Golf Course Architecture - Issue 58 October 2019

37 backstops, and fairway cut surrounds that use gravity to repel wayward shots. I believe the course will be the most distinct of the four layouts and will give the Old course strong competition for favoured status.” For this project, Curley worked with a sandy site – unusual for inland Thailand – which provided him with areas to harvest material for sandcapping and creating large waste areas. “The material was easily excavated, a great thing since our reservoir was so deep,” said Curley. “Very little native vegetation and trees existed prior to work so we relied on the large earthmove to create big landform movement and a significant planting of surrounds of trees that will grow quickly, given the climate. There was one large interior lake that we incorporated into the routing and main clubhouse view but otherwise the design relied upon a created earthmove, not an integrated design ‘finding’ holes.” Curley has overseen the reduction of initial turf limits and conversion of rough from turfgrass to native carpet grass, to reduce irrigation demand and conserve water. “We did deviate from our initial concept to incorporate massive swaths of pine straw-based sandy expanses as it proved too difficult to obtain the pine straw material,” said Curley. “We did, however, keep with large forested areas of casuarina trees as the backbone tree and these will, in a short time, create this bed of pine straw on top of the native carpet grass. “I was very vocal in the initial design discussions to create unique and recognisable design features that would set the course apart from others in the region. This led to many distinct features like the ‘Wall of Death’ and its 19-foot-deep pit, intending to create a buzz with visiting golfers and lure those up to the challenge. “I do believe there is great variety from hole to hole and features seldom seen in Asian courses, especially the Thai market.” The par-five fifteenth at Rolling Hills features a 19-foot-deep bunker complex named the ‘Wall of Death’ that has two levels of railroad tie bulkheads planted with vegetation