ten courses, quickly on such a site
was a huge challenge, but, acting as
lead contractor as well as designer,
the Schmidt-Curley team delivered the
projects on time and under budget,
courtesy of some outside the box
construction thinking.
Golf is a recreation, but it’s also
a business and an important use
of land. So value—not necessarily
financial value, but things a
community finds valuable and
useful—can often be delivered by
finding additional uses for golf course
land. Golf courses can serve even
those who don’t play, as ASGCA Past
President Larsen proved at Eagle
Ranch in Colorado, where biking and
running trails crisscross the course.
Or they can act as flood retention
basins for surrounding built-up areas,
as is the case at the Dubsdread course
in Orlando, where Mike Dasher,
ASGCA, rebuilt the course to provide
stormwater storage facilities.
The role of the golf architect, then, is
not simply about finding the best golf
holes on a particular piece of land,
but acting as a facilitator, sometimes
helping clients figure out the right
business model for their particular
location, sometimes advising on
environmental management issues,
sometimes just serving as a sounding
board. It’s this wide range of skills
that makes golf architects unique;
and it is, fundamentally, how they
add value for clients.
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11
Clockwise from left, Deltona Club in Florida; the new design for Selva Marina CC (which will
be renamed Atlantic Beach CC), also in Florida; and Eagle Ranch in Colorado
ASGCA architects can add value to
golf course developments in many
ways. When discussing your project
with an architect, consider:
How can we optimize the budget that
is available for work?
Are there opportunities to raise
additional revenue through land sale?
How can we improve our appeal to
existing customers?
What can we change in order to
broaden our customer base?
To find an ASGCA member architect,
visit
ADDING VALUE
Photo: Larry Lambrecht
