Greg Martin, President, Martin Design Partnership, and his design team, has been selected by the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County to prepare a Master Plan and then renovate the Oak Meadows Golf Course in Addison, Illinois.  Oak Meadows, owned and operated by the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County requires renovation to address yearly flooding from Salt Creek.  The Martin Design Team, selected from more than 20 submittals, includes Art Schaupeter and Forrest Richardson, along with EC Design [irrigation] and Engineering Resource Associates [Civil and Environmental Engineers]. Martin states “This design team was carefully constructed to address the unique needs of this golf course from strategy and playability, to water quality, wetland expansion, storm-water management to its historical significance and tournament capabilities.”

Ed Stevenson, Director of Golf for the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County says “The team at Oak Meadows and the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County is thrilled with the selection of Martin Design Partnership.  Greg Martin’s philosophies as a steward of the environment and caretaker of golf are a perfect match for our project goals at Oak Meadows.  We feel this project is a special opportunity to improve the golf course and the surrounding preserve, creating a combined ecological and recreational treasure for generations to come.”

Fox Run Golf Links, Elk Grove Park District, Il

Phase I of construction is complete and will be ready for play by mid spring in 2012.  Improvements include bunkers, drainage, some tees, and new irrigation for the front-nine.  Martin Design completed a a Master Improvement Plan for Fox Run Golf Links in Elk Grove Village, Illinois in 2010 and work commenced on time last fall.  Phase II will begin in the fall of 2012 and all work will be completed by summer of 2013.

Settler’s Hill Golf Course, Kane County Forest Preserve

With the recent approval of a Master Plan developed by Martin Design Partnership, Ltd., phase I improvements are currently being prepared for a spring 2013 construction start.  This includes the inclusion of a dual-ended practice range and relocation of Hole #1.  Additional improvements for the course will be developed as part of a Improvement Analysis prepared by Golf Visions [operator] and Martin Design.

Prairie Bluff Golf Course, Lockport, Il

Martin Design is completing plans for bunker renovations at Prairie Bluff Golf Course.  This includes renovation of most, relocation of some and removal of other bunkers, as well as some fairway modifications.  Improvements are to begin in late summer and be complete by November of 2012.

Arrowhead Golf Club, Wheaton, Il

Martin Design has completed the East and South Course improvements and will finalize the project this fall.  The West Course will be the third and final phase of the proposed improvements.  South Course improvements, completed last fall, included bunker renovations, fairway realignments, tee renovations for some holes, cart path realignments and slight re-routing of holes South 7 & South 8. Improvements are intended to reduce maintenance, improve playability for the majority of golfers while “stiffening” the challenge for tournament play.

Wilmette Golf Club, Wilmette, Il

Martin Design Partnership, Ltd. has completed e a Master Improvement Plan for Wilmette Golf Club. The project was approved and planning has begun for a 2013/2014 construction. Improvements include new greens, tees, improved drainage, bunkering, and better stormwater management capabilities.  Significant engineering review and design will be required due to the proximity of the North Branch of the Chicago River.

LaCroix Links, Rapid City, SD

Martin Design is working with LINKS ACROSS AMERICA to make improvements to LaCroix Links in Rapid City, South Dakota.  Improvements include better drainage, irrigation and new tee surfaces for this First Tee of Rapid City more usable and playable for every ability.

Mt. Prospect Golf Club

Martin Design is revising a Master Plan to more effectively reflect community concerns.  This includes the retention of on-site practice facilities and chipping range practice.  Master Plan revisions should be complete by summer of 2012 and planning for improvement implementation should begin by later in 2012.

Golf is a pedestrian event…even if you are in a cart

The site dictates everything…. the routing and feature placement and landscape treatments

Golf Course Architecture is not art [static], it is theater [dynamic]

Fun is more important than length

Creativity and shot-making should be rewarded

Golf should be emotionally engaging and mentally stimulating

What the golfer feels is more important than what the golfer sees

Less is often better

Excellent Golf can coexist with economic viability and environmental sustainability

Golf can benefit the entire community

Martin Design offers solutions to the issues facing Golf Course Architecture. We have written much about the golf industry and will gladly share our thoughts with you, your committee, or anyone about the challenges facing golf and golf course architecture.

……

‘There should be two ways to play a hole, one for the physically strong, and one for the man not so strong.  The holes should be trapped  so that par golf depends upon skill rather than physical strength.”
Donald Ross

“Do not let certain standards become an obsession.  Quality, not length; interest, not the number of holes; distinction, not the size in the greens – these are things worth striving for.”
Robert Hunter

“Great strategic holes primarily challenge thought.  Knowledge of what to do is not immediate.  It must be sought.  The line of skill is not obvious but is concealed in the line of thought.”
Max Behr

“The merit of  any golf hole is not judged by its length but rather by its interest and its variety as elective play is apperant.  It isn’t how far, but how good!”
AW Tillinghast

“The true hazard should draw the player towards it, should invite the golfer to come as near as he dare to the fire without burning his fingers.  The man who can afford to take risks is the man who should gain the advantage.”
John Low

“The risk of going into a bunker is self-imposed, so there is no reason why a player should condemn a bunker as unfair.”
CB MacDonald

“Don’t worry about par.  The practice of printing par figures is literally a mental hazard.”
Bobby Jones

“The object of golf architecture is to give an intelligent purpose to the striking of a golf ball”
Max Behr

“A man may be a very good golfer and yet know little about golf architects and golf architecture.”
Charles Banks

“The golf architect is not at all concerned with chastising bad play.  On the contrary, it is his business to arrange the field of play as to stimulate interest, and hence, the province of hazards is to chasten the too ambitious.”
Max Behr

“Immediately when we attempt to standardize sizes, shapes, and distances we lose more than half the pleasure of the game.”
H.S.Colt

“The best golfing grasses vary in color.  They may be red, brown, blue, dark green, light green, yellow and at times even white and gray.  A golf course that is consisted entirely of one shade of green would be merely ugly.  There is great charm and beauty in the varying shades of color on a golf course.”
Alister Mackenzie

“The great value of a hazard is not that it catches a shot that has been missed but that it forces a miss upon the timid player; its psychological worth is greater than it penal value.”
Bobby Jones

… Thanks to Geoff Shackelford – “Lines of Charm”