December 23, 2011

From all of us at Thomson Perrett & Lobb we would like to wish our colleagues, Clients, friends in the industry and fellow golfers a Merry Christmas and look forward to a wonderful 2012.

At this time of the year there always comes a time for reflection on our achievements and on things we could have done better. While the golf development market is still quite stagnant we are pleased with our progress and accomplishments throughout the year.

Please see below some of our highlights for the year.

Master Planning Projects

We have been working on some fascinating master planning projects throughout the year. First of which is a 12, 000Ha site in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) called Wadi Al Asla, where we are appointed by leading architects HOK to assist them with the integration of two golf courses within the complex community master plan. The site has varied landscapes and characteristics and TPL has been onsite since day one to determine the optimal positioning of the golf course sites and how they will give a great golfing experience whilst ensuring connectivity to the rest of the 120km2 site.

Navigating around a 12, 000Ha site at Wadi Al Asla with HOK. The iPad is a great piece of kit.

Another major master planning project we have been concentrating on this year has been Barwa New Cairo. We are appointed by leading US architects RNL to assist them with the integration of an 18 hole championship golf course within a 600Ha residential community in the expanding Cairo suburbs. Whilst it has been a transforming era in Egyptian politics this year the project has continued and we are now looking at finalising the master plan in the near future.

The dramatic landscape at Barwa New Cairo.

International Expansion

In December 2010 we formed the Thomson Perrett & Lobb office in Cape Town, South Africa in which Andrew Goosen (Senior Design Associate) heads up.

Andrew Goosen at our new Cape Town office

TPL has made good in roads into developing long term projects in the African market and have been involved with preliminary studies for projects in Mozambique, Mauritius, Zambia, South Africa and Nigeria.

The dramatic Mozambique coastline where TPL visited in 2011

We look forward to a long association with Africa and to developing a typically ‘African golfing experience’ on all of the projects that we work on.

Working with existing Clubs

In addition to working on large scale master planned golf developments TPL also has great satisfaction in working with existing Clubs to improve their playing strategies. Throughout the year we have undertaken full strategic design reviews at The Richmond Golf Club, Wimbledon Park Golf Club, Royal Jersey Golf Club and a historic restoration of holes 16 + 17 at Burhill Golf Club.

Throughout the months of September to current there has been much construction works being undertaken and we are very proud of our achievements at these Clubs.

Bunker construction work at Royal Jersey Golf Club completed on hole 11, Dec 2011

TPL completed construction of a full 18 hole bunker and strategic review at Richmond Golf Club in Nov 2011.

TPL commenced with phase 1 (50%) of a total bunker reconstruction at Wimbledon Park Golf Club

Restoration of the 16th hole at Burhill Golf Club was completed in Nov 2011

2012?

TPL look forward to the year ahead. The golf development market is still very depressed and struggling in this current economic climate but despite this opportunites are still apparent.

We wish our Melbourne office, Thomson Perrett well for their bid to design the golf course for the Rio Olympics 2016. The decision is to be announced in the new year.

We are pleased to travel to the Opening of our El Ein Bay project in Egypt just after the Christmas break. A fantastic achievement to get this course finished despite the challenges Egypt has faced this year.

Opening of TPL's - El Ein Bay in January 2012

We are in the middle of bidding for three new major new developments so will hopefully have some success with one or more of those for the new year.

We continue to search for Clients who appreciate our attention to detail and our passion for delivering golf courses that complement the indigenous surroundings they lie in. But most importantly for our golf courses to provide a strategic challenge for all and make golf a fun game to play again.

Tim, Peter and Ross wish you a very Merry Christmas and look forward to seeing you all in 2012.

Goodbye 2011 – hello 2012.

Good golfing.

Click on above link to access our Summer Newsletter, 2011

The newly constructed bunker at the 1st green

The new bunkers were constructed by the groundstaff at the Club using the newly purchased 3 tonnes mini digger with swivel bucket. A great investment for the Club.

New fairway bunker on 3rd hole to tighten drive up

Andrew Goosen from TPL worked closely with the ground staff to achieve the desired design philosophy for the re-bunkering project and spent much time onsite fine tuning shaping and slopes.

The par 3, 4th hole looks stunning with the re-shaped bunkers

In our design philosophy we have tried to make the bases of the bunkers quite flat so as to allow for a fair and reasonable stance.

The bunker edges are getting stronger each day

We look forward to building the remaining bunkers this coming winter.

