Tim Lobb reports on the TPL site visit to El Ein Bay on The Red Sea in Egypt where TPL are currently building an 18 hole resort style golf course.
Construction progress has been steady over the last year on the resort style golf course that we have designed and are now building at El Ein Bay. We have 11 holes shaped, drained and irrigated.
We are now applying sandcap and will start grassing the course in the coming days.
Please see below construction photos taken by Tim Lobb during this week (1-4 March, 2010) onsite at El Ein Bay.
View from back tee of par 5, 3rd hole.
Extensive fairway bunkering on hole 3 finely shaped ready for grassing
Raised green complex of hole 3 ready for grassing to commence
Tad King, our shaper/ project manager/ general onsite go to man sharpening up his flop shot on our 15 acre Platinum Paspalum turf nursery
Even Tim is allowed to play some shots. Pulled it left into the lake, well the liner anway
Look forward to keeping our readers updated on this course and the progress that we are achieving. Looking forward to seeing some grass down.
Written on March 5th, 2010 by Tim and stored in Our projects, Tim Lobb, Travels
News from our Melbourne office – Thomson Perrett.
Victoria Golf Club (Melbourne, Australia) honoured its most famous member by unveiling a bronze statue of five-times British Open champion Peter Thomson AO, CBE .
Peter at Victoria Golf Club in front of statue
Thomson’s five British Open wins between 1954 and 1965 rank him second to Harry Vardon who won the title six times between 1896 and 1914. Such was his dominance of the title in the 1950s that in the years that he did not win between 1952 and 1958 he was runner-up.
Peter Thomson - Champion of the British Open 5 times
The unveiling was attended by Thomson, wife Mary, daughter Deirdre, members celebrating the club’s Foundation Day, MPs Andrew Robb and Murray Thomson, Bayside Mayor James Long, and the CEOs of Golf Australia and the PGA, respectively Stephen Pitt and Max Garske.
Melbourne sculptor Louis Lauman took six months to produce the work, drawing his subject in charcoal and using Thomson family scrapbooks to capture the swing and accurately portray the clothes and equipment of the era.
The statue is 1.1 times (110%) life size, sculpted in clay and cast in silicon bronze at the Fundere Fine Art Foundry in West Footscray.
Golfing greatness is measured by major championships won and longevity in the game. Thomson’s first victory of note was his club championship at Royal Park in Melbourne at the age of 16 in 1946.
His last win came in the 1988 Seniors British PGA Championship and he won somewhere in the world at least once every year from 1950 until 1973. In 1985 he dominated the US PGA Senior Tour with an unprecedented nine victories.
His brilliant playing career, with victories spanning five decades, was capped in 1998 when he led the International Team to its only success against the might of United States in the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne.
Along the way he found time to design and build more than 100 golf courses around the world, serve as chairman of the Australian Professional Golfers Association for 32 years, run for Parliament in Victoria and pioneer the professional golf circuit in Asia.
A silky swing at The Home of Golf - St Andrews
Written on February 28th, 2010 by Tim and stored in Golf News, Peter Thomson
Work continues with the finalisation of the design for the modernisation and bunker works to the European Tour – Dubai Desert Classic Course.
Read an update on Golf Course Architecture
http://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/Article/Extensive-changes-planned-for-Majlis/1752/Default.aspx
Further information to follow.
Written on February 23rd, 2010 by Tim and stored in Our projects
Tim Lobb reports on his travels to Malaysia and Australia during February 2010.
In these times of glossy magazines and seductive/ touched up photos of exotic golf courses it got me wondering – has golf lost its ‘fit for purpose’ importance. Is the golf industry really creating golf courses that fit into each and every golfing environment that they are found in?
On a recent trip to Australia via Malaysia the need for diversity of mindset to produce a golf course that is 100% fit for it’s purpose was exemplified. Malaysia has torrential heavy rain to cope with while in Melbourne, Australia the golf courses are facing severe and prolonged drought conditions.
Hopefully the pictures below will help to explain.
