1 WELCOME ADAM LAWRENCE Heath revival American golfers, for whom large-scale course renovations, often costing millions and seeing courses closed for a year to complete the works, are now relatively commonplace, often look askance at the way courses in the UK go about improving themselves. But there is much to be said for the British way of slow and steady. Golf in the UK has never been as big a money business as in the US, and so, for most British clubs, the thought of closing the course for a full year and spending seven figures on it is a complete impossibility. And it is notable that the very few ‘American-style’ renovations carried out in this country (I’m thinking about the recent projects at Loch Lomond and Chart Hills primarily; the work at Stoke Park following its recent acquisition by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani might fit the bill, but that project is so shrouded in mystery that no-one really knows what is going on) have been carried out at courses whose business model – one a recently sold proprietary club and the other a super-private luxury retreat – is a long, long way from the traditional members’ club. As the article on historic Woking GC in this issue explains, though, it does seem as though the Brits are starting to catch up with the Americans in terms of the ambition of their renovations. Woking’s ongoing work to enhance its heathland is, along with the current restoration of Addington by Clayton, DeVries and Pont, clear evidence that British golf clubs are serious about renovation. As we have said many times in GCA, heathland, the location of the first great inland golf courses ever built, is a fragile landscape that requires careful management if it is not to revert to poor quality woodland. Heath was a landscape created for grazing; once there are no more animals eating the tree seedlings, it needs greenkeepers to step up and do the job. So I applaud Woking, and Addington, for being brave enough to recognise that and embarking on major projects to allow the heathland to shine. And I congratulate the architects, course managers, owners and committees involved. I hope it sets a trend.
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