New fairway bunker on 18 to help direct play

More information on this project can be seen in our portfolio page.

http://www.tpl.eu.com/current-proj-05.php

Andrew Goosen (Senior Design Associate - Africa) of TPL was invited by a resort development company based in Johannesburg to take part in a site investigation as part of a larger development team for a mixed use resort on the Mozambique coastline.

Mozambique is well known for its luxury accommodation beach and lodge resorts, what it is missing are ancillary activities to attract a wider tourism market.

The stunning coastline of Mozambique.

The site,  consisting of a little over 800ha, aims to do just that, one element of which will be the golf course.

The expansive site in Mozambique

In all, the site is one gigantic undulating sand dune, and is flanked on one side by the Indian Ocean and on the other by a lagoon.

One of the inland lagoons onsite.

The dunes consist of a number of different ecosystems.

The Indian Ocean coastline is a turtle breeding sanctuary. The dunes climb to heights of over 70m in places, and is covered in a variety of dense tropical low level forests, and combination of African bush and savannah grasslands can be found in the internal areas. In addition there are a number if inland freshwater lakes, and finally a mangrove swamp on the lagoon side.

Some of the stunning landscape diversity onsite.

The design approach will be primarily to have as small an impact on the ecosystems as possible and to include them in the planning of a diverse experience for the visitor.

The brief for the golf course is for an 18 hole golf course and practice facility, there is also the possibility of a 9 hole short course, and with the location, topography and space, it promises to be a very special golf course, and a first for the region!

A unique opportunity awaits.

Andrew Goosen in front of Thomson Perrett & Lobb's Cape Town office

 The topic of the seminar is: THE SA GOLF INDUSTRY 2011 AND BEYOND -The current state of the game and solutions that relate to the viability of golf clubs as they exist in the future.

 The conference is an all day affair with key note speakers from across the industry.

www.compleatgolfer.co.za/page/gcm

With this being TPL’s first official function in Africa we trust that it will act as a good introduction of our commitment to the region

Andrew will be in Johannesburg from Wednesday 23rd February to Friday 25th February and can be contacted on cell: +27 (0)71 915 7151 or agoosen@tpl.eu.com if you would like to meet up with him.

Andrew Goosen TPL, Con Strydom ARUP, and Craig Todd

The golf day was a prelim event to the opening of the SA parliament and an opportunity for private and public sectors to rub shoulders.

The very successful day was closed by an address given by the SA Minister for Sport, Mr Fikile Mbalula, in which he stressed the important role sport can play in enhancing peoples lives and how golf in particular needs to break its stigma of being an elitist game and be made more accessible to all South Africans.

TPL endorse this need for change in the game as not only can the game reach into poorer communities, but it will play a significant role in the longevity of the game.

Andrew Goosen heads up our new Cape Town office. We look forward to a long and rewarding experience in Africa. Andrew can be contacted on agoosen@tpl.eu.com or tel: +27 (0) 21 812 2646 (office)

For more information see:

http://www.tpl.eu.com/wimbledon/

Some of the works have started to the greens surrounds of holes 4 + 10. We are trying to create more interest and improve strategy through the use of mounding and drop off’s.

Pictures below are taken from site visit 27 January, 2011.

Front left greenside bunker to be re-positioned on hole 4 as part of these works

The 4th hole is a long par 4 play right next to the Wimbledon Centre Court (Tennis)

Drop off's and mounding to back of 4th green to improve strategy and create interest

We have been working closely with Course Manager David Langheim and Club officials so far through the design development and look forward to getting into the bulk of the works next winter.

Mounding formed to back of 10th green to add interest and improve playability

Design work is ongoing with this project and we look forward to keeping you updated with this project.

Thomson Perrett & Lobb to open new African office

(London, England – December 15th, 2010) Thomson Perrett & Lobb, the golf course architecture practice founded by five times Open Champion Peter Thomson with partners Ross Perrett and Tim Lobb, is to expand its international business by opening a Cape Town office to service Africa.

The new business will be managed by Andrew Goosen who previously worked in the UK practice for four years, but has now moved back to his native South Africa in the newly promoted role of Senior Design Associate.

Commenting on this important step in the development of the TPL business, Principal, Tim Lobb, said: “We have been monitoring the development of golf in this region for some time and the creation of our new African office, coupled with the continent’s growing profile as a golf destination, is a logical progression which will allow us to closely manage both new and existing work going forwards.

“Andrew has already played a significant role in our Egyptian projects, New Giza and El Ein Bay, and we are confident our business interests in Africa, and those of our clients, will be in safe hands with the opening of this new office.”

