TEE BOX 18 THE BIG PICTURE The par-four tenth at Blackmoor Golf Club in Hampshire, England, as photographed by Kevin Murray. The Harry Colt-designed course has been renovated by Tim Lobb of Lobb + Partners, working on six holes over the past three winters. “All holes have had their bunkers rebuilt and we used heather on all fairway bunkering,” said Lobb. “The heather was used sparingly on greenside bunkers as our experience has taught us that it is difficult to grow it in high-use bunkers because of sand splash.” About an acre of heather has been added and there is still more to go. Tree clearance is taking place, too. “Holes seven and thirteen were very much in a parkland setting, and we have started removing some trees and integrating heather bunkering and landscape,” said Lobb. “It will take some time to fully restore the heathland landscape in this area, but you always need to start somewhere on these projects.” Lobb has increased the size of the approaches at some of the par threes, expanded several greens to recapture lost space and moved greenside bunkers closer to the putting surfaces. “The third green was an interesting one as we created an extended approach to the right of the putting surface, which, in effect, seemed as if we enlarged the green,” said Lobb. “The same was done for some of the par three likes like fifteen and seventeen.”
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