By Design - Summer 2019

care of the course, another 30 caddies and an additional 30 workers in the clubhouse running the pro shop and restaurant,” says Ramsey. “Since it began, it has employed at least 100 local people. “It has created an immense amount of pride to the people of Kampala and Uganda—having a high-quality, modern, championship golf course in their country. It adds a marketing benefit to the Serena Hotel Group as they now have a golf resort hotel in their portfolio. To the owners, The Cementers Group—a large project contractor—it is also a badge of honor and pride to have created this in their home country.” BlackSeaRama Golf and Thracian Cliffs “Being a part of the growth and emergence of golf in developing markets has been an amazing experience for me,” says Jeff Lawrence, ASGCA, a senior designer and vice president at Gary Player Design. “Knowing that people in all parts of the world have exposure to the great game of golf is a very meaningful accomplishment and it’s great to see significant impacts on the cities and countries that benefit from this expansion of golf. “The global footprint reaches many parts of the world, and Gary Player Design has been fortunate to implement golf in countries that have had little-to-no exposure to this great game. “One example is our work in Bulgaria, a culture that had very little exposure to golf until the early 90s when the market opened up to tourism and golf. We cultivated a relationship with developers who envisioned two courses along the Black Sea to promote golf and tourism. Although only five kilometers apart, both sites were distinctively different and provided an opportunity to design two courses that would complement one another.” In 2008, the first course— BlackSeaRama Golf & Villas Resort—was built on a flat site and was designed to expose golfers from Bulgaria and surrounding countries to a visually appealing, well maintained, playable and fun golf experience. “Being the first high-quality golf course in Bulgaria, we tried to keep concepts simplified to ensure the finished product was sustainable and profitable for the client,” says Lawrence. “Material acquisition, implementation and resources were all challenging, but assembling the right team to execute the work was the key to delivering a successful golf product.” The second course, Thracian Cliffs Golf & Beach Resort, followed two years later and was quite different to BlackSeaRama. “Set on the cliffs of the Black Sea, we designed a course that was visually stunning and strategically challenging, utilizing the natural features that were available to us,” says Lawrence. “A very technical site to implement a golf course, we creatively routed and executed our design to showcase the natural beauty of the site while also being environmentally sensitive to the coastal ecosystem. “The realization of BlackSeaRama and Thracian Cliffs have promoted 14 | By Design Photo: Jacob Sjoman GROWING THE GAME