infrastructure works. “We were able to squeeze every last drop out of the allocated budget,” Jones said. “We proved that with the right team and a good contractor in place, we can do a lot of quality work on a limited budget.”

The front nine has been grassed this autumn, ahead of a planned June 2011 reopening. Greens were seeded with a new strain of heat-tolerant bentgrass, while the fairways are bermuda. 

“We’ve added some length — the revised course will stretch to just over 7,000 yards, par 70 — and greatly varied the yardages on the par fours,” said Jones’s associate Bryce Swanson.

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