After all the hype, anticipation and pandemic-related delays, the Point Hardy Golf Club at Cabot St. Lucia opened on Dec. 7.
Designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw for The Cabot Collection, a Toronto-based developer and operator of luxury resort and residential golf destinations, Point Hardy is the centerpiece of Cabot St. Lucia, a 375-acre golf and residential estate that occupies one-and-a-half miles of coastline overlooking the Caribbean Sea on the northern tip of St. Lucia.
“When I first saw the land that would become Cabot Saint Lucia, I knew it was the perfect canvas to create something truly awe-inspiring," said Ben Cowan-Dewar, CEO and co-founder of Cabot. "Opening Cabot Saint Lucia and Point Hardy Golf Club has been a dream come true."
GOING SOCIAL
Ahhh….island time! Bunker edging underway at Dorado Beach (holes #17 and #18) in Puerto Rico. pic.twitter.com/S3f3GjmcLP
— RTJ2 Golf Design (@RTJ2GolfDesign) February 6, 2024
Perched above the Atlantic Ocean and designed to blend seamlessly with the unique topography of the Saint Lucian landscape, Point Hardy is the crown jewel of the site. Coore's and Crenshaw’s first Caribbean course winds through lush terrain, over rocky cliffs jutting into the ocean and along meandering valleys and sandy beaches.
With nine holes (six through nine and 14 through 18) playing along the ocean and every hole showcasing mesmerizing views, the 6,650-yard, par-71 course capitalizes on natural beauty and playability at every turn. The four-hole closing stretch at Point Hardy features forced carries, jagged rocks and crashing waves. Those holes include the 307-yard, par-4 15th; the 156-yard, par-3 16th; the 187-yard, par-3 17th; and the 502-yard, par-5 18th.
"It’s very possible that Cabot Saint Lucia is the most visually stunning piece of land we have ever worked with," said Coore, co-principal of Coore & Crenshaw. "It was a privilege to work with the Cabot team on this one-of-a-kind site, and I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished. This project was truly a labor of love."
IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME COMING
South Shore Golf Club in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, opened to preview play from community residents in the fall of 2023. Why the excitement? Because it's the first new golf course built in the Ocean State in more than 10 years.
Designed by ASGCA member architect Ron Cutlip, the 3,407-yard, par-35, nine-hole layout opens in a wooded setting then concludes in more open terrain. Natural undulations, wetlands and elevation changes further spice up the play.
Wide fairways and roomy corridors characterize the layout, which was built as an amenity for the South Shore Village 55-and-older community. Four sets of tees provide excellent flexibility and each hole has a dedicated par-3 tee to allow the course to play as a 1,400-yard par-27.
Undulating bentgrass greens, bluegrass tees and fairways and fescue mix roughs form the playable areas, while the bunkers are filled with white sugar sand which provides contrast to the existing sandy soils in the rough areas. Among the highlights are the drivable par-4 first hole, the downhill par-3 third, the double-dogleg par-5 sixth and the one-of-a-kind par-4 seventh, with its vast, two-tiered green.
The large practice facility features a driving range with 30,000 square feet of teeing ground, plus a chipping area, practice bunker and putting green. The grand opening is slated for May and after that, there will be public access to tee times.
CASPAR GRAUBALLE HAS DESIGN FOR LOSBY
Losby Golf Club in Finstadjordet, Norway has selected Danish architect Caspar Grauballe to redesign the green complexes and to construct a new practice range.
Situated 20 minutes east of Oslo, the club is home to the 18-hole Ostmork course and the nine-hole Vestmork course, both designed in the 1990s by Swede Peter Nordwall. In 2007, Losby played host to the SAS Masters event on the Ladies European Tour, won by native daughter Suzann Pettersen.
“The existing greens were constructed at a time where the focus in Norway on both surface and sub-surface drainage was less than it should have been,” Grauballe told GolfCourseArchitecture.net. “The consequence is that large volumes of water would run directly onto greens, not helped by the lack of drainage underneath the sand based rootzone. This is especially problematic in winter when snow is on the ground, and we get thawing temperatures during the day, and it freezes during the night — the water gets trapped on the putting surfaces and turns to ice. The greens are very large, which means that water has a long distance to travel to get off the putting surface.
“Also, we have a very limited number of pesticides and chemicals available for maintaining the greens and it looks like restrictions will be further tightened in future. To maintain the course in sustainable fashion, the design and construction must take this into consideration."
Grauballe, the current president of the European Institute of Golf Course Architects, will redesign the greens so as to prevent water from running onto them. He will create multiple runoffs areas to provide a hasty exit for water that gathers on or near the greens.
“From a playing perspective, the new greens will be smaller targets,” Grauballe said. “However, with updated bunkering and runoff areas, the course will be more strategic. The new greens and updated bunkers and surrounds offer more diversity of challenge. Great care has been taken to open the approaches to greens so players with slower swing speeds can roll their ball on.
“I have revamped the aprons to facilitate more variation in the shots played from the surrounds, but also to make the visual impact of the greens suit the surrounding landscape. The real challenge for me as an architect is to combine the practical and agronomic aspects with aesthetics and playability.
“Since the course was built in the 1990s, a lot has happened to the game. Future phases include matching the fairway bunkering to the new greens design as well as updating tees. They will be realigned to improve the playing experience and new forward tees will be added.”
