72 underinvestment, is now owned by members and led by CEO Richard Sorrell – has maintained its relationship with Bobby and his RTJ II firm. The last major project, in 2014, focused on drainage and irrigation. Under the direction of RTJ II architect Mike Gorman and John Clarkin of golf consultancy Turfgrass – who himself was so enamoured with the region when he first began working with the club in the 2000s that he decided to move there – the white-hot wheel blades of contractor MJ Abbott’s machinery cut through the rocky ground to establish a freely draining foundation for the course and install sophisticated water-efficient irrigation technology from Toro. Around the same time, the club hired superintendent Stephen Byrne, whose expertise in major projects while at Fota Island in Ireland and The Wisley in London would complete another piece in the puzzle to bring Vidauban back to glory. Byrne set about specifying a state-of-the-art maintenance facility that would support the club’s ambitions and gave his input into future priorities. “I really felt that new bunkering could transform the course,” he says. “Not just from a maintenance perspective, also in terms of strategy and the connection with the landscape.” The original bunkers had lost their shape over the 25 years since the course was laid out, and the large ovals were, as Gorman explains, “disappearing into the landscape”. The project team – Sorrell, his general manager Cyprien Comoy, Gorman, Clarkin, Byrne and MJ Abbott’s Steve Briggs and Jim Price – hatched a plan with three prongs: remodel bunkers, restore green perimeters and rework surrounds. They set to work in late 2020. The pandemic meant travel to and from the site would be challenging. “I V IDAUBAN “ We’ve got this spectacular one-of-a-kind landscape that we wanted to respect and make the bunkers a part of ” Looking back on the opening hole and out as far as the eye can see over the Plaine des Maures nature reserve
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