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Based on an interview with Christopher Powell, Senior
Partner of Cameron Powell Golf Course Design for BCM Business Club Magazine
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| Cameron Powell Golf Course Design was formed by Chris Powell with his friend, long-time business associate and ex-European Tour
Player, the late Bob Cameron. They have designed a number of courses, mainly in
Europe, but are probably best known for the courses at Furnas and Batalha on
the island of San
Miguel in the Azores
archipelago. Furnas is rated by the ‘Pocket
Guide to Golf Courses: Spain
& Portugal’ as ‘the
joint best course in the whole of Spain
& Portugal”.
The renowned travel writer and botanist,
David Sayers, describes it as "...one of the world's most intimate
and exquisitely beautiful courses..." |
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| Q1: What is the biggest challenge when you
design a new golf course?
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It is usually persuading the client that the ‘perfect’ or ‘natural’
golf holes that he has already identified on the site will be virtually
impossible to fit in with the other 17 holes, particularly if he wants the
course to start and finish at the clubhouse.
Answers to this question
may sound frivolous but can have a serious impact on the end result – like
trying to create what you want on a piece of land that you don’t think isn’t
large enough, with a budget that you also don’t think is large enough.
The biggest design
challenge is probably the task of initially creating a routing plan that will
fit onto on a piece of land that at first look seems to be too small to put 9
holes on let alone 18. Then comes that ‘eureka’ moment when the flow of the
course suddenly comes together and you find that you’ve got huge amounts of
space to play with and you can’t believe how obvious the layout is or how there
was ever any other layout that could possibly work.
I hate what I call
lazy design, where shortcuts are taken in the design because it is
easier to
put a tee halfway back up the previous hole than to rethink the layout.
I can’t rest until I get a routing plan where
one hole leads naturally onto the next and the holes flow around the
golf
course. I know that some of the great courses have all sorts of ‘design
flaws’
but you can’t build them in on the drawing board. When you are on the
ground, unexpected changes can make it play perfectly, even though on
paper it might look like a disaster. But that is what can make for
great golf.
The real challenge is ensuring
that the course sits in the landscape as if it was always there.
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| Q2: Which is your favorite course? |
I find it difficult not to be influenced by the origins of the game
and the places where the game originated. The obvious choice is the Old Course
at St Andrews. When Bob was a European Tour
Player, back in the 1970’s, and had qualified for the British Open at St Andrews, he wondered what all the fuss was about…
until he played it. Then he agreed with Jack Nicklaus that it’s the best course
in the world.
On the other hand, if you
are given an amazing piece of land in an incredibly
atmospheric location and the course turns out like a dream… is it egotistical
to say it’s your favourite course?
However, I will plump
for The Ailsa at Turnberry. It was completely rebuilt after having been used as
an RAF airfield during WWII. Like St
Andrew’s it is one of the great courses of the world but it is the ‘against the
odds’ nature of its resurrection that partly endears it to me. And it does have
the most amazing atmosphere.
I also really like
the far less well known McKenzie Ross 9 holes at Pyle & Kenfig in Wales.
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| Q3: Which player do you admire? |
There are some
obvious answers: Jack Nicklaus & Tiger Woods are hard to ignore. Bob had a
soft spot for Lee Trevino, Ben Hogan & Gary Player, although I think the
player he most admired was probably Tom Watson.
I will go for Nick
Faldo. This is simply down to his sheer dedication….he used to beat himself up
mercilessly but never gave up. He was the best golfer in the world for a number
of years but even when he wasn’t – and he sank down the world rankings fast - he
never gave anything less than total commitment.
These days it seems if Tiger is in front the rest of the field just roll
over and play for second. I could never see Faldo doing that.
I suppose I could
also say Harry Vardon, who went from being the world’s greatest golfer to the
world’s greatest golf course designer, but that is probably answers a different
question
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| Q4: In what kind of environment do you prefer working? |
The trite answer
is… any and all. But that is not far from the truth because each site and each
location adds its own something special to the project and to your design.
