Golf Course Architecture - Issue 60, April 2020

55 to be in our philosophy– more geared towards the very low profile, more natural of a golf course in concert with its surrounds. I think the Old course provides some strategic options as to how to play it. But the penalty, which is paid if you don’t choose the right option, is pretty final. We think our course is a little more nuanced and a little less obvious. That is a reflection of the different philosophies. It was definitely very intentional for the two golf courses to be of a different style. We want our golf course to provide an element of fun to the members. The lure of improving one’s score from round to round provides players with an element of fun, without which the game would perish. You have located the teeing grounds close to the previous green, which is refreshing and shows respect for the origins of the game. It will obviously speed up play. One of the more subtle joys of playing golf is that you don’t have to cross paths or cross anything other than a nicely maintained footpath as they walk from a green to the next tee. Golfers will be walking across tightly maintained pathways. I feel that it is something that will certainly be appreciated by the golfers either because of the flow and the pace of play. When you design the golf course do you think about how the course will play at different times of the year? Yes, we do. Working with superintendent Lee Strutt on the selection of the turfgrasses, we will create different conditions at different times of the year. We focus a great deal on drainage. We focus a lot on trying to make sure that the golf course when it is wet will drain quickly through its soil or have additional drainage. We believe that the best courses are the ones which will play differently at different seasons. So, you will know that when you play at Les Bordes in the summer, it is going to be firm and fast and bouncy like any links course for that matter. When you play in the spring, it might be a little wet, autumn is probably the perfect time of year. In winter it might play a little slower and a bit wetter. By incorporating trompe l’oeil in green complexes, distances can be deceptive. What inspired you to use this design feature? I had the very good fortune to work in the UK in the 1980s with Fred Hawtree. He was writing his book on Harry Colt and I carried out all the field research and visited all these courses. So, I think that this is an aspect of design which I learned from Colt, such as the way he used sand and diagonal hazards. This has been a great influence on my own work. GCA The second part of this interview – in which Hanse talks about his start in golf design, the Olympics project and his approach to design – will be published in early May 2020 on the GCA website GI L HANSE Photo: Norman Vickery Hanse credits the ownership team at Les Bordes for providing the freedom to create an exceptional golf experience