Our Philosophy

Enniscrone

The Seaside Links
The Inspiration for the Best Designs
The influence of seaside links is reflected clearly in all of our new courses, with a strong emphasis on the design of greens and their

surrounds that thoroughly test all aspects of the short game. In the era of the lob wedge, our courses allow a far wider range of shots to be played around the greens than is the norm in modern golf. It is an approach that can work equally well in all climates and locations.

Vineyard Golf Club

Golf Courses in the Landscape
We are fervent believers that golf courses should fit into the landscape and be in keeping with their setting. People who travel to Scotland, Sri Lanka or The Bahamas should be able to enjoy something that is true to their location.

The most common criticism of golf courses is that they appear alien in the landscape. That is certainly true of many modern layouts with their vast areas of sand and artificial looking ponds.

Our common sense approach leaves as much of the site unaltered as possible, retaining existing vegetation and limiting the use of bunkers and water. Ecological and environmental issues are taking ever increasing importance during the planning process and our success in even the most sensitive environments shows what can be achieved with care.

Campo Real

Fine Detail – Not Huge Earth Movement
Too often these days, golf course architects concentrate on bulk earth movement with huge machines, rather than the fine detail around greens and bunkers. Look at the great old courses. It is not their longevity alone that makes them great – they remain amongst the best courses because the gifted architects of old, with their lack of modern tools, had to concentrate on the fine detail. These courses serve as our model for design.

Our overriding philosophy is to keep earth movement to the absolute minimum required to produce a high quality golf course. This limits costs and makes it easier to gain permission to build in even the most sensitive locations. Another advantage lies in keeping the contruction process simpler, an important consideration in new markets. However, where site characteristics dictate moving large quantities, we will always attempt to do so in a way that leaves a natural appearance.

The Legacy of the Grand Masters

Traditional Values
Charles Blair Macdonald’s National Golf Links and Yale University Golf Club, Harry Colt’s Sunningdale, Rye and Pine Valley (where Mr. Colt assisted George Crump so ably), Herbert Fowler’s The Berkshire and Saunton, Tom Simpson’s Morfontaine and County Louth, Dr. Alister MacKenzie’s Royal Melbourne and Cypress Point, Donald Ross’s Essex County and Pinehurst and Tillinghast’s Winged Foot and Baltusrol.

Pinehurst: One of Donald Ross' renowned creations

These courses were all designed by universally acknowledged architects and built in an era when course construction was incredibly difficult. Experienced architects soon learnt the value of a clever course layout to avoid the hardest areas and to make the most of the available natural features. The subtlety and natural flow of these courses are why they remain perennial favourites for so many golfers. The architects’ mastery of the detail of green design, surrounds shaping and bunker construction is another reason why their courses have stood the test of time so well.

Pine Valley: George Crumps only course

Those same skills should be applied by all architects today, but sadly that is not the case. All too many sites are over-worked to produce new courses which overpower their landscape. The legacy of great courses by the great architects proves beyond reasonable doubt, we believe, that less is more. In outlook, we are certainly of the Minimalist School, as Ron Whitten christened it in order to draw a distinction from the artificial, sculpted style. He coined it more to describe a group of emerging American architects who are bucking the “standard” bulldozed style, but it neatly describes a philosophy that is inspired by the traditional design values of the great architects of the early part of the last century.

Winged Foot: Tillinghurst at his best