Howard Swan has recently provided England Golf with a set of best practice guidelines for golf course renovation. Here he shares ten tips for a successful renovation project.

When clubs look to improve their courses, whether as little as changing a bunker or two or as large as rebuilding greens, there is a tendency to lapse into ‘leaving a legacy for the future’ or ‘making the Captain’s mark’. Clubs also often endeavour to execute any changes themselves, on a purely in-house basis, taking the amateur line.

As a professional golf course architect I see so many clubs whereby the quick fix is put in place, a short term view taken that is often closely related to a single personality who might be in office or a committee which is elected to preside over a club’s affairs for a year or a little longer.

Such an approach leads inevitably to a course’s evolution being discontinuous, wayward – going from pillar to post and back again, one might say – and certainly myopic. It is counterproductive in the long term, when a long term future, of course, is what a golf course needs – as it will far outlast the humans involved in playing on it, or managing it.

Getting things right in the way a golf course is developed, redeveloped, restored, renovated – whatever you might wish to call it – needs to be executed by taking an overall, holistic view, pointing the course’s structure and its fabric in the right direction.

Taking professional advice in doing that is vital, with the engaged golf course architect becoming an integral part of the team – with the appointed members of the club, the golf course manager, perhaps the professional and the club’s agronomist or greenkeeping consultant.

Such a team can set out the blueprint for the future, identifying and maximising the opportunities for the course and its efficient and economic management through that renovation process.

Failure to do so increases the exposure of the course in all respects – in this day and age financial being the most important – and can result in not reaching that sustainable intent and goal.

Here are ten points to consider before embarking on any renovation project:

1. Aim for consistency – Compile a course policy document that defines a consistency in the way a golf course evolves, rather than a staccato approach to development.

2. Take professional advice – Changes to the golf course should not be contemplated, and implemented, without the input of a professional golf course architect.

3. Take a long term view – Any sound business will look at a long term view rather than a short term fix, golf operations should be no different. This should begin with an overall evaluation of the performance of the golf course in order to identify what measures are required to satisfy the expectations of the playing population of today, and of the future.

4. Work as a team – Club officers, employees and professional advisors can together make a truly productive evaluation of the course and, with suitable communication, take the membership along with whatever is being proposed.

5. Be realistic – It is vital that any programmes of redesign or renovation are based on a realistic assessment of the resources available.

6. Minimise disturbance – Well-managed and professional staff should treat land with the minimal amount of disturbance to the land and minimal interference with play. Adequate sensitivity and care are essential, particularly given the emotions of the population who are attached to the land.

7. Work in phases – Approach work in time periods that can be reasonably realised – logistically, practically and financially and without undue disturbance. This may be three, five, seven years or longer.

8. Time work right – Arrange the golfing calendar so that work can be commenced when both weather and ground conditions are favourable, and completed before the end of the calendar year to give grassed structures a chance for adequate growth before being subjected to play in the following spring.

9. Involve greenkeeping staff – While contractors may be required for their skills, labour, machinery and experience in earth movement, shaping and drainage, greenkeeping teams can undertake associated horticultural works, such as preparation and turfing. The greenkeeping team will take responsibility for ongoing maintenance of any new structure so their input and interest in its formation will increase the chance of the original design integrity being maintained.

10. Consider investments – For longer term renovation projects, it may be sensible to invest in machinery, such as a 3 to 5 tonne 360° excavator, which would provide the flexibility to undertake work when weather and ground conditions are favourable. Investments in additional seasonal labour to support the permanent greenkeeping team may also allow work to be completed in tight timeframes.

It is always difficult to generalise over the costs of any redesign and reconstruction programme as each project will dictate the input required for materials, machinery and labour and each project is entirely site-specific. However it would be a wholly incorrect approach to contemplate work without sourcing costs in advance.

A new green, built to a comprehensive and modern profile and turfed may cost between £25,000 and £35,000. The teeing complex might cost at least half of that, but is clearly dependent on its size. Basic bunker renovation could be budgeted at £1,500 per bunker as a minimum, but this would not take into consideration the modern tendency to introduce separating materials between bunker formation and sand and that may well push up to double if not tripling that cost. Clearly much depends on the size of each bunker, and each may vary considerably relative to where they just are present on a course and how they influence the framing the strategy of play on it. A large bunker, perhaps up to 200 or even 250 square metres may attract cost of up to £10,000, and if there are 50 bunkers on the golf course of this size then the investment is clearly quite substantial.

Howard Swan is a golf course architect with Swan Golf Designs (www.swangolfdesigns.com) and is current Chairman of the Golf Consultants Association (www.golfconsultants.co.uk).