By Design - Winter 2014

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Having acquired land that
included a golf course that
had never opened for play,
the owners of Yishan GC in Wuhan,
China hired Robbins & Associates
to design a new course that would
meet multiple new objectives. These
included a revised land plan that would
accommodate real estate, a desire to
host a professional tournament, and
fulfilling the requirements set by the
local government in the city of Wuhan.
Due to its location in Optics Valley, an
entirely new development in Wuhan
that would also be home to government
offices, the project was under close
scrutiny, and was given a defined area
within which to build the golf course,
which did not work particularly well
with the topography.
“We spent a lot of time working
with the master planners, clubhouse
designers, landscape designers, owners
and local officials to get a final master
plan and routing that fit the site
terrain and provided the best value
for real estate,” explains Rick Robbins,
ASGCA. “The back nine holes were
especially difficult to design because
the government planners dictated that
the golf course be placed on the higher
elevations and the housing would
go in the lower part in the center. To
make the transition easier from golf to
housing, we lowered the golf elevations
by several meters and used the material
to fill the housing pads. An existing
stream was used to tie the housing into
the lowest part of the site.”
In order to make the golf course
different from the typical ‘parkland’ style
that is common in China, Robbins chose
to emulate the bunkering style of Alister
MacKenzie at the San Francisco Golf
Club and then added large areas of links-
style grass typical of Ireland in less used
areas to reduce the requirements for
water and chemicals. The fairways were
made wider than normal but that was
offset by extra contouring of the greens.
Shortly after completion, the
owners’ objective of hosting a
professional tournament was
achieved when the Wuhan China
Open, an event on the new PGA
China Tour, was held in May 2014.
“We spent a lot of time
to get a final master
plan and routing that
fit the site terrain and
provided the best value
for real estate”
YISHAN GC
Location:
Wuhan, China
Architect:
Rick Robbins, ASGCA and
Brian Lussier, ASGCA
Robbins & Associates International
Project summary:
An existing course was replaced
by a new design that met strict
government planning criteria
and made the best use of a land
plan that included real estate
development.
Partners:
Jacklin Seed
John Deere Equipment
Rain Bird Irrigation
Image: © 2014 Dave Sansom