53 league led by internet entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian and his wife, tennis star Serena Williams, LACC itself, LA County Parks and Recreation, the Southern California Golf Association, the Western States Golf Association, and a host of private funders. The construction cast list includes a team from Total Turf Golf Construction comprising superintendent Shellene Elmore, project manager Paul McKinney, shapers Cristian Velasquez and Fernando Cerrillo, and operators Carlos Garcia, Pancho Salome and Salvador Granados. Heritage Links is the irrigation contractor. Hanse Golf Design has donated its services to handle the course redesign. Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony in January 2025, Gil Hanse said: “We want to make sure the golf course is recognisable and enjoyable for the people who have been here for 30 or 40 years…If we do anything here that makes this golf course less welcoming, less enjoyable or less recognisable for the people who have supported it over a long period of time, then we have failed.” Hanse himself is shaping the greens, but the job is being run by LA-based Hanse associate Tommy Naccarato. Naccarato is a legend in online golf architecture discussion circles, where he has been active for over a quarter of a century and is affectionately known as ‘the Emperor’. He may be loved by denizens of sites such as golfclubatlas.com, but he has not always been so popular among some golf architects, for his (rather trenchant) views on their work. And he is one of my dearest friends in the business. Tommy has had a tough time of late. He suffered a stroke, which kept him in hospital for a month, last November. And if that misfortune MAGGIE HATHAWAY “ We want to make sure the golf course is recognisable and enjoyable for the people who have been here for 30 or 40 years” Image: Hanse Golf Design Hanse Golf Design’s plan for the nine-hole par-three course includes Redan, Biarritz and Eden greens
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzQ1NTk=