One of the areas of my business that continues to intrigue me is golf course renovation. When done properly and with the appropriate understanding of the process, there is the opportunity for intense satisfaction upon completion of the improvements. The changes can be dramatic depending on the scope of work and can create tremendous excitement amongst the members and regular golfers. To hear golfers talk excitedly amongst themselves about the improvements to their course brings great satisfaction to me and confirms that I have done things the right way.

“… the true line to the hole should not always be the center of the fairway.” – Tom Simpson & H.N. Wethered

Of course the flip side of that excitement is the inevitable opposition from those golfers not in favor of any change to their course regardless of the necessity of making improvements. They only see the renovation as an inconvenience to them without recognizing the “life cycle” aspects of the golf course. These components (greens, tees, bunkers, cart paths, irrigation, turfgrass, etc.) have a life expectancy just like components of a house. Anyone who has owned a home knows that you have to replace the carpet, air conditioning, paint and roof at different points in time. The golf course components are no different – they also must be replaced periodically to insure a healthy, thriving golf course business.

Golf course renovation can vary substantially from project to project. The one constant in all renovation projects is the need to evaluate the golf course based on the following criteria – infrastructure, strategy / playability, aesthetics. The analogy I like to use to convey the importance of these three criteria is a stool with each criterion representing a leg of the stool. The stool is stable when all three legs are in balance but if one of the legs is out of balance then the stool doesn’t function as it was intended. What does this mean? It means that the successful golf course renovation process must inevitably include a thorough analysis of all three criteria.

“It is impossible in considering types of holes for a course to suggest any positive sequence of alignment, for each layout should be designed to fit the particular ground on which it lies.” – William Flynn

“Strive to retain as much of the natural ground formation as possible. The most beautiful courses are the ones that hew most closely to nature.” – Stanley Thompson