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cameron | powell
more than just classic
golf course design...
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Cameron|Powell are international golf course designers and golf consultants who have been actively involved in the design, development, project management and operation of golf, hotel and leisure projects since 1981. |
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We
are probably best
known for the two golf courses on the island of
São
Miguel in the
Açores archipelago: Batalha
Golf & Country Club and, in particular, Furnas Golf Course -- which is rated by the 'Pocket Guide to Golf Courses' as the joint best course in the whole of Spain & Portugal.
These are currently the only courses on the island, and it says much for their quality and presentation that, at the 2007 International Association of Golf Travel Organisations (IAGTO) Awards, a panel of international golf journalists rated the Azores as ”... one of the best undiscovered golfing destinations in the World...” We have also recently been privileged to be awarded the contract to remodel, upgrade and extend another classic Mackenzie Ross 9 hole short course at Campo de Golfe Vidago Palace. This will become an international 18 hole resort course forming a key part of the 5 star hotel, spa & golf revamp of the beautiful Vidago Palace hotel, which is located an hour or so east of Porto in the north of Portugal. However, we don't just design very fine golf courses, we also have a very broad-based and practical hands-on experience of the entire golf & leisure development and operation process. As well as golf design and development, we have previously managed golf club, golf course, golf resort, leisure and hotel projects. We also developed our own golf resort -- Abbey Park -- which we operated for several years. The development included hotel, conference centre, health & fitness spa, fishing lakes, golf club, leisure shop, golf driving range and 18 hole golf course. |
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Our
golf course design philosophy
is simple:
we aim to
produce
the best possible golf course within the constraints of the
site
conditions and the project resources.
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A
good golf course should be...
• practical
to
build, play
& maintain
• in harmony with its surroundings • challenging but not punitive • aesthetically pleasing • playable at all levels • ecologically sound |
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We
think this
philosophy is particularly well demonstrated at Furnas, on the
Açorean island of São
Miguel. The original 9 hole course
was built in 1939 by the internationally renowned golf course
architect Philip Mackenzie
Ross, who was responsible for re-designing the courses at Turnberry.
Cameron|Powell upgraded and extended Furnas into a full international standard 18 hole course in 1990. When
we were planning and designing the new 9 holes we were extremely
careful to try to avoid the mistake -- made on so many extended courses
-- of imposing alien design characteristics onto a naturally beautiful
and classic
golf course. Throughout
the entire design and construction process we consciously strived to
retain
the integrity of the original design and to faithfully reflect the
aesthetics, playability and spirit of the Mackenzie Ross original.
We are inordinately proud of the fact that -- by the judgement of almost everyone who has seen or played the course -- we seem to have succeeded. The only criticism -- if indeed it can be called that -- is that maybe some of our new holes are more testing than the originals... but I think we can probably live with that. What really gives us a buzz is when people say they can’t spot the join... that they have difficulty deciding where the old course finishes and where the new course begins. That’s when we know we really got it right. |
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SITE
VISIT
It
is never to early to get us involved in the project development process
-- and our preliminary appraisal can potentially save time, trouble and
expense in the longer term.
For details of our site visit & preliminary project appraisal service, click on the golf ball  |
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evaluation
| design | development |
project management | operation
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Cameron
Powell · Bubbenhall
· Warwickshire
CV8 3JE
· United
Kingdom
T International +44 2476 304476 UK 02476 304476 F International +44 2476 959697 UK 02476 959697 E golf.design '@' cameronpowell.com |
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