15
The Cliffs at Mountain Park
One characteristic that most of the
projects underway right now share
is resilience, on the part of the
developer and golf architect alike.
Jeff Lawrence, ASGCA, senior designer
for Gary Player’s design firm on the
recently-opened Cliffs at Mountain
Park in South Carolina, says the
course’s completion marked the
end of a rollercoaster ride through
the economic conditions of the last
five years. “The Cliffs Communities
is one of the largest real estate and
golf developments in the U.S.,” says
Lawrence. “The original developer
established a relationship with Mr.
Player, and that eventually resulted
in an agreement to design the
seventh course at the Cliffs. But the
relationship got bigger—we moved
our corporate HQ to Travelers Rest,
on the golf course that we designed.”
But when the economy collapsed,
the original developer lost control
of the Cliffs developments. A
consortium of three investors
eventually took over—since
reduced to one—and the course
was completed, and opened late in
2013. “You have to be more thought-
provoking in the market conditions
we have today,” says Lawrence.
“How do we deliver a product
that’s going to advance the golf
industry? Words like maintainable,
sustainable and eco-friendly are
far more important now than they
have ever been. I look out of my
office window at the course, and
it’s great, but to build it we had to
work with environmentalists, clients,
budget, schedule and the changing
of the ownership. It used to be so
much easier when budgets weren’t
so tight. Now, everything is under
the microscope. We have to deliver
a product that is everything to
everybody.
“On every project, Mr. Player directs
us to think about water resources,
the ecology of the site, the playability
for all players, and in terms of the
routing – how do we arrange it so
people can play three, five or eight
holes, rather than just focusing on
18-hole rounds? At Mountain Park
we rerouted the course three times
after construction started, because
of environmental restrictions that
became clear during process. It took
five years to complete for financial
and permitting reasons. The river
runs through the property, and
naturally we wanted to build golf
holes that played over and alongside
it. But we had to modify the routing
to limit crossings of the river, even
after some holes had been shaped!”
Now, everything is under the microscope.
We have to deliver
a product that is
everything to everybody
Jeff Lawrence, ASGCA
The Cliffs at Mountain Park
Location: Travelers Rest, South Carolina
Designer: Gary Player
Architect: Jeff Lawrence, ASGCA
