Golf Course Architecture - Issue 63, January 2021

23 TEE BOX Photo: Mike Klemme Tom Clark’s Cutalong course opens for play The new Cutalong golf course in Virginia is now open for play. The layout has been designed by Tom Clark in collaboration with golf journalist Ron Whitten and comprises holes inspired by some of golf ’s best-known classic hole designs. “My original intention was to create another National Golf Links,” said Clark. “With some of Ron’s input we not only have Charles Blair Macdonald to draw from, but a host of other famous designers.” Interpretations of famous holes that feature on the Cutalong layout include a version of James Braid’s ‘Het Girdle’ par-three fifth green at Gleneagles on the par-five third, the par-three seventeenth based on Alister MacKenzie’s Gibraltar hole at Moortown, as well others inspired by the work of Harry Colt, Hugh Alison, Donald Ross, Tom Simpson, Old Tom Morris, William Flynn and others. The site is also close to Civil War battlegrounds and Clark and Whitten have based some holes – including the ‘Stockade Redan’ eighth – on nineteenth century defences. The layout also emphasises the site’s mining history, featuring abandoned mine shafts, ruins and a rail line. “We have railroad tie bunkers, mine shafts have been capped and are now drainage basins, and we have used rail ruins, spikes, picks and mule shoes as tee markers,” said Clark. While all 18 holes are now open, the official opening is planned for 2 July 2021. The cover story of the latest issue of By Design magazine – produced for the American Society of Golf Course Architects by the team responsible for GCA – explores how the work and philosophies of Golden Age golf course architects continue to inspire today’s designers. “Golden Age creations are the inspiration for almost all of my work,” says Drew Rogers. “During these times where we’re all trying to produce more with less, it’s instructive to call on the works from the early years of the twentieth century, when a course was truly arranged or routed for the best ‘fit’, and so little had to be done to build and maintain it.” Also in the Winter issue, Forrest Richardson – the new ASGCA president – describes his deep respect for golf course architecture’s past, and his vision for the future; there are profiles of the six projects recognised by ASGCA’s Environmental Excellence Awards programme; and Thad Layton of Arnold Palmer Design Company discusses his thinking behind a short par-three hole at Fasano Las Piedras in Uruguay. To download the latest issue and subscribe to By Design , visit www.asgca.org “Golden Age creations are the inspiration for almost all of my work” GOOD READ ISSUE 51 // WINTER 2020 THE GOLD STANDARD How the courses and philosophies of Golden Age golf course architects continue to influence design today Excellence in Golf Design from the A merican Society of Golf Course Arch itects ALSO: // Ponte Vedra Inn & Club // Environmental Excellence // Fasano Las Piedras PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE ASGCA President Forest Richardson shares his vision for the future of go lf course architecture BY DESIGN