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G
reg Letsche, ASGCA, has
been a professional golf
course architect for more
than 25 years. He joined Ernie Els
Design as its senior design associate
in 2005, having spent the previous 15
years in the same capacity with Jack
Nicklaus, ASGCA Fellow. Beginning
his career with the legendary Pete
Dye, ASGCA Fellow, Letsche has
been instrumental in the design of
numerous courses worldwide. He
received his Bachelor of Science in
Agronomy from Ohio State University
in 1980, and currently lives in Florida
with his wife Jane and their two
children Robert and Alexia.
How is your game?
The nature of my work this past 20
or so years means that most of the
time I’m on golf courses that aren’t
finished! Opportunities to play have
been few and far between. Things are
picking up a bit of late, though. My
children now play golf so I’m playing
with them and enjoying that. I was a
decent junior golfer and slowly I feel
like my game is starting to come back
to that kind of level.
Which three people would make up
your dream fourball?
If I’m picking players, I’m teeing it
up with Ernie Els, Byron Nelson
and Bobby Jones. But putting on my
architect’s hat, it would be amazing
to play with three true legends of
my trade—Donald Ross, Alister
Mackenzie and Harry Colt. It would
be fascinating to get an insight into
their methodology and how they
approached golf course design. I’d
be all ears that day, trust me! Also,
knowing how much traveling I have
to do in my job, I would want to
know how those guys did so many
courses, and at such a high quality,
without having a 747 on standby!
What is your favorite hole in golf?
There are a bunch of contenders that
spring to mind, but I think I have to
give it to the 13th hole on the West
Course at North Berwick, probably
my favourite course in the world. That
hole is known as ‘the pit’ and has a
sand dune on the left side of the green
and a three-feet high natural stone
wall guarding the entire right side of
the green. It’s quirky, but so cool. We
actually took that as inspiration in one
of our Ernie Els signature designs,
the 14th hole at Anahita in Mauritius,
where we used an existing dry-stone
wall as a strategic hazard. It has
the benefit of adding an interesting
aesthetic component, which makes
the hole memorable.
If you could change or add one rule,
what would it be?
I think I’d do something to speed
up the pace of play. The game is
just taking way too long at the
professional level and it’s filtering
into the amateur game too. I’ve even
seen young kids using range finders
from 30, 40, 50 yards! We need to
speed it up. You know, everyone’s
lives are getting busier, we’re working
longer hours and we also want to be
able to spend time with our kids. A
lot of people simply can’t fit golf into
the equation, especially if it’s taking
up the whole day.
What project are you currently
working on?
We’ve got some great projects on the
go here at Ernie Els Design. Among
them, the Wentworth West Course
restoration is well into the final phase
and I know everyone involved feels
really excited about where we’ve
got to with that. We’re currently
reintroducing a lot of the fescues and
the heather, creating what is essentially
a very natural looking, modern
interpretation of a Colt classic.
We have a new course on a
beautiful, rugged stretch of coastline
in Croatia. We’re also excited about a
new facility on the outskirts of Hanoi,
Vietnam, where we’re building an Els
Performance Golf Academy and nine-
hole golf course at Ecopark. That’s
going to set a new benchmark in the
region. We love the whole ethos of
that project, trying to help golf grow
in Vietnam and bring the game to a
new audience, including kids in local
schools. It’s something that Ernie is
really passionate about.
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FIVE TO FINISH
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By Design
Greg Letsche, ASGCA
I’ve seen young kids using range
finders from 30, 40, 50 yards!
We need to speed it up