A new 18-hole course is to be built on the site of the existing course at Rolling Hills Country Club in Palos Verdes, California.
David McLay Kidd – the golf course architect behind the Bandon Dunes course in Oregon and the new Gamble Sands course in Washington State – has been brought in by the club for the project and to draw up the design for the course.
Rolling Hills is currently home to a 6,112 yard 18-hole course designed by Ted Robinson.
Speaking to the Rolling Hills Country Club website, McLay Kidd said: “It’s pretty obvious that the course has been cobbled together over a couple of generations and really hasn’t been thought through as an overall composition. When I first visited the course, when I got to its highest point I looked down into the quarry. Now the quarry’s not a rock quarry, the quarry’s a sand quarry, and sand is the elixir of life to a golf course designer. Sand is what makes great golf courses great. Knowing that an 200-acre sand quarry lies next to the existing Rolling Hills club gives it that secret ingredient that will makes this course truly great. Our intention is to use that sand across the entire golf course and create a firm, fast course that’s incredibly natural.”
A gravel pit located to the east of the current course will be filled in and a new pitch and putt and driving range will be built on the site. A new 60,000 sq ft clubhouse will be built as part of the project.
“The practice facility we intend to create is going to cover around 9-10 acres,” said McLay Kidd. “It’s going to be double-ended, 350 yards end-to-end. At the far end we’re going to have a building that will have the latest in technology, with all sorts of cool stuff that a player can use to have his or her game analysed. We intend to build a short game area for chipping and approach play, and then a number of targets all through the long range. In combination, these will make up a nine-hole golf course.”
The course closed last week in order for work to begin. The project is set to be completed by spring 2017.