Golf Course Architecture - Issue 61, July 2020

EYEBROW – NAME OF COURSE 78 The new bunkers, like those on the original course, are relatively small and grass faced. Ramsey describes this as a links-like look, although the traps are significantly less punishing than a true revetted pot. Increasing bunker visibility, though, has been a key goal of the rebuild; most are scalloped out on the approach side, so even with the grass faces, the sand is visible. At the par-three sixth, though, the greenside bunkers are less obvious; not blind exactly, but hardly staring the player in the face. With the new bunkers, the architects have redefined the strategy of holes. “We have created options on shot selection,” says Ramsey. “We always try to make the golfer think before pulling the trigger. Or in some cases, rethink.” “The smaller greens, strategic greenside bunkering and position of pins for the day directly impact players’ success, when their tee ball is in the proper landing zone in the fairway, or failure, if they are out of position and cannot attack the hole location of the day,” says Dale. “A tee shot down the middle of a fairway does not typically provide the ideal angle for the approach shot.” The routing is quite interesting. Broadly speaking, the front nine is a loop around the outside of the property, with the back nine occupying the interior land. I think this makes the front nine a little more memorable, because it gets closer for longer to the reservoir, and the edge of site, so borders of the holes are perhaps a little more obviously appealing than on the interior. This is not to say that the back nine is disappointing; holes such as the beautiful par-three eleventh will live long in players’ memories. Seletar is grassed, everywhere other than greens, which are Platinum TE paspalum, supplied by Atlas Turf International, with Zeon Zoysia, “This is the model for clubs moving forward, to keep quality high and be much more environmentally responsible”