Andrew added: “I have thoroughly enjoyed working alongside Tim Lobb in the UK, but the lure of returning to my native South Africa is very exciting. There has been noticeable growth and significant investment in the golf and tourism industry in Africa, and the prospects for the sport are very strong.”

Andrew Goosen in front of TPL's Cape Town office

As part of Andrew’s role, he will also be overseeing a new TPL project in Zambia, which will see the design and construction of an exciting new golf course that forms part of a hunting lodge development spread across 50,000 acres of land.

This expansion also rekindles great memories for the company’s five-time Open Champion, Peter Thomson, who had many head-to-head sporting encounters with the great South African golfer, Bobby Locke. The pair became great friends and toured the former Rhodesia and other parts of Africa, playing a series of exhibition matches during the 1950s and 60s.

TPL’s growth in the region coincides with the announcement that South Africa has been named ‘Africa, Indian Ocean and Gulf States Golf Destination of the Year 2011’ by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO).

For further information and videos about Thomson Perrett & Lobb, visit the company’s website at www.tpl.eu.com

ENDS

Press release issued on behalf of Thomson Perrett & Lobb by Landmark Media International Limited. www.landmark-media.com

PRESS RELEASE

Thomson Perrett & Lobb to consult on improvements to historic Channel Island golf course

(London, England – November 26th, 2010) Thomson Perrett & Lobb, the international golf course architecture practice founded by five times Open Champion Peter Thomson with partners Ross Perrett and Tim Lobb, has been appointed by Royal Jersey Golf Club to carry out an audit of the historic Channel Island golf course and make recommendations to enhance the playing strategy.

The view from the Napolenic Fort that adjoins the first fairway

Founded in 1878, The Grouville Links, as the course is known, occupies Grouville Common which comprises about 70 acres of rolling, sandy heath land and is bordered to the East by the magnificent coastline which was so admired by Queen Victoria that she commanded it to be named the Royal Bay of Grouville.

Harry Vardon, the six-time Open Champion, was famously born in Grouville, as was another Open Champion, Ted Ray. So the appointment of TPL to review and upgrade the famous links, with its own five-times Open Champion, Peter Thomson, is entirely appropriate.

Coastline, gorse and great golf at Royal Jersey GC

Tim Lobb, TPL principal, said: “The history and traditions of Royal Jersey Golf Club are of paramount importance to us and they are sure to be a key consideration as we undertake our work over this famous links course.”

Among TPL’s objectives at Royal Jersey is the improvement of the bunkers. Design work begins this month with the team working closely with the club’s head greenkeeper, David Crawford.

Golf hugging the coastline. What drama.

David commented: “Thomson Perrett & Lobb are a natural choice for Royal Jersey Golf Club. Not only were they recommended to us and then, subsequently, gave a very detailed proposal, but there were also sentimental reasons attached to our decision.

“Our club’s history and its association with the Open Championship alongside that of Peter Thomson, who won the event five times, is a very good reason to be working together. It will be the first time in 35 years that an outside team of architects has studied the Royal Jersey layout.

Perhaps the most frightening first tee shot in golf.

“One of the key aspects of TPL’s work will be to ensure the course is still a fair test of golf, particularly when you consider how advancements in equipment and golf ball technology over the past 10 years have significantly influenced how far all levels of player hit their shots.”

We look forward to working with Royal Jersey Golf Club

For further information and videos about Thomson Perrett & Lobb, visit the company’s website at www.tpl.eu.com, or visit www.royaljersey.com for additional information about the Royal Jersey Golf Club.

ENDS

Press release issued on behalf of Thomson Perrett & Lobb by Landmark Media International Limited. www.landmark-media.com

MEDIA CONTACT

Gary Firkins

gary@landmark-media.com

Tel +44 (0)1780 752790

Below are some pictures taken of the works.

The club purchased the mini digger with tilt bucket for the project which has proved a great investment

The same bunker on hole 1 with the edging in place

Part of the design philosophy of the re-bunkering exercise is to make the bunkers visible from teeing grounds and landing zones. Also to shape them so the golfer will have a fairly flat lie at the base of the bunker to play from.

Edging in place on greenside bunker on hole 3

The configuration for the bunkering has been modified on hole 3 to ensure that a clear strategy is apparent for all levels of golfers playing the hole.

Fairway bunker on hole 3. Nicely visible and imposing from the tee

We will keep you updated on this exciting project.