The ‘Everest’ for
any golf course architect is to design a links course, simply because that is
the origin of golf and the essence of what golf is all about. But – whether mountain,
woodland, desert, deer park
- all good sites create their own individual buzz.
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| Q5: What is the real potential of golf in Mexico on an
international level? |
Mexico is certainly thought of in the UK as a serious, and exotic,
golf destination and we are well aware that you have a number of world
class golf courses, such as the very highly regarded Cabo Del Sol.
The international golf
market is always going to be about location, climate and top quality resort courses,
and Mexico
has all the right ingredients. You have courses designed by some of
the biggest names in golf - from Jack Nicklaus through P B Dye, Greg Norman and Tom
Weiskopf, and right back to one of the all-time great course designers, Alister
MacKenzie (Tijuana Country Club/Augusta/Cypress Point).
Some more
top-class, high-profile Mexican golfers wouldn’t do any harm. You have Lorena
Ochoa leading the LPGA tour but you need more golfers coming through at top
level. Another Lee Trevino or two would be good. This is possibly one of the drawbacks
of a preponderance of resort golf courses - they don’t always make the
facilities available for young local players to learn and develop their game.
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Q6:
What is the impact of Mexican golf
courses internationally? How many foreign people visit our courses?
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Mexico is certainly a
popular destination from the UK
and the continued growth of cheap, convenient air travel is only going to
increase this.
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Q7: Which are your most profitable
projects?
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There is very
little difference between any of our projects. We generally charge a fee based
on the standard scale recommended by the Landscape Institute and the European
Institute of Golf Course Architects. This is based on the estimated cost
of construction of the golf course. We don’t charge ‘signature’ fees.
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| Q8: What is your opinion of residential
development on golf courses?
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I live in a
country where residential development is rarely allowed with golf courses.
When it is, it can be exceptional – such as the Wentworth Estate - but it is
still frowned on by most planning authorities. With nearly 3,000 golf courses,
the UK (with Ireland) is probably
deemed to have more than enough golf courses without allowing people to profit
from residential development as well.
Like anything else
in this life, when residential development is done badly it can be disastrous.
The main danger is, of course, greed. That irresistible desire of some developers to
squeeze in just that little bit closer to the fairways. It is understandable –
real estate makes much more money than golf – but unacceptable. When you can
hear your golf shot echo through canyons of apartment blocks lining a fairway,
where is the pleasure or benefit for golfers or property owners?
On the other hand,
it is difficult to see how golf courses can be properly developed without the supporting
commercial development, whether real estate, hotels, business parks, or the
like. The key is in integrating it
properly into the masterplan and being very strict about the final density of development.
It is also difficult to create a balanced
development if the golf course architect is given the ‘left-over’ land and has
to make do as best he can. As
I never
tire of telling people, it is much easier on paper to move a villa
100 metres than it is a 520 metre par 5 golf hole (especially when 17
other inter-related holes will also have to be rearranged).
On balance? A good thing but let your golf course
architect have the first bite of the development land. If you don’t like what he produces, he will be
quite open to suggestions. We are
generally very amenable guys.
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| Q9: What do you enjoy the most about your profession? | | Everything |
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| Q 10: What factors do you consider important for people to
invest in your projects? | | Trust, and at least some belief that we really do try to act in the best interests
of the project. |
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| Q 11: When you think about the players, what
techniques do you use to make the golf field easier or harder? |
All the usual tricks of placing and shaping hazards with
varying degrees of difficulty: trees; bunkers; fairway shaping; semi-rough
shape and depth; forgiving or unforgiving rough; angle of play from the
tees; little tempters, where there is some degree of doubt about laying up
or going for gold, and where the price of failure is not something to
contemplate. Bob was always of the opinion that once you have managed to
get the ball on the green it shouldn’t have to be one of the ‘labours of Hercules’ to then get it in the cup.
