Golf Course Architecture: Issue 57 - July 2019

The greens at The Breakers have distinctive backboards, as can be seen here on the closing hole Photo: Larry Lambrecht 69 might expect all features on a relatively small site to be scaled down – Jones has increased the total acreage of greens by almost 50 per cent. The larger putting surfaces have sweeping undulation and give the resort the ability to set demanding pin positions if they want to raise the level of challenge. But keeping the resort golfer in mind, each is also accessible from a running shot. Each of the greens – which are varied in depth, shape and size – has slopes which serve as a backstop, making them unlike other Florida golf courses. As well as giving the course a unique and memorable identity, the backstops help keep overhit shots on the putting surface while encouraging an imaginative short game from behind the greens. With some hole locations, golfers will have a compelling alternative to aiming at the flag. Many of the changes introduced with the renovation will free up resources for the maintenance staff. For a start, all turf on the golf course has been converted to paspalum – except the TifEagle bermuda greens, with a collar of TifGrand to prevent cross-contamination – which means the club no longer has a resource- intensive cycle of overseeding. Also, bunkering on the course has been reduced considerably, to about two-thirds of the previous total. Those that remain are all strategically placed; cautious golfers might opt for a long iron more often than driver. With white sand flashed up the front faces, bunkers are all visible and quite imposing from a distance. But that is