Tanah Merah Country Club in Singapore has appointed Robert Trent Jones II to redesign its Garden course, following the acquisition of land by local authorities for road expansion.

A tender process saw the club considering “a select group of renowned golf course architects”, with RTJ II selected and now in the process of finalising its redesign of the course, which was originally created by the firm of Thomson, Wolveridge, Fream and Associates in 1984.

The changes are required “as further land will be acquired by the authorities for the expansion of the East Coast Parkway, which runs parallel to the Garden Course”, said club president Ho Beng Huat. The acquired land includes part of the current par-four fourth hole and the par-five fifth.

Project aims include separating fairways further for improved safety between holes, making safety distances between holes a priority, incorporating existing golf corridors where possible, and planting trees in strategically appropriate areas. There are also plans to increase the staging areas and the visibility of waterfall features.

The project will retain many aspects of the existing course, including the halfway house and maintenance facility, and the club also intends to keep as many lake edges and existing tress as possible.

The club has already reconfigured its Tampines course, following expansion of the nearby Changi Airport.

RTJ II’s proposal will see the Garden course becoming a 6,570-yard, par-71 with gently undulating fairways and greens and “long sweeping lines running throughout the golf course,” according to the club.

The designers have arranged the new routing so that it can also be played as independent three, six or nine-hole loops: holes one to nine can be played as a ‘Garden Loop’; ten to fifteen are a six-hole ‘Sunrise Loop’ and sixteen to eighteen as a three-hole ‘Learning Loop’.

Construction is tentatively scheduled to start in January 2019 and expected to last 12 months.