By Design - Spring 2020

27 We worked to obtain the correct property lines for the site, downloaded wetlands from the Moore County GIS website, and had two-foot contours to work with. We had tree lines and water bodies to work with as well. My first task is to determine what those environmental site constraints are and develop my design based on those constraints. This project, although I could have made it up as I went, was no different. We wanted to see how special a routing this could be based on the site constraints. The art of golf course routing is allowing the site to determine the routing and not let the routing determine the site. This is the exact ideal that has gotten lost for so long— the cop- out of being able to manipulate the ground to fit your desires. I didn’t want to do that here because that would just be counter to the whole point of why I was attracted to the site in the first place. I don’t want to come up with something with the attitude that I ‘can make it work in the field’. If that is my approach, then why bother using a real site? Routing a golf course around real constraints and features is how we should all approach things. Changing the site to fit your desires isn’t ever the same and isn’t the authentic way to approach it. This site needed no manipulation, it just needed to be found, shot by shot. As far as budget constraints go, it is the same thing. This routing requires almost no earthwork, the routing works that well. So, I haven’t even thought about budgets one way or the other. Great sites require little Mandell's concept routing for a site a few miles from his office in Pinehurst, North Carolina The art of golf course routing is allowing the site to determine the routing and not let the routing determine the site Image: Richard Mandell Golf Architecture/Jim Ryan