You are always looking to test players of differing abilities at
different points along a hole. A shot that is not even considered a problem for
a high-handicap player could, and possibly should, undo a low-handicapper or
pro playing a mis-judged shot.
The rule of thumb
is: the further from the green, the easier the escape; the closer to the green,
the more diabolical the penalty for failure.
And as I mention below, I generally try to put in a
rabbit route to let someone bale out if the going gets too tough. There are
going to be players whose day will be made if they get the ball more than 1
metre off the ground. Why spoil it for them with a green in the middle of a
lake that they are only going reach by carrying their ball there in a rowing
boat.
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| Q 12: Do you design the course for all levels of
players or for a specific type? |
A golf course must always be designed in anticipation of hosting a US
Open or Ryder Cup......But,
practically, it
must really be laid out for the everyday amateur who is going to be
playing there for pleasure and enjoyment during the week and for points
at the weekend. It not only
has to be playable at every level - from beginner to international
superstar -
but it must be enjoyable and challenging to all of them as well. Plus
it should
set challenges for all golfers to improve their golf without
discouraging them
or unfairly penalizing them if they get it wrong. Few people will try
to
improve if they are too harshly treated when they fail. I always try to
build
in a rabbit run on every hole.
Unlike
some golf courses we could mention, it should be capable of being set up for
birdies in tournament play. It seems to be becoming a matter of pride (or
possibly fear) for some tournament organizers to try set courses up to be as
hard as possible. Everyone likes to see the players challenged but not if the
sole intention is for the course not to appear ‘soft’. The golf course is
important but only as the backdrop to the competition and the enjoyment of the
players and audience. It should always test the players to the limit but no
further, and never unfairly or unjustly.
People would much rather see a player rewarded for
good play with birdie rather than a par or even a bogey. Since when has a bogey been a good result? It really is outside the spirit of the game if
it is considered a good round when a pro comes in 2 over par rather than 2
under par. The real beauty of a course is in making sure it doesn’t give up too
many birdies. But rarely will a hatful of birdies bring anything but praise
from players about the fairness of a course. |
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Q 13: Who decides the difficulty
of the course?
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The design is only
the beginning of a great golf course, a blueprint to take guidance from but not
to follow dogmatically. We have been on far too many courses where features
the designer never intended to dominate have, over time, been allowed to
overpower and reduce the effectiveness of
holes – trees that have been allowed to grow too big and impede rather than
challenge players; bunkers that were once well placed but have been made redundant
by new club and ball technology. All because this is how the great ‘whoever’
designed it and because sometimes the club officials may fail to recognize that
a golf course is organic and can take on a life of its own that was never
intended or foreseen.
The golf course designer may try to introduce a little evil into the design on
the off-chance that it won’t be noticed but essentially a course will be
designed to be well balanced and flexible – a nice day out for the local
Business Club or a good test for the monthly medal or a serious test for a
major tournament. At the end of the day it is the head greenkeeper or the club
committee or the tournament organizers who really dictate the difficulty of the
course.
It is the golf
course architects job to ensure that they are able to adjust the difficulty
when they need to. One can only hope that such power doesn’t always go to their
heads.
Finally, what makes a great golf course - or a golf
course great - is when the club officials or owners or managers or greenkeepers
or all of them together, take what the designer has given them and then keep
polishing it until it dazzles. We only provide the framework, the people who
run it and work on it and play on it make it difficult or penal or unforgettable
or simply great. |
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Q 14: In your experience, are the courses
designed more for public or private use?
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be ‘resort’ courses in that they are part of an hotel or real estate package. To that extent they often have a mix of local
members trying to play around the resort visitor times. The projects we look
at these days are almost invariably real estate related, providing club
membership for property owners and locals, mixed with visiting holiday golfers. |
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| Q 15: When did you started designing courses? Why? | I
first became involved in golf course design in 1981 when I became the
General Manager of the Miller Buckley Leisure Group, under Chairman Sir
Michael Bonallack. Part of the group included the world-renowned golf
course design company of Cotton, Pennink, Lawrie & Partners who
designed over 300 courses in 30 countries around the world (literally
from Australia to Zambia).
