Joining Lobb + Partners as a Design Associate - Dec 2019
Since I was very young, I have always had a fascination with the game of golf. There is no other pursuit quite like it. Golf takes great athleticism, a strong mind, sound strategy, perseverance and dedication. Not only do you go to battle with the course and some times your fellow golfers but really you strive to overcome the space between your ears, pitted against the course and elements, with a whole lot of luck mixed in. For me, it is the endless optimism of the next shot, which keeps me coming back, this and golf really is a great excuse to spend a few hours outdoors.
Most of my golf career has been spent playing / competing and helping others learn how to play the game. While I love the personal challenge golf provides me, and I genuinely enjoy coaching others, I have always drawn to the courses and landscapes golf is played upon. This was my motivation behind a Landscape Architecture degree many years ago, and it continues to be my main interest within the game today. Those who know me might say my competitive ambitions have gotten in the way of my career off the course, and they might be right, but they also know I have used tournament golf as a vehicle to experience lots and lots of different courses throughout the world.
Earlier this year, I was introduced to Alex Hay of Lobb + Partners, a golf course architecture firm providing golf course design, master planning, architecture and landscape architecture services. While they are based in the UK, Alex lives with his wife and two kids in Whistler, BC. We are of similar ages, both married and are raising two little boys on Canada’s West Coast. We share like-minded views towards golf, golf course architecture, and the benefits golf provides a person and the community. He even volunteered to caddy in a few tournaments this summer. While I don’t remember playing particularly well, I do remember great discussions on design, craft beer, travel and all things golf and the west coast.
This past fall, I entered the annual European Tour Qualifying Tournament with the hopes of gaining status onto the Tour. While I fell a little short on this quest, I was able to spend some time in the UK and get to know, Tim Lobb, the founder of Lobb and Partners. Tim has been practicing golf course architecture for over twenty years, with an impressive resume and portfolio of clients. He has worked all across the golfing world for some of the worlds top clubs. While we weren’t able to get a game, he was kind enough to set up a few rounds for me in and around the Surrey region of the UK.
Having an opportunity to play or visit some of the best “healthland” courses, and then to be able to chat with Tim about their work was an eye opening experience. Being able to visit Worplesdon, West Hill, Woking (L + P clients) along with Epsom, RAC and Walton Heath (not clients), I noticed a general maturity and design quality with each of the golf courses where the layouts and strategy of the holes always made sense. There was also a bias towards walking with tees and greens close together. One of the things which stood was the bunkering. Generally speaking, they were of a modest scale yet the character, shapes, and styles were bold, unique and quite memorable. The mowing lines brought the bunkering right into the fairways but also the fairways right back into the bunkers, all with swaths of heather and native grasses mixed in to create a timeless natural look. The palette of the landscape features (grasses, the sand, the heather, gorse, broom and the pine trees) complimented one another, and strategically and visually it all make sense. Simply put, it was great golf.
Coming home from the disappointment of missing at Second Stage was tough but also something I was genuinely okay with. Over the last few months Alex, Tim and I have spent some time chatting about the potential to get involved and to the opportunities for golf course design services in Canada and North America. While I will continue to compete and probably coach a few lessons, it is time for a change. Thus, I am excited to announce I will be joining Lobb + Partners as a Design Associate, based here in Vancouver.
Over the coming years, I look forward to working with Tim, Alex (on the ipad) and Adam, as we strive to assist golf clubs, golf course owners and golf course developers to provide enjoyable, memorable and lasting golf experiences we can all be proud of.
Here are a few golf course photos from those UK heathland courses with a few from Les Golf d’Hardelot.