Silty soils and torrential rain greets golf construction in Malaysia
The above picture was taken from the re-construction of the Bunga Raya course at Saujana Golf & Country Club, just out of Kuala Lumpur. The old firm I used to work with, E & G Parslow are undertaking the works and have to contend with very difficult conditions to produce a golfing product that is ‘fit for pupose’
Next on the tour was a visit to Yarra Yarra in Melbourne. Yarra Yarra is in the famed sandbelt region and ranked in the top grouping of Aussie courses. Recent design work has been undertaken by Hawtree Limited and the 10th green complex re-built to produce a fine example of a subtle renovation blending into the existing course.
The new 10th greensite at Yarra Yarra
On the Mornington Peninsula, just an hours drive from Melbourne there is some of the best golfing territory around. Rolling landform, deep sands and sea views make the perfect foundation for some of the best golf courses in Australia.
The natural and dramatic bunkers on The Ocean Course, National Golf Club
The silky swing of a 5 times British Open winner - Peter Thomson
Thomson, Perrett & Lobb enjoying a round. We all love playing golf. Some are better than others of course.
Last week also saw the hosting of the Nationwide/ Australian Tour event, The Moonah Classic on The Open Course at Moonah Links. The course was designed by our Melbourne office (Thomson Perrett) and has the good fortune of being built in perfect golfing land within the Mornington Peninsula.
18th green of The Open Course, Moonah Links, what drama
6th West at Royal Melbourne, natural terrain for a great hole.
Richard Forsyth, Course Superintendent at Royal Melbourne Golf Club was kind enough to show me around the West and East course to inspect the ongoing re-grassing activities. A major re-grassing exercise has been undertaken in preparation for next years Presidents Cup and it looks as if Royal Melbourne will be back on top of the perch once all grown in.
The final course visited was Riversdale Golf Club, 20 km out of Melbourne. It was my old home course and it brought back alot of memories to go back there.
Hole 10 at Riversdale Golf Club, a tempting short par 4.
It is always great to meet up with golf industry leaders in various golfing regions and environments. The underlying key to success for each and every region is that the individuals involved with the golf courses, whether it be the design, the construction or the maintenance of the golf course is that they produce a golfing product that is fit for the purpose.
That purpose will be environmental, financial, social and cultural considerations.
Back to the UK next week to enjoy some cold weather again.
Written on February 10th, 2010 by Tim and stored in Our projects, Peter Thomson, Philosophy, Press Releases, Tim Lobb, Top Courses, Travels
Tim Lobb reports on his experiences of playing the newly opened – Greg Norman Design – Fire Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai. January 19th, 2010.
During our trip to Dubai this week to review the design for Emirates Golf Club and visit Dubai Golf City we were fortunate enough to enjoy the hospitality of Jumeirah Golf Estates and play the newly opened Fire Course. The course is of championship length with wide fairways, subtle sloping greens (very fair and interesting) and striking bunkers with a lovely contrast of textures achieved through clever ornamental grass plantings.
Please see below some picture to help describe this achievement.
Lovely textured bunkers
Hole 2 is a cracking par 3 with significant challenge
So refreshing to see a natural looking golf course in the Middle East
Dramatic bunkering at the forefront of this design
Congratulations must go to Greg Norman Design, the onsite construction/ maintenance guys and to the Jumeirah Golf Estates team who are rapidly developing this into a world class golfing experience.
Please follow our upcoming blog posts in the near future describing the modernisation works that we are going to be undertaking on the Majlis Course, Emirates Golf Club. Good luck to all the guys at Emirates Golf Club for the upcoming European Tour event – Dubai Desert Classic.
Written on January 21st, 2010 by Tim and stored in Golf News, Our projects, Philosophy, Tim Lobb, Top Courses, Travels
Recent heavy snow has left a winter wonderland in Surrey, UK where our office is. Our office is in Ripley (35 miles south west of London) . The setting is semi rural and currently covered in about 6-8 inches of snow. Pictures below are from today – 7th January, 2010.
No golf for a while I fear as temperatures are not expected to get over zero for quite some time.
The drive to the office is somewhat beautiful
Some friendly neighbours
Dont slip
View from our office
Time to go build a snow man…..
Written on January 7th, 2010 by Tim and stored in Tim Lobb
Recent heavy snow in the UK has lead to these thoughts from Tim Lobb on January 6th, 2010.
In Surrey we have had a good fall of snow in the last 12 hours. We probably have about 8-10 inches on the ground and roads are impassable. Working from home today and below is the scene from my house. It is a magical scene but gets you thinking about climate change and how it is all going to affect us in the future if the current trend continues.
