The course is in Suffolk, UK and designed by Open and US Open Champion, Ted Ray in 1924. Over the coming months we will undertake our course analysis and test design ideas for consideration. The course is very much a parkland gem and offers a good challenge to members and guests alike.

Bury St Edmunds GC. A parkland gem.

TPL are delighted to announce that Stuart Rennie, golf course and landscape architect will be part of the TPL team on the Bury St Edmunds project, he was introduced to TPL after working in the Thomson Perrett Australian office for over 9 months where he was fortunate to be involved with projects throughout Australasia.

Stuart graduated from Edinburgh College of Art with an MA (hons) degree in Landscape Architecture and has past experience working for two of the UK’s leading multi-disciplinary practices Scott Wilson now URS and Keppie Design as a Landscape Architect. He gained a post graduate diploma with distinction in golf course architecture through the European Institute of Golf Course Architects (EIGCA) whilst at the same time being thrilled to be awarded the Toro sponsored EIGCA design student of the year for the 2007-2009 course.

Tim Lobb + Stuart Rennie onsite at Bury St Edmunds GC

Stuart is now an Associate Member of the EIGCA and has a personal interest in the relationship between golf, landscape and the environment, which he fully believes can coexist. He is also currently involved with a Thomson Perrett project in China as project Landscape Architect and with the Bury St Edmunds project at Thomson Perrett & Lobb.

We look forward to Stuart being a part of our team.

Further updates to follow.

During our travels to Calabar we have become friendly with local golf pro Mr Henry George. Henry is the golf pro at the existing course in town – Calabar Golf Club. The course was built for and by the military some 20 years ago. In fact Henry helped build it. We have shared a few cool drinks with Henry on the balcony of the Clubhouse and it is always fascinating to hear his stories of golf in Nigeria and how he really hopes to see the game grow.

Tim and Henry on the balcony at Calabar Golf Club

Henry is so committed to the game of golf that he helps with the maintenance of the course and all other aspects of keeping the club going. Despite quite low participation rates for golf Henry is optmistic for the future and with the help of the R&A and Toro we have mananged to secure some golf clubs to help promote junior golf and a fairway cutting machine that is so desperately required at the club. More to follow on that front in the coming months.

Hopefully one day we might see a Nigerian lift the Claret Jug. But probably more importantly we will see golf as a sport that is enjoyed by a larger percentage of the population.

Henry George we salute you as one of the great teachers of our great game and for your endless pursuit to encourage more people of your country to enjoy it.

In the next three weeks the TPL design team will be visiting Calabar in Nigeria to present our initial conceptual designs to the development team and Governor of Cross River State for the exciting new 18 hole golf course we are designing there.

Tim Lobb and Andrew Goosen onsite in Calabar, Nigeria

In addition to the Calabar trip we will also be making site visits to two new projects that we have in Algeria and Mauritius in the next three weeks.

We look forward to updating our readers of these new projects upon our return.

https://twitter.com/#!/TPLgolf

Last Friday I was fortunate enough to play two of the greatest golf courses in the world on the same day. Below is an account of what can only be described as a golfing dream.

Arriving to the Monterey Peninsula from the Golf Industry Show in Las Vegas, Tim Lobb,  John Douglas, David Murdoch and Kneale Diamond felt great excitement to what could be the greatest 36 hole day possible.

We stayed in a local hotel the night before and drove to Cypress Point at 6.30am for our 7.30am tee time. Cypress Point is a very private club with only a small sign at the entrance of the property.

We arrived in time and the pro greeted us in the car park. Our caddies arrived and soon we were to tee off. It still was not really sinking in that we were about to play Cypress Point. It was a beautiful clear day and below is what presents you on the first tee.

Cant see alot off the first at Cypress Point. But a great story does unfold.

A great shot off 2nd tee

Such a difficult pitch to this narrow green.

Some of the great bunkering at hole 13

What a thrill to play 15th at Cypress. Got up and down from the back bunker for par.

The joy of hitting the 16th green with a driver.

John, David, Kneale and Tim. Four happy golfers.

What a great hole. 17th at Cypress Point.

Pebble Beach - 6th hole. I hit the cart path which was fun and gave me 50 yards

7th at Pebble. What a beauty.

David surveys his approach shot into 9th at Pebble.

View back from the 10th at the coastline. Awe inspiring.

Some new bunkering on hole 15 which worked very well.

Produced by Whitebridge Hospitality.

www.whitebridgehospitality.com

Why Skiing and Golf

Golf’s role in boosting hotel performance levels at summer resorts during the shoulder seasons is well known. Take the Belek region in southern Turkey, where a government – backed initiative established in the 1980′s has resulted in the creation of one of Europe’s finest golfing destinations, now offering 14 courses and helping to drive increased demand to the region. Indeed, the number of rounds per visitor to the region has increased from 0.22 in 2004 to 0.35 in 2010.

The courses, helped by a favourable climate and good terrain, are all of a high standard and extremely well maintained according to Tim Lobb of Thomson Perrett & Lobb, Golf Course Architects.

What is less well known is that this model can also work in reverse. Ski resorts achieve their highest levels of performance during the key winter months when ski conditions are at their best. Despite their majestic beauty, during the warmer months of the year, the mountains are less popular and much of the costly resort infrastructure lies idle.

Golf could help! For example Thomson Perrett & Lobb and architects HOK are currently exploring the potential benefits of golf in a ski resort setting in the mountains of Adjara, Georgia.

