The April 2023 issue of Golf Course Architecture is out now! It’s number 72, which means we have now completed four rounds of 18 issues – a full, proper tournament – of Golf Course Architecture.

This special milestone is marked by a bumper issue too, leading with the spectacular new Point Hardy golf course in Saint Lucia, photographed by Jacob Sjoman, on the cover. I report on the new Coore & Crenshaw layout now growing in at the Cabot Saint Lucia resort, ahead of an opening late this year. Developer Ben Cowan-Dewar tells us what makes this clifftop course a Caribbean dream.

For our main feature article, Adam Lawrence considers how golf can find new ways to reduce its water usage, and some of the new innovations in turfgrass that may help. John Genovesi of the Maidstone Club, Kasey Kauff of Trinity Forest, turf specialists John Holmes and Jim Culley, and architects Bill Coore and Nathan Crace all provide insights into this crucial topic.

Adam also reports on a visit to Belleair CC in Florida, where Jason Straka and Dana Fry have completed a stunning transformation of the Donald Ross-designed West course.

We speak with Canadian architect Rod Whitman, one of golf’s great collaborators, having worked with architects including Pete Dye and Bill Coore. He provides some great insights into these partnerships, as well as his current work with Dave Axland and Keith Cutten.

Elsewhere, GCA publisher Toby Ingleton provides his thoughts on the R&A and USGA’s new model local rule; golf course architect Forrest Richardson describes a unique green design he has introduced at Promontory Club in Utah; and GEO Foundation’s Jonathan Smith considers what progress has been made in ecological design since he wrote for the very first issue of GCA in 2005.

Our Tee Box section includes news of WAC Golf’s new nineteen-hole short course that is being built at Bandon Dunes; Mackenzie & Ebert’s renovation of Hankley Common in England; Stirling & Martin’s new course taking shape near Bucharest, Romania; Edwin Roald’s use of automated machine guidance at Sefloss in Iceland; and Andrew Green’s William Flynn-inspired renovation at Indian Creek in Florida.

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