Golf architecture in wintertime.

I'm often asked, what does a Canadian golf course designer do during the wintertime? Work, of course. The following photos prove it! Click on all images to enlarge.



December 9, 2011: The past two days I was at York Downs Golf and Country Club, in suburban Toronto, working on a long-range plan for golf course improvement. This involved trudging through some snow this morning, which is actually ideal. It's much less distracting - for myself and club members - to do this work without golf being played. Pictured is the 3rd hole on the South nine, at York Downs, from an obscure but interesting angle.

 

Winter 2007: This is an interesting shot of what is now the 17th hole at Sagebrush Golf and Sporting Club. Rod Whitman and I were on-site periodically that winter and the snow patches outlined in this photo, on this day, provided inspiration for two bunkers. See the photo posted with my November 22 blog which shows the "snow patch bunker" outlined at left, built. The other snow patch outlined on the image above is now a small bunker immediately behind the forward tee. This bunker does a good job at hiding the forward tee from view from the back tees and decorates the foreground nicely.



Winter 2007: The same winter, Rod and I were also working on a long-range golf course improvement plan for Wascana Country Club, in Regina, Saskatchewan. Walking around a golf course covered with several feet of snow in -20C temperature isn't the most pleasant experience, physically. But this particular visit to Wascana was productive, and fun. Above, Rod marks out a new green site at the par-five 12th hole. The snow helped with visualizing this idea! 

February 2011: One of the many great things about working at Victoria Golf Club is that the moderate climate on the southern tip of Vancouver Island allows us to do a majority of our work during the winter months. Above is a look toward the green at the par-four 11th hole only a few days after we'd finished remodeling bunkers there, earlier this year. This was a freak snowstorm in Victoria that blanketed the course for just a day or so, and made for a great photo.