The Fine Art of Landscaping

Landscaping—and not just on the golf course, but throughout the property—is becoming an essential (and year-round) part of the course and grounds operation.

by Kyle Darbyson (editor@clubandresortbusiness.com)
June 2008
 

SUMMING IT UP • Landscaping that fits in with the aesthetics of golf can help to achieve desired goals for providing challenging play and creating fulfilling golf experiences. • greater orientation to landscaping can fit in with properties’ environmental objectives. •landscape design philosophy should revolve around telling the story of your club in chapters.

Golf courses, country clubs and resorts are unique environments: one part natural splendor and one part man-made infrastructure, designed for various recreational and social purposes. And increasingly, properties are seeking to bridge the gap between the two seemingly exclusive purposes.

To do so, proactive facilities are first turning to landscape architects to design “buffer areas” that blend the two types. Then they are asking their course and grounds departments, schooled primarily in agronomics, to learn (or add, through the hiring of new specialists) landscaping skills to their portfolio of capabilities and responsibilities.

When these resources are all used effectively, once-neglected “dead areas” can be made to play pivotal roles in the overall aesthetic of a property—not only to beautify and enhance the experience of using a facility, but also to help route members and guests as they find their way around, and to create an overall, unified look throughout the grounds.

Help from the Pros
When a landscape architect is hired to help take the first strides towards these objectives, they will start by probing course owners and operators about what they are trying to achieve.

“It’s paramount to understand the client’s vision for the project,” says one Florida-based landscape architect. “I make sure we share the same understanding of the site itself—not only its opportunities, but also its constraints.”

As this process evolves, the topics should include not only practical constraints like water availability and the aesthetics of existing vegetation, but also more philosophy-driven changes, such as the re-routing of an entrance, or optimum positioning of a clubhouse.

Whatever changes do occur, they should be driven by a desire to create strong and lasting impressions. “Resort and club guests are on ‘vacation from home,’ so they want an experience that far exceeds [their own properties],” the architect reminds. The underlying credo, he adds, should always be the same: “to create a special and memorable place.”

Course architects now work with grounds departments to “harvest” plants that must be removed to build a course and transplant them to other areas of the property.

Bountiful Harvest
But these days, no matter what the landscaping palette on hand might contain, many landscape architects find themselves increasingly burdened by environmental limitations as they set out to help create new natural masterpieces. These obstacles don’t just come from water restrictions, either. Many areas now have local laws, for example, that limit the amount of native vegetation that can be cleared to make way for a golf course and the accompanying infrastructure.

To bypass these rules, some architects are now working with grounds departments to ‘harvest’ some of the plants marked for removal. “We literally remove these plants by hand, move them to an on-site nursery, and add them back to areas surrounding the golf course, clubhouse and resort in later stages of development,” says one landscape architect.

The increased focus on these landscaped “buffer zones” affects the way new golf courses are being designed. The cost of maintaining vast tracts of “non-golf” areas has necessitated a change in philosophy when routing holes, one golf course architect reports.

“Playability will always be the number-one guiding principal,” he notes. But minimizing the distance between holes, or being strategic about the positioning of buildings and other pieces of infrastructure, can help to limit the need for large-scale landscaped areas.

“I truly believe that golf course designers are, in fact, landscape architects,” he adds. To this point, he suggests that today’s course planners must balance playability with an aesthetic that appeals to golfers and non-golfers alike.

“We are telling a story with our designs,” he contends. To achieve this, his personal design philosophy revolves around telling that story in “chapters.”

“I like to give players glimpses of the course as they drive in,” he explains. Then the next chapter is centered on the entrance. “Floral arrangements, signage, how the clubhouse is situated—all of these things set the theme of the course in the guest’s mind,” he says.

The evolving story also involves landscaping installations that intuitively move members and visitors throughout the grounds. “These areas don’t just have to be beautiful, they can also be practical,” the course designer notes.

Through the full telling of the tale, he stresses, the purpose of the unfolding narrative isn’t just based on a designer’s creative conceit—there must always be a solid business rationale as well.

“The idea is to design an environment that makes people feel comfortable and happy—a place where they’ll want to stay,” the course designer explains. “Guests that stay longer eat meals, buy merchandise and tell their friends about the experience.”

Many superintendents have found that expanding into landscaping-oriented areas has helped them gain valuable skills and fostered a deeper connection with the courses they maintain.

Worth a Second Look
The natural instinct of many club owners, general managers and superintendents is to scoff at investing in landscape design, whether at the building stage or as part of a renovation. Too often, all they can envision is the increased costs for staffing, materials and upkeep that “overlandscaped” grounds may entail.

One landscape architect who has encountered this hesitation numerous times suggests that the far-reaching benefits to the club and to its staff must be factored into the cost equation. With just a minimal amount of extra training, many superintendents have found that expanding into landscape-oriented areas has actually helped them gain valuable career skills and promoted a deeper connection with the courses they maintain. And for many landscaped areas, drip irrigation—inexpensive and simple to install—can greatly reduce the amount of manual labor needed to keep them looking fresh.

“We always strive to leave much of the local vegetation intact,” notes an international golf course architect. “The plants will have evolved to survive with little or no human intervention.”

With this approach, more clubs are treating landscaped areas as an extension of the course itself, rather than as inconvenient or unnecessary evils. These areas, in fact, are now becoming as important to many course and grounds departments as bunkers and greens.

Strong words, indeed—but one look at the powerful effect that well-designed gardens, retaining walls and other touches can have on any club or resort property can quickly make a new believer out of anyone.