Adjara, Georgia

Of course, the kind of topography that suits skiing is not always ideal for golf. Close examination of the landscape is required, to ensure that suitable land for golf exists without unacceptable disturbance to the landscape. Often, as most ski resorts and hotels are located on the lower slopes, the potential for a golf course could be accomodated.

Skiing infrastructure on lower slopes

According to Thomson Perrett & Lobb, the golf infrastructure has added benefit of lending itself to multi-tasking a golf course by summer and the following by winter:

- cross country skiing on the course

- skating on the water hazards

- using the water hazards as snow making reservoirs

- using the water hazards to capture spring run-off for later use as golf course irrigation

Golf can therefore become a valuable component within a wider master plan, helping to make a ski resort a year round destination.

If you would like to subscribe to the EMEA Hotel Monitor produced by Whitebridge Hospitality email them at info@whitebridgeh.com

International golf architecture practice Thomson Perrett & Lobb has signed a contract to design a new course outside the Nigerian city of Calabar. The eighteen hole course will be built on a dramatic riverside site just outside the city, the capital of Cross River State, whose state government is developing the project.

The development covers a total site of 400 hectares and includes an international convention centre, which is already under construction. Renowned Danish firm Henning Larsen Architects has designed the centre, as well as the other components of the project, a hotel and a hilltop housing community.

TPL’s London-based principal Tim Lobb and Andrew Goosen, who runs the firm’s African office in Cape Town, recently returned from a week-long visit to Calabar, during which the design contract was formally signed. The pair then spent the rest of the visit walking the site, and assessing the layout options.

Lobb and Goosen onsite in Nigeria

Nzan Ogbe, special advisor to the Governor’s Office, who led the committee in charge of the design contests, said: “We selected TPL for this important project after an international competition. Combined with the convention centre and hotel, the new golf course is a big investment for Cross River State and we believe in TPL we have found a partner we can rely on.”

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and has one of the continent’s fastest growing economies. But its natural resources, such as forests, are under pressure, and, said Tim Lobb, the golf course must be designed and built sensitively. “The tropical climate makes this a challenging place to build golf,” he said. “We intend to start construction in September, after the rainy season has finished, to minimise the potential for erosion damage, and we intend to keep tree clearance to a minimum.”

A great opportunity awaits TPL in Calabar

Andrew Goosen, who will make regular trips to the project from his base in South Africa, is excited by the potential of the site. He said: “The property is right next to the Calabar River, which is about 700 metres wide at this point, and that, combined with the significant changes in elevation gives us wonderful vistas. The dense tropical valleys, forests and rubber trees found on the site will make for beautiful golf holes. Our next step is to make a very detailed analysis of the site so our design will work in harmony with the existing site conditions. We hope the course, like the rest of the project, will serve as an economic engine to assist the development of the Calabar region.”

Overall view of Calabar site with adjoining river in distance

ENDS

Notes: We look forward to keeping you updated on this exciting project.

Thomson Perrett & Lobb will be in attendance at the Golf Industry Show in Las Vegas, February 27^th – March 1st, 2012.

If you would like to organise a time to meet up please contact – tlobb@tpl.eu.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 19 January 2012

FIRST NINE OPEN AT NEW EGYPT COURSE

The first nine holes of the El Ein Bay golf development in Ain Sokhna, Egypt have opened. The course has been designed by London-based firm Thomson Perrett & Lobb (TPL), the practice founded by five time Open Champion Peter Thomson.

Egyptian firm Galalah Touristic Investments is the developer of El Ein Bay, which is part of an integrated development including 200 villas and three apartment precincts. “We spent a lot of time with TPL refining the site master plan to ensure the housing has as little impact on the golf course as possible,” said Maged Hosny, partner and general consultant to Galalah Touristic Investments. “As a result, we have a really great golf course that we’re confident people will have a lot of fun playing.”

View of 5th hole from one of the well designed villa's

TPL principal Tim Lobb said: “Ain Sokhna is a resort town about an hour from Cairo – the closest beach to the city – and is frequented mostly by Cairo residents and expats, so we have designed the course to be playable by the widest possible range of golfers. It’s not the longest course, but I believe it will provide a wide variety of shotmaking options, whatever your level of ability.”

Some of the detailed bunkering at El Ein Bay

Lobb highlighted the par three fifth and par five seventh holes as his favourites among the new nine. “The fifth green has strong contours, which will make it challenging for good players, especially if the pin is in the back right position, which is heavily guarded by bunkers, but it is also large, and thus relatively forgiving,” he said. “And the seventh has a large bunker short of the green that acts as an optical illusion. The bunker makes the green appear much shorter than it actually is.”

US-based firm King Golf International was the contractor on the construction of El Ein Bay. The course has been grassed entirely with Platinum paspalum, supplied by Atlas Turf International.

Tim Lobb (TPL) and Tad King (King Golf International) attended the opening of the first nine holes at El Ein Bay

In a separate development, the ownership of El Ein Bay has linked up with an adjoining golf project, the Little Venice Golf Resort, developed by Hassan Allam Properties, to create Golf Club Sokhna. With the nine holes now open at El Ein Bay, and nine holes, designed by American architect John Sanford, at Little Venice, the new club already has an eighteen hole course, which measures 6,968 yards from the back tees. The completion of El Ein Bay’s second nine, expected for later in 2012, will make the club a 27-hole destination.

ENDS

BTME Harrogate

Please contact Tim Lobb if you would like to meet up.

tlobb@tpl.eu.com