How much land is needed for a (decent) golf course

[Michael Goldstein]

A local course is losing some land to the council and this has sparked a debate about whether the new size of the property will be large enough for a golf course.  It's made me wonder how large does a property need to be to have a (18 hole) golf course on it. 

Also, what great golf courses are on a relatively small piece of land?  I'm thinking one example might be Merion but I can't find any numbers.

Appreciate any thoughts or comments.

 


 

[Frank Pont]

For 18 holes you need at least 125 acres to build a good and safe 18 holes golf course with a driving range. It also leaves enough space to develop areas of ecological value between the holes. If you do not care about a driving range or nature you could cut back to about 90 acres.....

The smallest GREAT course I know is De Pan, where you play on 115 acres, whilst it feels as 200 acres because of the smart use of the landforms. Royal Hague is also only on 125 acres, but again you do not notice because of the great landforms.

My latest course Turfvaert is on 120 acres on flat land. Still the course does not feel small because of the star shaped form of the sit:
http://issuu.com/frankpont/docs/turfvaert_holes_description_1

[Scott Warren]

Michael,

I believe Merion is on about 120 acres.

There's a course in Sydney - Cronulla Golf Club - that despite being far from great is a par 70 or 71 from memory and I've measured it on GoogleMaps at about 85 acres.

[Alex Miller]

The course and smaller range at Kingston Heath are about 125 acres.

[Michael Goldstein]

Wow those numbers are small.  Scott I haven't played Cronulla is it worth a hit?
Time to work out how to use google maps I think..

Do these numbers include the clubhouse / car park etc?  By Alex' post I'm guessing the answer to that might be no?

[Grant Saunders]

Hey Michael

Is it Russely you are refering to?

[Scott Warren]

No, definitely not worth a hit, Michael, unless you wanted to work out how to fit a golf course within that small a parcel, I suppose!

[Michael Goldstein]

Think I'll pass on that Scott! It wasn't on the radar last year in fact I'd never heard of it.  And Grant yes I'm around Christchurch for a few weeks and have been out there watching some of the NZ Am.

[Tom_Doak]

I've seen some good courses that are on barely over 100 acres -- but, they are older courses with mature trees between the holes to help provide a safety buffer.  Modern architects could not get away with laying out holes on open ground that were so close together.

A lot of the answer to your question is really grounded in how busy the course is going to be.  You can make far greater use of limited acreage if you don't have to be concerned about the course being packed on the weekends.

[Mark Chaplin]

Goldie is Doug playing? If so send him my regards.

[Melvyn Morrow]

How much money have you got, the location and who is going to design your new courses, then perhaps we can give you an estimate.

Melvyn

[Joe Grasty]

Land? We don't need no steenkin' land!

http://www.wired.com/playbook/2011/04/maldives-floating-golf-course/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29

[Tony Ristola]

For 18 holes you need at least 125 acres to build a good and safe 18 holes golf course with a driving range. It also leaves enough space to develop areas of ecological value between the holes. If you do not care about a driving range or nature you could cut back to about 90 acres.....

The smallest GREAT course I know is De Pan, where you play on 115 acres, whilst it feels as 200 acres because of the smart use of the landforms. Royal Hague is also only on 125 acres, but again you do not notice because of the great landforms.

My latest course Turfvaert is on 120 acres on flat land. Still the course does not feel small because of the star shaped form of the sit:
http://issuu.com/frankpont/docs/turfvaert_holes_description_1

It's been over 10-years since seeing De Pan and I'd never have thought the course was on so limited acreage.

.

[Jonathan Cummings]

Wanammoisett is built on (I believe) 103 acres and it is outstanding - one of the best walking designs in golf.  JC