8 Fishers Island New York, United States Seth Raynor, 1926 Students of golf design will find much to admire at Fishers Island, with the course featuring Raynor’s take on numerous classic designs, such as Redan, Alps and Biarritz holes. Capilano British Columbia, Canada Stanley Thompson, 1937 Routed among fir trees in the hills between the Pacific Ranges and Vancouver Harbour, Capilano is a little-touched insight into the work of Canadian architect Stanley Thompson. Wentworth (West) Surrey, England Harry Colt, 1926 Although the routing remains the same, the recent renovation of Wentworth’s West course by Ernie Els with architect Greg Letsche has transformed this Harry Colt layout, now characterised by its deep, muscular bunkering. Restoring shot values It’s five years since the team at Ernie Els Design embarked on the huge transformation of Wentworth’s West course. Ernie Els reflects on the experience. Restoration of a classic golf course is a challenging process, but it’s also an immensely rewarding one, especially as in this case you take into account my connections with the West course at Wentworth. This Harry Colt design has an incredible tournament pedigree – having hosted World Matchplays, BMW PGA Championships and a Ryder Cup – and its popularity is well documented. However, by the turn of the 20th century the course wasn’t playing the way Colt intended. That was the starting point for our design solutions. We needed to restore a lot of the course’s original shot values, while at the same time not straying too far from Colt’s philosophy – a delicate balancing act but one that we feel has been successfully resolved. In fact we believe this restoration, which included completely new green complexes and bunkering, has enhanced this wonderful course in every conceivable way. It is improved aesthetically, strategically and just as significantly in the quality of the playing surfaces. And as a designer, my own view is that the likes of Colt, Donald Ross and Alister MacKenzie would have willingly been engaged in such restorations. Great men such as this have great vision. They designed courses for 30, 40 and 50 years or more and in that time they evolved as architects. Had they lived long Architects’ Choice Top 100 Golf Courses “ We needed to restore a lot of the course’s original shot values, while at the same time not straying too far from Colt’s philosophy – a delicate balancing act” ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #92 ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #91 ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #92 ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #90 ARCHITECTS’ CHOICE #90
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