Very warm weather welcomed the participants with firm and fast conditions on the brillant Red Course.

Below are a couple of pictures from the day.

Participants at the 4th Annual Thomson Cup.

Peter presenting the Thomson Cup to winner, Sir Rocco Forte

Get practising for next year…..

Thanks to The Berkshire Golf Club for allowing us to play our event on their fine heathland course.

Click on link above to see original footage of Peter winning the 1955 Open Championship at St Andrews.

As the golfing greats gather at St Andrews for this years Open Championships Peter, Ross and Tim make the annual journey to attend the Championship.

Peter Thomson is captaining the team of Tiger Woods, Sir Nick Faldo and Mark Calcavecchia at Wednesday’s Champions Challenge.

Click on the below link to watch a video on Peters thoughts of St Andrews.

http://www.tpl.eu.com/library-old-course.php

Peter won the 1955 Open Championship at St Andrews.

Tim, Peter and Ross at the famous Old Course in St Andrews

Drop Tim an email if you are attending and want to meet up

tlobb@tpl.eu.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhzjyFSCc4Q

What a swing.

Well done to Les Howkins, Jaey Goodchild and all the groundstaff at The Club for their committment to fulfilling the design philosophy of these bunkers.

See below for pictures taken today – 30 June, 2010

Some of the new fairway bunkers created last year

The edges have grown in very well and looks very natural

The cross bunkers at the second landing zone provide a great strategic challenge

Love the fluffy edges

We have finished the design for the renovation of the course now and look forward to breaking ground on phase 1 in September. Watch this space.

Golf in Finland is very much a family sport and shows how the game should be played and approached for more traditional golfing countries. Golf is still growing at 10% per year in Finland where as it is probably declining by that amount in tradtional golfing regions.  

Go and see Linna Golf for yourselves – www.linnagolf.fi

The family enjoying some practice putting before dinner. The greens were in superb shape.

The putting course is 120m long and alot of fun for all to enjoy.

Playing the 8th hole at 10pm. We were there on the mid summer holiday weekend with almost continual sunshine

Strong contours entering the 12th green

The clubhouse is a superb barn renovation. Just fantastic

The adjoining 'castle' style hotel oozes charm and class

Tim and father on 9th tee. A proud moment. This hole was voted best par 4 in Finland.

Linna Golf is golf how it should be – relaxed, in harmony with nature and a family activity.

www.linnagolf.fi

The original 18 hole course was laid out by Colt in 1908 and is set amongst a 18th Century Capability Brown/ Humphrey Repton Landscape. Additionally the magnificent 18th Century Mansion House has been the scene for many movies including Goldfinger (James Bond), Layer Cake and Brigitte Jones Diary.

Stoke Park is a great golfing adventure, subtly integrated into this important landscape.

See below some pictures of the journey undertaken:

Some of the interesting bunker detailing at Stoke Park

John McGuiness, Paul Thomas and Andrew Goosen in front of the splendid clubhouse

Looks like a newly built bunker. There were some disparities in the style and playability of the bunkering

Golf in a grand landscape. Perfect subtly and respect.

John putting on the short par 4, 20th hole. The new nine was done by Donald Steele and fits in well with the spirit of Stoke

Golf can be a great driver to create revenue and finance to help restore historic destinations. Lets hope that planning authorities can hear this

Stoke Park is a great golfing and historic experience. Go play and enjoy the afternoon exploring the Clubhouse, afternoon tea on the lawn and photos in locker room.

www.stokeparkclub.com

By the way. John and Paul beat Tim and Andrew 2&1.

Chris Geraghty, golf professional at nearby Stella Di Mare Golf and Country Club strikes one off hole 3

Tim Lobb, a very un golf professional strikes one off same hole

We have sodded around the bunker edges to give stability

Tree and palm planting has started on hole 4

We have worked hard to create natural looking streams. Great job guys

El Ein Bay is coming together really well and we look forward to posting more progress pictures. During the site visit we approved hole 2, green 8 and tee 5 for grassing to commence. Look forward to seeing those green.