Will this be a common scene in years to come?
The winter in the UK thus far has been one of the coldest on record with quite a lot of snow already. In recent weeks I have been lucky enough to attend various environmental and climate change seminars. The overriding story is that our weather is becoming more extreme and unpredictable. Colder winters and hotter summer with rain events becoming more extreme will be the scene in the future if we don’t change our ways.
So how does this affect us in the golf course design world? Well in our world of golf course design TPL have always tried to create a golf course that melds perfectly and in harmony with the environment that we are working in. For example if we are in the desert we try to produce a water conserving design with a minimal grassed footprint to reduce the water consumption requirements. In Northern Europe or colder climates drainage is key and the need to keep playing surfaces dry and playable as a primary concern. But in the UK prolonged snow and icy conditions has meant that some of our courses are struggling to recover from the conditions and to remain open for play.
Whilst working at European Golf Design I was lucky enough to work on a project in Finland called Linna Golf (Opened in 2005). During that project many things were learnt to help the golf course cope with snow and the effects of extreme cold weather of Finland. Whilst the snow was a beautiful blanket in winter it also could cause damage for the Spring time opening and playing season.
Some of the tactics used in the design of Linna Golf might have to be adopted for the UK should these extreme winter condition continue. Tactics included:
- Cut off drains to capture snow melt in early Spring prior to it hitting the playing surfaces.
- Where possible avoid north sloping greens so as the green would receive maximum sun exposure.
- Ensure plenty of sun light from the southern side.
- Flush out and empty irrigation lines prior to the onset of winter.
Perfect playing conditions at Linna Golf, Finland
With the UK and many parts of Europe currently covered in snow should we start to consider these extreme winter design techniques? Will rainfalls start to get so heavy that major storm water drainage systems (like in tropical areas) be common practice for traditional constant rainfall locations such as the UK and Ireland?
At all costs we need to stem the effects of this rapid climate change and revise our practices to create a smaller footprint of consumption. Golf is also part of this picture as our designs and practices need to ensure that a complementary golfing environment is designed and implemented in all various conditions encountered. Additionally the need and necessity for specialist environmental consultants such as GEO or the STRI being part of the design team is never as important as it is right now to create a golf course that is in fact an advantage that the pre-existing environmental conditions encountered and not a burden.
To be continued with further thought.
Written on January 6th, 2010 by Tim and stored in Philosophy, Tim Lobb
Story from our E-news, Issue 10, December 2009
If you wish to subscribe to our regular E-news, please email info@tpl.eu.com
As we approach the end of the year it’s a great time to look back over 2009 and take stock of the achievements TPL has made in the past 12 months.
Having only opened for play in November 2008, Carya Golf Club, TPL’s heathland inspired course in Turkey has been chosen to host the country’s first European Challenge Tour event for 11 years.
The course was also voted into UK magazine Golf World’s Top 100 European Courses.
Carya Golf Club, Ranked in Top 100 in Europe within first year of opening
In the UK, TPL started work on two prestigious courses – The Richmond and The Berkshire.
At The Richmond Golf Club TPL is undertaking a major renovation project overseeing a review of the Tom Dunn-designed course, which opened in 1891. Special attention is being paid to the bunkering, including the renovation and reshaping of existing bunkers and the addition of new, strategic hazards.
Founded in 1891, The Richmond Golf Club is packed with history and charm
While at The Berkshire Golf Club TPL has begun a bunker restoration/historical study on the Red and the Blue Courses, which are both listed in the UK’s top 100 courses.
The Red and Blue Courses at The Berkshire Golf Club to be studied by TPL
TPL’s expertise in bunkering was highlighted further when the company was appointed by the world famous Emirates Golf Club, in Dubai to modernise the course’s bunkers in time for the 2011 Dubai Desert Classic.
Majlis Course is voted in the Top 100 Courses outside of USA (Golf Digest, May 2009). Photo courtesy of Emirates Golf Club
Staying in the Middle East, TPL signed a deal to design a new 18-hole championship golf course at Al Madina Zarqa, in Muscat, Oman.
The course will have stunning views over the adjacent Indian Ocean and the town of Al Khor.