Up
to that point, my career had been in building construction & civil
engineering (I originally qualified as an Associate of the Royal
Institute of Chartered Surveyors) but I began to spend time helping out
with reports and making site visits and, eventually, on the drawing
board (I have an ‘A’ level in Art and part of my RICS training
included architectural drawing, so I have never been a stranger to pens
and drawing boards).
Not
only did I become immediately besotted with this wonderful new golf
course design and development world but - to my amazement and great
pleasure - I found that I had a natural talent for it.
At this time I was also working with Bob Cameron (he was my Clubs Manager, running a number of golf clubs for us across the UK).
As an ex-European Tour Player who had played in 24 world open
championships, he knew a good golf course when he saw one. With my
talent and good looks and his golfing pedigree, we found that our
disparate backgrounds actually fitted like a glove.
Eventually,
after Sir Michael left to become Secretary of the R & A, we bought
out part of the company, developed our own golf resort (which we
operated until the mid-1990’s) and set up our golf course design &
consultancy practice.
We were semi-retired for a while, until the “Pocket
Guide to Golf Courses: Spain & Portugal” decided that the 9 hole McKenzie
Ross course at Furnas, which we had upgraded and extended to 18 holes, was the
‘joint best golf course in the whole of Spain and Portugal’ and ‘worth crossing
a continent to play’. That chuffed us quite a bit and eventually led to UnicerTurismo
commissioning us to extend their McKenzie Ross 9 hole short-course at
Vidago into an full size international standard 18 holes. |
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| Q 16: What do you think is the best design style and who is best designer in this
field? | There are several schools of thought on golf course design.
One
is that - like soccer, baseball, cricket, horse racing - it is a sport
to be undertaken on a dedicated sports field which has been designed
for the sole purpose of undertaking that sport. If the landscape
doesn’t suit the chosen form, then change the landscape. Nobody expects
a football field to reflect or enhance the landscape in which it is set
– it is always going to be flat and oblong regardless of its natural
surroundings. So, why should a golf course be any different? Form
should follow function. This philosophy can lead to greens shaped like
Mickey Mouse’s head, with his ears forming the bunkers.
A second
philosophy is that of stretching the envelope or ‘signature’ golf
(where did that term suddenly come from?) or as some might have it, ego
design. This is golf graffiti – “I was here and here’s my ‘tag’ to prove it”.
Fortunately,
in my eyes, many big-name designers are now publicly declaiming a
return to the traditional naturalistic roots of golf and discarding the
gimmicks. I admit that, in the distant past, I may have dabbled with psychedelic
bunkering – creating wildly flowing shapes, like demented oak leaves.
But, like finding an old photograph of yourself dressed in velvet
bell-bottoms, flowered shirt, John Sebastian sun-glasses and an ‘Afro’
perm, looking at them now is faintly embarrassing. Good for giving the
children a laugh but not a photo you would want in your passport.
Golf
is said to have developed by Scottish shepherds hitting pebbles through
the seaside sand dunes onto flattened ‘greens’, at the sides of which
sheep formed concave hollows to shelter from the wind, which eventually
filled with drifting sand. Oh how easy it must have been in those
halcyon days to lay out a golf course. I can’t properly remember the
quotation or to whom it is attributed but the gist is “God was the
course architect and man and beasts merely His artisans”.
I am unashamedly of this traditionalist persuasion. The simpler, the better. Landscape is everything. Pot bunkers rather than bunkers that look as if they were designed by someone smoking pot.
The best golf course designer in the field?
Donald Ross? Alister MacKenzie? Harry Vardon? Willie Park? McKenzie Ross? A W Tillinghast? Dr Laidlaw Purves? Take your pick, your opinion is as valid as mine.....just as long as it isn’t Mickey Mouse.
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