The new bunkers at the first landing zone on hole 11

We have used the Sportcrete product in the construction of these pilot hole bunkers and they are performing very well from a technical and playability perspective.

The softer edges with the 'fluffy' grass has developed well over the past year

We are in the process of completing the detail design for the remainder of the bunkers with construction commencing for the next phase of the works from September 2010. This phase will be approximately 50% of the total bunker re-build.

The second landing zone at hole 11 with cross bunkers to avoid

The bunker programme is scheduled to be completed over two winters, 2010 + 2011.

The fluffy bunker edges blend well with this parkland setting

Keep an eye out for further updates on this exciting renovation project that we are undertaking.

PRESS RELEASE

Challenge Tour impressed with TPL’s Carya course

Players describe heathland course as ‘probably the best we’ll play all year’

(London, United Kingdom – May 06, 2010) European Challenge Tour players and representatives have lavished praise on Carya Golf Club, designed by Thomson Perrett & Lobb, the golf course design practice founded by five-times Open Champion Peter Thomson, after it staged the Turkish Airlines Challenge.

The European Challenge Tour event, the first to be held in Turkey for 11 years, was won by England’s Charlie Ford, who described Carya Golf Club as ‘fantastic.’

The short par 4, 4th hole offered a great strategic challenge

He said: “The course is only 18 months old – I couldn’t believe it when someone told me that. It’s in great condition, and it’s a course that makes you think your way round, instead of just getting on the tee and trying to bomb it.”

Englishman Ally Mellor agreed, adding: “It’s a great test – probably one of the best courses we’ll play on all year.”

Carya, a unique heathland inspired course on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast is built on undulating sand hills with holes cutting through pine and eucalyptus woodland, has only been open for play for 18 months.

The propagated heather has established so well after less than 2 years

But the course in the Belek region of Turkey proved to be a hit with all involved in the tournament and looks set to become a permanent fixture on the Challenge Tour calendar.

Alain de Soultrait, Director of the European Challenge Tour, said: “The first edition of the Turkish Airlines Challenge was a resounding success, thanks in no small part to the quality of Carya Golf Club. All of our Members were very complimentary about the course, which looked superb and played even better.

The par 3, 7th hole played as the hardest hole all week

“The first edition of a tournament is always the hardest, but the week went so smoothly because the course was so warmly received. It is less than 18 months old and has great potential to mature and improve even more over the coming years, so we are already looking forward to returning to Carya for the second edition of the Turkish Airlines Challenge next year.”

Prior to opening in late 2008, nearly one million heather sprigs were planted around the course, to give it its heathland feel, inspired by the classic courses in the UK, such as Sunningdale and The Berkshire.

In a first-of-its-kind project, TPL propagated the heather in specially constructed glasshouses on site.

One of the broad scale propagation poly tunnels set up for heather cuttings

TPL principal Tim Lobb said: “We are overjoyed with the response from the Tour players who competed on the course and with the feedback we have received from those organising the event. Considering the course is not even two years old it is a great testament to the team who designed and built the course to have it looking and playing so well in such a short period of time.”

What the players said:

John E Morgan

“The course is absolutely gorgeous and it’s in phenomenal condition. It’s just a joy to play – as soon as you’ve finished, you just want to get out there again. It could definitely hold a main Tour event in years to come, there’s no doubt about it. The par threes are all demanding, and the par fives are all good risk and reward holes. They dangle the carrot, and if you play the hole well, then you can make birdies or even eagles. I particularly love the definition of the course, which really stands out. It looks beautiful.”

Jamie McLeary

“The course is absolutely stunning – you really couldn’t ask for a better set-up. All the players have really enjoyed playing it – if we play on a better course all season, we’ll be very lucky.”

Raymond Russell

“You can’t really afford to force the issue round this course, because there are a few holes where it wouldn’t be wise to attack the flag, so you have to use the contours of the green. And the rough’s quite penal in places – you can really tie yourself in knots out there. But it’s a beautiful course, and it’s in fantastic condition – especially as it’s only been open less than two years.”

Carefully detailed bunkers provided a striking hazard for players

ENDS