By Design - Fall 2019

5 HERE ARE LINKS TO OTHER RECENT “TARTAN TALKS,” NOW FEATURING OVER 25 EPISODES: “Golf course architecture is a beautiful mix of engineering and art” BR I T STENSON, ASGCA • ASGCA President Jan Bel Jan, discusses her fascinating career . • Drew Rogers, ASGCA, talks about the value of listening and willingness to work on courses built in all eras . In the latest podcast from Golf Course Industry ’s Tartan Talks series, Brit Stenson, ASGCA, talks about his design approach and some of the sites he has come across. “I consider myself a minimalist on golf course design if the site is worthwhile and natural,” said Stenson. “But I’m not afraid to move a little dirt to make things work. My approach is to let the site do the talking as much as possible, and me being receptive to it. I am a big fan of the importance of routing.” When asked about some of the sites he has encountered both in the US and in Asia, Stenson said: “I’ve run into sites where they were dead flat and wet with awful soils, and sites where they were too steep, and developers would say ‘we want 36 holes on this property’ and we’d suggest having 18 or 27. We were successful in talking them down a bit, but in this day and age, you can build a site on pretty much anything.” Listen to the full Tartan Talk at golfcourseindustry.com . T he Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida, will open ‘The Gimme’—a new short course by Nicklaus Design—to members in November. The nine-hole par-three course takes inspiration from famous layouts. A deep sod-walled bunker and the green on the third hole are based on the Road hole on the Old Course at St Andrews. The ninth includes a bunker in the centre of the green, like Riviera’s sixth, and there is a hole with an island green, like at the seventeenth at TPC Sawgrass. As part of the $2 million expansion of the golf facility, there will also be a new one-acre putting course called Snake Acre. Construction started in March 2019 on a parcel of land located within the championship course’s routing. Sprigging and sodding were completed in late June. The course name ‘The Gimme’ is—like the club's name—a reference to the famous putt Nicklaus conceded to Tony Jacklin in 1969, resulting in the first-ever tied Ryder Cup. The course will have markings on each flagstick to signify the ‘gimme’ distance. “We have created a par-three course equal in its quality and visual impact to The Concession’s championship course and complements its challenging nature with a family-friendly design that caters to beginners, juniors, seniors and die-hard golfers alike,” said Chris Cochran, ASGCA, senior designer at Nicklaus Design. New short course at The Concession to open in November Short course The course is located within the championship course routing Image: Nicklaus Design