2019 Year in Review
2019 started with the dream phone call from Coore & Crenshaw asking if I would be interested in helping out with the revitalization work at The Plantation course at Kapalua, Maui. Situated above one of the world’s best right hand surf breaks, Honolua Bay, the answer was an easy yes. With the surfboard and golf clubs packed, I spent most of the winter/spring working between Maui and home. Joining long time C&C associates Jimbo Wright, Jeff Bradley, Keith Rhebb, and Dave Axland, the project was an amazing experience to say the least.
Having designed and built the course almost 30-years prior, it was fascinating to hear both Bill and Ben (and Mark Rolfing) discuss the decision making processes that occurred back then and how the course and its features have changed and evolved since then. It was equally interesting to see through excavations how a golf courses features change from years of topdressing, sand splash, and erosion.
Living on the beach, surfing twice a day at Honolua Bay, and watching whales breech from the seat of an excavator, the project felt more like a vacation than a job. Projects like these only come around every once in a while and I was very grateful for the opportunity.
In the spring of 2019, while looking at a potential project in the San Francisco area, Keith Rhebb and I received a phone from owner of Forest Dunes Golf Club, Lew Thompson. Mr. Thompson asked if we would take a look at a piece of land on his property on which to design a new short course on. Having been involved at the early stages of Tom Doak’s reversible Loop design, I was already familiar with the particular piece of land. I knew it had potential.
After entering discussions with Forest Dunes, and presenting a preliminary 10-hole design for Lew to review, the project was approved and given the green light. Lew requested we design golf holes that both he and his grandchildren could enjoy together, in addition to all the other resort guests.
Keith Rhebb and I, along with help from local shaper Joe Hancock and fish punching specialist, began clearing work at the end of May and completed the entire project by the start of August. Having to deal with all kinds of infrastructure constraints within the site such as roads/parking lot, buried fire suppression tanks, septic field, buried power lines and gas lines, the resorts main communications tower, was all challenging but I think we were able to build a pretty fun 10-hole short course nonetheless.
The new short course at Forest Dunes is scheduled to open summer of 2020.
In the summer and fall of 2019, IGD was busy at Point Grey Golf & Country Club in Vancouver, B.C. After 2 years of planning, the Club embarked on the execution of phase 1 of their long range master plan. Two par-3’s, a par-5, and a new driving range and short game facility was slated to be built.
The project is a complete remodel of the existing golf club and its facilities. The work will take a break during the winter rain months and resume in the spring of 2020 and open for play summer of 2020.
