19 Photo: Lobb + Partners RTJ II designs reversible short course for Al Badia in Dubai A new reversible short course by Robert Trent Jones II (RTJ II) has opened at Al Badia Golf Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. “The brief was to design a world-class, multipurpose learning and performance academy,” said Mike Gorman, senior architect at RTJ II. “The facility needed to seamlessly function as both a traditional practice range and a short course, offering flexibility to suit different needs. Additionally, we designed a 30,000-square-foot Himalayas-style green, providing a fun, informal space for learning golf. The course will include template features such as Dell, Double Plateau, Punchbowl and Biarritz. “While there’s an eight-hole ‘scorecard’ option, the real spirit of the facility is as a ‘choose-your-ownadventure’ short course,” said Gorman. The course can be lit for evening play. “Lighting was a key consideration, especially given Dubai’s climate,” said Gorman. The RTJ II team worked closely with John Clarkin and Craig Hanney from Turfgrass Consultancy. The Al Badia short course has been designed for players to ‘choose their own adventure’ The ‘Cliffhangers’ par-three golf course at Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri, USA, is expected to open for play in summer 2025. The 18-hole layout, which is being built on a hillside adjacent to the resort’s Payne’s Valley course, will feature holes ranging from 60 to 165 yards with significant elevation change and greens that have severe slopes and tucked locations for challenging pins. “We wanted to put people in touch with different vistas, beautiful spots of nature all along the course,” said resort owner Johnny Morris. “There were a few question marks along the way about how we’re going to fit 18 holes on this crazy, steep hillside,” said Morris’s son John Paul. “I think we ended up with a heck of a routing.” On the fourth hole, the resort has incorporated a waterfall down limestone cliffs, from which golfers have views of the surrounding Ozark Mountains and Table Rock Lake. Cliffhangers will be the third short layout at the six-course resort, joining the Mountain Top and Top of the Rock courses, designed by Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus’s firms respectively. Big Cedar Lodge to open new par-three layout Photo: Big Cedar Lodge
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