International golf design company, (re)Golf has completed the construction of a private six-green golf course, carved from a compact, severe site in Crete, Greece.
The course was designed in collaboration with the client by partner architects Christian Lundin and Jeff Lynch, and offers a number of hole options and routings. Artificial turf was used for the majority of the playing areas, allowing the client to accommodate Crete’s climate and water-use restrictions, as well as ensuring easy long-term maintenance. (re)Golf used native plants to transform natural areas into golf hazards and also to soften the edges of the turf.
“We wanted to maximise the interest and options within a very limiting piece of property,” said Lynch. “When our client has more favourite holes than greens, it’s a pretty good sign that we’ve accomplished what we set out to do.”
(re)Golf has also been contracted to redesign Ski Golf Club’s nine-hole golf course in Ski, near Oslo in Norway.
The project will be managed by Lundin and overseen by the club’s committee chairman, Owe Stangeland. It will involve an overhaul of the greens, surrounds, teeing grounds and bunkers, enabling the club to extend the golf season and reduce maintenance work after harsh winters.
“We’re planning on reducing the number of bunkers by over 50 per cent and relocating others to smart, strategic locations to maximise their effectiveness,” said Lundin. “The framework of a high quality, fun golf course is here, it’s a matter of peeling back the layers and being more efficient with what is underneath, from both a golf design and maintenance perspective.”
Construction of the course is scheduled to begin in autumn 2013.