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What prompted you to pursue
international opportunities?
Rick Robbins
: My first introduction
to working overseas was when Jack
Nicklaus asked me to work in his
newly established Hong Kong office
in 1990. My time there introduced
me to several Asian countries as
we were doing work in Thailand,
Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, China
and the Philippines, as well as
Australia. When I left the Nicklaus
organization and established Robbins
& Associates, I felt that I knew the
region and that there were good
opportunities for future work there.
Jim Engh
: I was offered a lead
designer position in Europe, living in
England, working for three companies
at the same time. Due to the structure
of the organization I was designing
for Cotton Pennink, Langer Buckley
and IMG Developments. I traveled
mostly between Europe and Asia from
1987 to 1991. Then in 1991 I formed
my own firm in the United States but
with my first projects in Thailand and
China. When things slowed in the US
in 2009, we found a familiar transition
in pursuing projects in Asia.
David Dale
: Starting in 1988 with
Ronald Fream I was involved in
opportunities that very few US-based
firms pursued. While many architects
have looked overseas more recently
due to slower activity in the US, the
span of my career at Golfplan has
been focused on the international
market since its beginning. I am
fortunate to have traveled to more
than 40 countries and have been
involved with golf course projects
in over 70. We have been extremely
active in the South Korean golf
market of which two projects have
achieved tremendous global exposure.
Purchasing Golfplan from Fream in
2006, my partner Kevin Ramsey and
I continue the globetrotting mantra
established in 1972, nurturing the
mature and emerging golf markets of
the world.
Rick Baril
: The story of our firm
working overseas is convoluted, one of
coincidence and connections! It started
in Australia where Bruce Devlin, at the
time Australia’s most successful golf
professional was entrusted to identify
the best architect to design The Lakes
Golf Club near Sydney. While on
tour, Devlin had been impressed with
courses designed by Robert von Hagge
and recommended him for the job.
This led to opportunities in Japan and
subsequently Europe, which began
with what von Hagge described as a
mysterious phone call informing him
that a first-class ticket to France had
been arranged. This turned out to be
a meeting with Baron Marcel Bich and
the genesis of the design of Les Bordes.
What are the primary challenges in
establishing an overseas presence?
JE
: The challenge is to have a
good portfolio and to make friends.
A good network is essential for
identifying business opportunities
and is not something that can be
switched on overnight.
RR
: Without a doubt, to establish
credibility as someone who can
work within the local system and
finding the right contacts to make
introductions to clients is the biggest
challenge. Accomplishing that brings
other, equally difficult challenges
like having the financial ability to
stay in the market long enough to be
considered to be a part of the local
David Dale’s work at The Club at Nine Bridges in
South Korea has received worldwide recognition
