TEE BOX and the green was expanded to its original size. The eighteenth was rebuilt with fairway bunkers reconfigured and the green revamped to make it a fairer test. “As the project developed through the phases, it also became clear that the fourteenth needed to be realigned to address a safety issue and the solution was to make the hole a short par five, breaking up a run of tough par fours from eleven to sixteen,” said Mackenzie. “The additional shot to par means that the overall par matches the course rating, but, more valuably, it has produced a visually stimulating hole with many more choices and options. It has turned a tough par four that most would kindly have described as a slog into a fun birdie opportunity, so it has been a big improvement to the layout.” Throughout the renovation, the design team has made use of aerial photography from 1924, cross referenced with old plans from the club’s archives. “The oblique aerial photographs were from the year that Colt’s revised course opened, with Park’s original holes still clearly visible,” said Mackenzie. “We also found interesting ground photography of holes like the fifth, which were used during the shaping process. MJ Abbott did a great job recreating these shapes. “A wonderful aerial of the thirteenth and seventeenth greens was also found, showing how much these holes had become overgrown and how the style and number of bunkers had been diluted to the obvious detriment of both holes. These images inspired the work, but in researching the club’s minute books, it was found that Colt’s bunkers had immediately proved impractical to manage, so it would have been folly to restore exactly those bunkers with their associated problems. The look produced is certainly faithful to that of a century ago but in a more maintainable form.” Bunkers have been restyled and repositioned with the aim of improving the course’s aesthetics, playability and strategy. “The club has a great heritage and a priority for us was to create bunkers that were built to the best modern standards, but in a way that make them look appropriate to a historic course like this,” said Mackenzie. “A big change in character was the creation of closely mown areas around greens, while also restoring the greens to their original size, both of which emphasise the sophisticated original shapes. Many were the creation of Colt, but our historical research highlighted a surprising number of Park greens had been retained too. “Understandably, the club saved the hardest and most costly phase until last; those on the lower, wetter holes. This has involved the installation of vast amounts of drainage along with the rest of the irrigation, green and bunkering work. Acidic gravelly soils were selected and brought down to build the fairway bunker surrounds to allow them to become thin and wispy in the same way that those on the upper heathland holes are, bringing the character of the two different levels together.” At the thirteenth, bunkers have been renovated to a style that is faithful to Colt’s 1924 work Photo: Mackenzie & Ebert 13
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