Justin Dunk

A secret fertile breeding ground exists on the campus of this stellar university. The Guelph Landscape Architecture program has graduated a list of impressive and successful golf course designers. Unfortunately, we cannot focus on all of the great architects, but their accomplishments should not go unnoticed.

The LA program at the U of G has produced golf course designers that have crafted six out of the top eight courses on ‘Score Golf’s Top 100 Canadian Golf Courses.’

Five of the top eight courses, in Score Golf’s rankings, were designed by legendary golf course architect, the late Stanley Thompson.

Thompson attended the Ontario Agricultural College, now known as the University of Guelph, for one year before going off to serve in the Canadian military during World War I. Thompson paved the way for future bright golf design minds to hone their craft at Guelph.

“To be a successful golf architect you have to think about the two main things, the playability of the golf course and the aesthetics on the course,” said U of G Professor of Landscape Architecture, Robert Brown.

Thompson’s design principles included selecting the best property for a course, a piece of land with unforgettable views, natural features and a nice surrounding environment with an easy aesthetic start to the course.

“We teach design and the aesthetic part of design,” said Brown. “How do you do things so that when people are standing at the tee and look out the fairway they see something that is not only interesting to play, but a beautiful or interesting view.”

The Thompson designed, St. George’s Golf and Country Club, hosted the 2010 RBC Canadian Open from Jul. 19-25. The views and aesthetics on the St. George course are spectacular.

Thompson was not the only former Guelph grad to host the world’s best golfers this year. Neil Haworth’s design, Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai, China hosted the World Golf Championships from Nov. 4-7. Haworth was very proud to have the professionals play his course.

“The players really like [the course] and the hard work put in by everyone has made it extremely successful,” said Haworth.

Some notable golfer had good things to say about the Sheshan course.

“Lee Westwood says it is a great course and [Phil] Mickleson says the 16^th hole is one of the coolest he has played,” said Haworth. “Even Tiger [Woods] used the word ‘awesome.’”

The Guelph Landscape Architecture graduate strove to create a unique design not really seen in the Shanghai region.

“We pushed the technical limits of the soil type to create an undulating and hilly course,” said Haworth. “We also created a really exciting finish to the round [holes 16,17 and 18] which all the players really like and is exciting for the fans.”

The LA program taught Haworth how important the design process is whether he is detailing a vest pocket park or laying out a whole golf course community. One of the most important things learned during Haworth’s time at Guelph was sticking to an idea and seeing it through.

“Make a decision and believe in it. I saw so many fellow students doing all nighters because they could not decide on a design,” said Haworth. Then they had no time left to graphically sell their ideas and were too tired to present.

Evidenced by his unique Sheshan design Haworth is not afraid to make the great ideas come to life.

“If you follow the process then you must have confidence in yourself and the passion to make a decision,” said Haworth. “And now having worked with some of the top international architects and planners, I see the same in them.”

Brown can see the knowledge learned in the Guelph LA program being applied to the course designs by the graduates.

“I see something in their view, the aesthetic part of it. I see some real terrific composition, both in terms of the layout of the elements so that it’s pleasing to the eye,” said Brown. “Also the composition in terms of how it fits into the natural environment. You don’t see a lot of really artificial landforms. The courses tend to take advantage of the land forms that are there.”

Golfers all over need to be informed about the importance of preserving the environment.

“The future for golf courses lies in educating golfers that green is not necessarily best and developing grasses that require zero chemical use and minimal water,” said Haworth.

The LA program at Guelph really puts an emphasis on shaping golf course designs around the natural land and disturbing the existing wildlife as little as possible.

The Wayne Carleton designed, Shadow Mountain golf course located in the Kootenay area of British Columbia, is a perfect example of letting the land dictate the design of the course.

“The goal with that course and all my courses is to try and let the land dictate what the design is all about,” said Carleton, a Guelph LA graduate in 1991. “The key is when you’re routing a golf course you can pick out the natural attributes and let the holes flow with the land.”

Brown has seen Carleton’s Shadow Mountain course with his own eyes.

“He has not only taken advantage of opportunities in the landscape, but he has not really disturbed the landscape very much,” said Brown.

Another Carleton design, Dakota Dunes golf links, located just south of Saskatoon, is ranked 45 on ‘Score Golf’s Top 100 Canadian Courses’ list.

“When it did open, [Dakota Dunes] it was ranked best new course in Canada by Golf Digest,” said Carleton. “Dakota Dunes was very natural links type site. Basically we just cut the golf course right out of the natural sand dunes. Didn’t really move any dirt at all, used all existing site materials and preserved as much as we could with the environmental characteristics of the site.”

Recently, golf enthusiasts have been taking a bad rap for having lots of chemicals poured on the courses and taking up land that could be used for other things.

“With the golf courses designed by Guelph grads what I see is courses that are really sensitively fit into the landscape,” said Brown.

The LA program really gave its graduates the tool to be able to succeed in their careers today.

“It pointed me in the right direction and basically the program gave me what I needed to become a golf course architect,” said Carleton. “Through the different courses that we took, the great thing about it is we always had an opportunity to do individual projects which allowed us to focus on what we really wanted to do in the future.”

Haworth also credits the program with providing him the proper tools to become a successful golf course designer.

“I applied to LA program at Guelph specifically to become a golf course designer and I was able to set up the perfect program for me,” said Haworth. “I was able to take turf grass courses, select a golf course design subject for my final year thesis and was also fortunate to participate in the semester abroad program at Guelph House in London.”

Save for a few famous architects, golf course designers fly under the radar, even by the university they attended.

“I don’t think that the University of Guelph has been very good about recognizing the designers themselves,” said Brown. “As they’re [the LA graduates] out there for a while their memory of Guelph sort of fades a little bit and they’re not maybe as likely to mention Guelph themselves.”

Brown would like to see all course designers get more recognition for their great designs.

“I’d like to see a sign outside every course that identifies the designer,” said Brown.

Many people play a golf course and might never ask the question, who designed this course?

Next time you play a round, ask and you might be surprised to hear that a University of Guelph graduate designed the beautiful piece of golf land.

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