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

Richard Humphreys
/ Categories: News

Synthetic turf course in construction in northeast France

Construction work is progressing on a new nine-hole short course at the Golf Acadamie 57 facility in Longevilleslès-Metz, France, using synthetic turf for tees, greens and bunkers.

Diamond Golf Architects has created a layout of par threes and fours for the course, which is now being built by Greenshaping and Southwest Greens Construction.

“Constructing tees, greens and bunkers with synthetic turf has a big impact on the maintenance budget that will be needed to maintain the course to a high level,” said Christophe Estermann, director of Academie 57. “We have tested Southwest Greens’ product intensively for two years and it has taught us it will stand the test of time. More importantly, we just need to maintain our natural fairways and rough which means a lot less machinery and greenkeeping staff involved.”

Alexandre Groysiller, managing director of Greenshaping, a partner for Southwest Greens in France, said: “We use classic construction methods and there are no compromises needed to make the synthetic systems work with the design. We simply execute Diamond Golf’s design and install the Southwest Greens solutions to mimic a natural course with the benefits of utilising synthetic turf solutions.”

Kevin Holinaty, president of Southwest Greens Construction, said: “The fact that our products come with five years performance warranty and a full maintenance manual tells you our industry has developed to a serious alternative for golf course owners and is a safe bet to invest in. Many have and will continue to take a ‘seeing is believing approach’ as to whether our product can achieve these objectives. We are glad to take on the challenge and it motivates us to improve our portfolio.”

This article is based on a piece that first appeared in the October 2021 issue of Golf Course Architecture. For a printed subscription or free digital edition, please visit our subscriptions page.

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  • Academie57
    Southwest Greens Construction

    Construction work is progressing on a new nine-hole short course at the Golf Acadamie 57 facility, using synthetic turf for tees, greens and bunkers

  • Academie57
    Diamond Golf Architects

    Diamond Golf Architects has created a layout of par threes and fours for the course

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Southwest Greens Construction
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