http://golfclubatlas.com/feature-interview/feature-interview-with-nicolas-joakimides/What are the most rewarding courses you have seen recently, apart from the Oakmonts and Royal Melbournes of the world? More importantly, are there any common denominators?
In thinking back, one thing stands out - seeing an architect's work for the first time. Baxter’s Black Mesa, Rod at Cabot, Mike's Wolf Point, Rob's Sweetens Cove, Love in Cabo, Red at Desert Forest, Nipper's Moraine, and Javier Arana in Spain, all have proven quite a treat. If they have their own voice, then you're almost guaranteed to see something fresh/different, by definition. That certainly proved true at those eight.
A road map for me has been these Feature Interviews. Stoatin Brae, Sandy Hollow and Todd's Twin Dolphin in Los Cabos are three courses on the radar to see sooner rather than later (add Zac Blair's course in Utah, once it gets built). Along that vein, Joe and I recently took the 'chance' and flew from Spain to Morocco to see if French architect Nicolas Joakimides's work at the Saïdia Resort was as good as the material that he had shared during the course's construction. I am very happy to report that the answer is yes.
Nicolas poured a ton of passion, sweat and thought into the project. He was the one on the excavator, doing a lot of the fairway work and all of the greens. Yes, he still plays golf professionally in Europe but he hopes for a career in architecture. Based on my four loops around his new course, so do I.
Read his Feature Interview and you will see that he strikes all the right chords. Of paramount importance is that the game needs to be fun as it is supposed to be a healthy pursuit, not one of drudgery.
Keep the game simple! No buggy or trolley for Nicolas, off he heads down the first. To that end, he uses short grass around greens rather than bunkers which he thinks penalizes the modest player as opposed to the tiger. Tom Simpson agreed! Teelal means small dunes in Arabic and the course is aptly named. It stretches just over 6700 yards and features three short par fours among the first five holes. I have never seen a start like it but you head to the sixth impressed. The only draw-back is that holes 11-14 track through housing but as Nicolas states, the playing corridors are 160 yards wide and quick growing trees have been planted.
Teelal opens in the second week of November after the clubhouse is completed. Its course profile will be up in a two weeks and is an easy one to write as you merely detail all the classic design elements: width, split fairway, central hazards, short grass, stone wall, punchbowl greens, boomerang green, Biarritz green, greens that slope front to back, the list goes on. It is a fascinating study of how classic elements find their way to a remote outpost. If the resort guests at Saïdia don't become enchanted with the game after a round here, then the game was never meant for them. Meanwhile, the bar for architecture has been lifted in this nation's nascent golf culture.
I wish stories like this were plentiful. Sadly, few budding architects get a chance to display their talents. When they do, like Nicolas did in Morocco, it is cause for celebration. I hope that he gets
many more opportunities.
Hope you enjoy this month's Feature Interview and its European perspective. Nicolas also provides a timely insight on this year's Ryder Cup course, golf in France and courses he would like to see restored (including his first one!).
Best,