Design for new 18 hole championship course in Oman signed in April 2009.
Construction began on TPL’s development at New Giza in Egypt, where the course will be built within an old quarry and offer spectacular views of the ancient Pyramids.
Course staking and preliminary golf course earthworks at New Giza commenced in November 2009
Meanwhile construction continues on two more TPL developments, with grassing almost completed on the Oasis Course at Dubai Golf City, and 11 holes shaped and ready for grassing at El Ein Bay, in Egypt.
Grassing well advanced at Dubai Golf City
Shaping works continued throughout year at El Ein Bay, bunkers on hole 1
See you in 2010.
Happy New Year!
Written on December 27th, 2009 by Tim and stored in Our projects, Tim Lobb
Tim Lobb reports on his trip to Dubai 14-16 December 2009.
Spent two days in Dubai this week to firstly visit Emirates Golf Club to review further ideas for our bunker works that we are undertaking on the Majlis Course.
Also visited our project – Dubai Golf City which is in construction with a good chunk of holes grassed (Platinum paspalum). Below are some photos taken yesterday, 15th December 2009
View down hole 1
Green at hole 1
Par 3, second hole
Landing zone, hole 3 looking towards green
Looking from behind green 3
Landing zone, hole 5 to green
Greensite, hole 5
Greensite, hole 17
We still have to get sand in bunkers and plant more landscape treatment but the pictures should give a feel for what we are trying to achieve.
Written on December 16th, 2009 by Tim and stored in Our projects, Tim Lobb, Travels
———- PRESS RELEASE ———
TPL appointed to modernise Emirates Golf Club’s flagship Majlis Course
Bunkers to be repositioned and reconstructed for 2011 Dubai Desert Classic
(London, United Kingdom – December 7, 2009) Thomson Perrett & Lobb, the golf course architecture practice founded by five-times Open champion Peter Thomson, has been appointed by Emirates Golf Club to modernise its flagship Majlis Course, home of the Dubai Desert Classic.
Majlis Course, Emirates Golf Club. Host to the Dubai Desert Classic
TPL will carry out an audit of the course’s bunkering as part of a wider modernisation programme, overseeing the repositioning and reconstruction of bunkers to upgrade the course for professional events, including the Dubai Desert Classic and Dubai Ladies Masters, and day-to-day club and visitor play.
The 7,301-yard, par-72 layout, which opened in 1988 and was the first grass golf course in the Middle East, was ranked among the Top 100 golf course outside America by Golf Digest magazine in May 2009.
The stunning 8th hole
Rod Bogg, Special Advisor to Dubai Golf, and who oversaw construction of Emirates Golf Club 22 years ago, said: “We selected TPL to oversee the modernisation of the Majlis Course because of its experience in designing prestige golf courses in the Middle East and its expertise in bunkering.
“Our bunkers are out of date and, due to modern equipment, out of play. Some of the players are hitting the ball 60 or 70 yards past the fairway bunkers during the Dubai Desert Classic. While that is only one week of the year, we need to ensure that the course remains the enjoyable challenge that it is for professionals and amateurs all year round.”
Andrew Goosen (TPL), Rod Bogg (EGC), Tim Lobb (TPL), Craig Haldane (EGC), Chris May (EGC)
Mr Bogg added: “We are not redesigning the course and not adding additional bunkers to the course, but we are looking at relocating, reshaping and reconstructing the bunkers we do have to bring the course up to the highest modern standards, as well as making some improvements to the aesthetics of the course.” The new look course will be in play for the Dubai Desert Classic in 2011.
TPL is already busy in the region, with its multi-course design for Dubai Golf City under construction, as well as a golf course for the landmark New Giza development in Egypt.
Tim Lobb, TPL Principal, said: “As with all of the bunker work we do at important, established courses, we are taking a subtle approach to Emirates Golf Club, treading softly and respecting the much loved design that is already in play.
The Majlis course is ranked in the Top 100 outside of USA (Golf Digest, May 2009)
“What we are doing is reviewing the bunker positioning to ensure that professionals and amateurs alike will require a clear golfing strategy to plot their way around the course. The course needs to stand up to the challenge of the world’s best players, while also remaining an enjoyable challenge for the club’s members and visitors. This is an exciting project and we are delighted to be working with the team at Emirates Golf Club.”
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