H
ow often have you caught a
glimpse of a golf course from
a road and then had the urge
to play? It’s exactly those feelings I
wanted to evoke when redesigning the
golf course at Texas A&M University.
The Campus Course is surrounded
on all sides by roadways, and is the
‘front door’ of the university campus.
Consequently, on site and off site
views were critical to the success
of the design. The placement and
shaping of all of the golf course
features–most importantly the
bunkers–had to consider their
presentation from 360 degrees.
Bunkers and features are the
descriptive signals of the golf course,
communicating to the player how to
play each shot. But at Texas A&M I
changed my usual philosophy and
created many bunkers that are not
visible from the player’s perspective.
This was to provide interesting and
beautiful views from the surrounding
roadways. We also removed much of
the existing vegetation on the site to
open up these vistas.
The design concept for The Campus
Course pays homage to early American
courses such as National Golf Links
and Maidstone. Architects like C.B.
Macdonald and Willie Park, Jr. made
prolific use of bunkering, many of
which are not visible to the player.
National Golf Links, for example, has
over 350 bunkers, many of which are
not within view. Bunkers on these golf
courses are often small in size, and
they are clustered to communicate
the desired tactical examination. The
Campus Course at Texas A&M has
158 bunkers in the design, clustered
together, with all but one small in size.
This eases the maintenance burden
because the superintendent is able to
hand rake each one.
The views into the site help to
market the course to the thousands
of vehicles that pass by the facility
each day, but the views from the
course keep them coming back.
I rerouted all or part of 14 holes.
This made better use of existing
topography and allowed for the
expansion of the practice range
and for two new holes used by
golf classes, for turfgrass research,
and for construction method
testing. But most importantly, the
rerouting takes better advantage
of the offsite views of the campus
landmarks. The finishing holes
have the iconic Kyle Field as their
backdrop. Others garner views of
various campus landmarks such as
the Administration Building and the
Bonfire Memorial.
At Texas A&M there is an old
saying about the school’s spirit and
traditions: “From the outside looking
in you can’t understand it, and from
the inside looking out you can’t
explain it”. The views into the course
from any perspective are captivating,
and the views from the course give
the facility a true ‘sense of place’ that
is appreciated by all–but especially
memorable to those fortunate enough
to call themselves Texas Aggies.
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Golf visuals
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Jeff Blume, ASGCA
Curb appeal
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Jeff Blume
Jeff Blume, ASGCA is a golf course
architect based in Magnolia, Texas.
Jeff can be contacted by e-mailing
or visit
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By Design
The impression a golf course gives from the road
can be critical to its success. Jeff Blume explains
how he took this into account for the design of
the golf course at his alma mater.
