Final planning approval is now underway for a major reconstruction of the Palo Alto municipal course in California. Located close to Stanford University, the course, originally designed by both Billy Bell Sr and his son, Billy Jr, the course serves the Silicon Valley area, home to some of the world’s leading technology firms.

Phoenix-based golf architect Forrest Richardson has been working with the City of Palo Alto and local flood control officials to redesign the course to accommodate a new drainage project that will protect the communities of East Palo Alto and Palo Alto.

As well as accommodating the flood control work, the redesign of the golf course will free land for a new city recreation centre. The reconstructed course will be rebranded Baylands Golf Links.

Among Richardson’s design features are a huge 18,000 sq ft shared green and a fourteenth hole that plays to alternate green sites. “The design is set into the shoreline,” said Richardson. “The design is influenced by the wind and the setting, which is about as good as it gets along one of the most famous bays in North America.”

Current plans call for construction to begin in May, with a projected completion in the autumn of 2015.