By Design - Winter 2019

DIGEST 9 New golf course T he new Robert Trent Jones II course at Costa Palmas Golf Club near Los Cabos, Mexico, has opened for play. ASGCA Past President Robert Trent Jones, Jr., ASGCA Fellow, describes the course as “a golf symphony composed of three movements and two transitions.” He has designed the first six holes as a links-inspired “dunescape” with greens accessible for bump-and-run shots. These holes include seamless transitions between putting surfaces and the next hole’s tees, and sand dunes as the main obstacles for players. The par-five seventh serves as a transition to the course’s second movement—six “upland” holes that include views of the Sierra de la Laguna mountains. These holes provide players with wide landing areas, but trees and bunkers mean golfers will have to consider club and shot selection carefully. The final four holes play along coves, harbors and channels, with the par-four eighteenth bringing golfers back to the sea and the resort community’s private marina close to the Four Seasons Resort Los Cabos at Costa Palmas. “We were given a spectacular site and shaped a golf course generous to the golfer that takes advantage of ocean views without being right on the water,” said Jones. “The challenge will come into play as the contouring around the green complexes can either be forgiving or rejecting. It will take an imaginative short game to get the ball on the green.” New RTJ II-designed course opens in Mexico Photo: Evan Schiller Albanese & Lutzke designs second course for Vietnam resort Construction of the new Rock Valley course designed by Albanese & Lutzke at the Yen Dung Resort & Golf Club near Hanoi, Vietnam, is set to begin in 2021. “The views on Rock Valley are like nothing I have ever seen that does not have an ocean,” said Paul Albanese, ASGCA. “Golfers will be standing on top of mountains up to 125 meters in height looking across the entire golf course and, on some holes, over to beautiful rice paddies and a traditional Vietnamese village.” The architects have worked at the resort before, with the design of the Hillside course (pictured above) that opened in August 2017. Photo: Yen Dung Resort & Golf Club New golf course PGA National appoints Staples for Squire ‘reimagination’ PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, has hired Staples Golf Design for a ‘reimagination’ of its Squire course. “We’ll be coming up with an innovative solution that addresses golf’s future, and that’s really exciting,” said Andy Staples, ASGCA. “You’re going to want to keep an eye on this project.” The resort is home to five courses, including the Champion, which has hosted the Honda Classic since 2007. Photo: PGA National Resort & Spa Renovation