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Golf Course Architecture
| The aim of the
Golf Course Architect is to create a truly great
golf course by utilizing to the fullest extent
possible the potential of a promising piece of
land. This potential is expressed in the site's
location, slope, vegetation, water features, soil
types, climate and orientation. The Golf
Course Architect's role is the realization of this
potential under the constraints of design
criteria that separate the truly great golf
course from the ordinary.
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For instance, each nine
holes should open and close at the clubhouse. The course
should be challenging and interesting, but not
necessarily penalizing. There should be a welcoming and
interesting blend of par 3's, 4's, and 5's, as well as a
variety of lengths, orientations, and situations inherent
in the fairway arrangement. The ability to capitalize on
unique views or significant terrain features, without
monumental and costly alterations to the site, is another
big plus. A really good architect can tell, during his
first walk-through, whether a particular site is intended
for a spectacular golf course or not.
Who is best suited to
be a golf course architect? Golf course architects have
come from many backgrounds in the past. Nowadays, Town,
county, or municipal planning agencies require that a
person be either a licensed architect, engineer, or
landscape architect to submit design plans for review and
approval. In many states, including New York, it is
required by law that a golf course architect be a
licensed landscape architect. It is deemed that that is
the profession with the best comprehensive background in
design, land planning, plant sciences, soil sciences, and
environmental sciences to work on a project the scope and
size of a golf course.
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You may visit one of the courses Golf
Course Architect, and Landscape Architect, John
Francis Yuhas, of YLD, has worked on, via the web, at www.Links-at-sunset-ridge.com, if you wish. Or, if
you want to see it in person, and play it, it's
located exactly 1 mile east of Marcellus, NY,
about 15 minutes west of Syracuse, on the south
side of West Seneca Turnpike (I-175 ). With its
unique plan of six par 3's, six par 4's, and six
par 5's, and its 4-tee per fairway setup, be
prepared to use every club in your bag, no matter
what your level of golfing skill. (You may
view layout of this course and some photos of it by clicking on
"Golf Course Design" tab on selection bar to left.) After 18 holes, you may want to sit on
the elevated deck of the spacious 8000 square foot clubhouse,
where you will be treated to a view of half of the course's 162
acres, and watch the sun set in the mountains across scenic Nine
Mile Creek Valley. It's called
"The Links @ Sunset Ridge".
The ph. # is 315-673-2255.
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John Francis Yuhas has
completed a course in Elbridge, NY, 30
minutes west of Syracuse on NY State Rt. 5. It is located
exactly 1 mile west of the Village of Elbridge, on the
South side of Rt. 5. It is a championship grade
18-hole golf course weaving its way through 160-plus
acres of former farmland, wooded area, and a unique
wetland environment adjacent to Skaneateles Creek. You
may want to bring your golf clubs and your fly
rod
when you come to this course. A par-5 530-yard Fairway 12
and a par-4 320-yard Fairway 14 cross a pristine
Skaneateles Creek filled with Brown and Rainbow trout. A
par-3 Fairway 18 island green, in the middle of a 7-acre,
9-million-gallon pond (lake?) with peninsula tees at
ranges of 95, 135, and 185 yards awaits the daring. A
120-yard par-3 Fairway 6 with a 90' vertical drop feels
like you're hitting from the top tier of Giants Stadium
and trying to stick it on a 30-yard-diameter circle on
the field. This course is called
"Millstone".
If you'd like to see some sequential, hi-res, photos taken during
construction of this course, and as it looks now, click on the "Golf Course
Construction Supervision" tab in the selection bar to left, or below.
John Francis Yuhas has also
designed a course for a client in Blackstone, Mass., and
this course is currently under development. Tons of
native stone on the site will be used for retaining
walls, raised tees, and other aesthetic features. It
will be an 18 hole facility when complete, but will be built in two
9-hole phases. This course will be called the "Orchard Hill
Country Club".
If you'd like to see some sequential, hi-res, photos taken during
construction of this course, click on the "Golf Course
Construction Supervision" tab in the selection bar to left, or below.
| John Francis Yuhas has signed on to
do a thorough redesign and expansion to 18 holes, of a current 9 hole
course in Rome, NY. Three existing ponds will be enlarged and improved.
Two new large ponds will be constructed. The clubhouse has already been renovated
and expanded. Parking area will be redesigned and doubled in size.
Forty-nine
housing lots, all with magnificent views of the course, have been
designed, and construction has begun. This new facility, when completed, will be called the "Beaver
Creek Golf Club & Estates".
Click on thumbnail to right to see
blowup plan of Beaver Creek. |
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John
Francis Yuhas recently began work on a new championship-grade
18-hole golf course on "Reserve Isle at South Riders Caye",
in Belize. It is on an island 2.5 miles NNE of Belize City, and
13 miles SW of Caye
Chapel. The first nine holes will be created on islets SW of the
main island, and will be linked with non-obtrusive causeways.
The second nine holes will be located inland, and give many of
the residential properties exceptional views of the course, while also
offering "water" play. The entire design is a little shorter
than usual, but is approached with the idea of creating as
environmentally friendly a course as possible in its setting,
with no impact on the eco-systems of the area. The reefs and
mangroves will remain untouched. Paspalum grasses, which are
salt tolerant, and can even be irrigated with salt water, will
be used, in different hybrid varieties, for tees, greens, and
fairways. The course, in addition to being a beautiful seaside
championship-grade course appealing to traditionalists, will
also be designed for use
as a setting for Extreme Golf and Disc (Frisbee) Golf, both of which are growing in popularity.
This unique approach will lend itself to one of the most
unique Caribbean-style golf courses anyone has ever seen,
or played. Reserve Isle will also have an interior
lake, a marina, interior canals, a 5000' (as revised) airstrip, a ferry
landing, and 260 beautifully configured residential lots.
Click on the thumbnail to left
to see a Watercolor Rendering of the plan for Reserve Isle.
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See
Photos of Golf Course Construction
Progress
&
Links to other Golf Course related Websites
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