Michael/Mark
After the long process of selecting land for a modern course does the client utilise care during construction, say in the form of Keyhole Surgery or does he strip the ground does to bedrock then reform it in his preferred image irrespective what was already there?
If you are seeking land fit for purpose and utilising the sustainable features provided by Nature then there is an abundance of land fit for purpose, however if it’s the intention of terraforming then watch the alien landscape being rejected by the nature of that region, well then the fun begins and maintenance cost start to rise.
Because we have had the ability to nearly move mountains with our modern machinery we tend to try to do so instead of just shaping the odd corners of an existing site. Then of course we have in GB many an old site left to the farmer again or just left to let Nature to full reclaim it, yet there are sites just waiting to be turned back again into golf courses. However in Scotland that just requires some infrastructure too, in the form of accommodation and restaurants for the visitors.
A fundamental relook as to how to build golf courses is what I believe we need to address to really take at sites fit for purpose or we will quickly revert to the strip back, destroy the original reason for selecting that land before building an alien structure upon land which was once fit for the purpose of play golf.
Melvyn