By Design - Summer 2019

13 first phase was completed seven years after the project’s conception, and the second phase took another three years. “The main delay in construction was due to the earthwork as we got closer to what we believed was the shoreline of Lake Victoria,” says Ramsey. “A large part of the site ended up being some form of swampland of papyrus, and needed to be filled and stabilized. This was a time-consuming task with the equipment on hand and the need for additional fill material. “The site was generally flat or was slightly tilted towards the lake. It required excavating many lakes to generate material to build the features of the golf course and to create positive drainage. As this was to be a championship resort course, we needed to be able to accommodate resort golfers with the majority being higher handicap. We used the lakes as the main strategic element on many holes while providing ample bailout areas to allow for the higher handicappers to be able to navigate their way around the course. When not strategic, we kept the lakes out of the play areas to minimize the difficultly of having a lot of water on the site. “It is not a ‘grip it and rip it’ course. It is strategic and you must think and position your way around. We incorporate this into all our courses, and this was to be no different. During the opening professional tournament this was an eye- opening experience for many of the pros as they had never played on anything like this. They were used to overpowering older, shorter courses with their length. It is very difficult to be successful with that approach and the scores were high but got lower each day as they learned the course and where they could take chances.” During Ramsey’s visits over the 10 years the course was under construction there were at least 100 laborers on site every day, as well as the management team and engineers. “Now that the course is open there are approximately 40 workers taking Over the 10 years the course was under construction there were at least 100 laborers on site every day Golfplan’s Kevin Ramsey, ASGCA, designed an 18-hole layout at Lake Victoria Golf Resort in Uganda. Right, a team of local laborers working on site