By Design - Summer 2018

process,” says Wilczynski. “They’re looking to you to lead the process and the more you do, the more confident you get, and the better you get at it. Helping them to understand the ‘why?’, helping to educate them, continuing to educate them and answer their questions.” “The golf course architect is the client’s representative on the project. We provide the necessary expertise and help protect the client’s interests. We secure the overall ideas and make sure everyone understands or authorizes what will be done. We develop the necessary materials to do the work, and facilitate bringing in the appropriate professionals to implement the work. We look out for the client to ensure the work is being done properly, on time and on budget,” says Cervone. “We’re part artists and part engineers. We’re visionaries. We help the client see what they cannot see,” says Hearn. “From the first time I’m on the property to the whole masterplan process, my job is to come up with this vision—along with their help— to improve this facility. I look at the big picture, from the moment you pull into the parking lot, around the clubhouse, defining this vision for how it can be improved then trying to communicate that to them to get them to see it,” says Wilczynski. “We often come up with ideas that the owner hasn’t even considered such as re-aligning holes, addressing safety issues, and balancing cut and fill. You would never invest millions or even hundreds of thousands of dollars into a building without an AIA architect. Why would you do the same to a golf course without an ASGCA architect?” says Crace. “Getting an ASGCA architect involved early helps to avoid common pitfalls. We’ve all seen mistakes made by clients over the years and can help a client avoid those same issues.” • Before you proceed with your next golf design project, review our free guide, Selecting Your Golf Course Architect: Questions & Answers . 17 SEWICKLEY HEIGHTS GC Sewickley Heights GC in Pennsylvania, wanted to retain as much of the ‘flavor’ of their existing putting surfaces as possible, but realized they needed additional pin locations due to severe slopes. All the original greens were surveyed and golf course architect James Cervone, ASGCA, was able to utilize that information to create before and after ‘heat maps’ (showing color coding of the variation of percentage of slope). He also created 2D renderings and 3D modeling to aid in presenting designs. COMPASS POINTE The Compass Pointe development in Leland, North Carolina, began planning and construction in 2006 and the project, master planned by ASGCA Past President Rick Robbins, ASGCA, was just getting underway when the recession of 2008 hit. Construction of the golf course was put on hold but the housing portion continued at a slow pace until the golf course finally resumed work in 2013. The resumption of golf course construction, along with an improved economic outlook, have seen home sales increase from 25-30 annual sales to almost 200 sales in the past 12 months. Read more about Compass Pointe in the Design Excellence special edition of By Design from February 2018 . Photo: Dave Sansom