The recent changes to the Irene golf course by Phil Jacobs Design has meant the course has undergone modernisation to stay abreast with the latest developments in the game of golf, yet has kept it’s traditional values.
This translates into a mental and physical test of judgment and shot making with lush kikuyu fairways and bent grass greens, in a dairy farm setting.
Phil Jacobs remodelled several of the holes, and introduced hazards that were positioned in such a way to plague the tee shot and the approach shot on several holes.
If you look at Phil Jacobs’ design philosophy, you’ll have a good idea of what to expect when you play Irene Country Club.
PHIL JACOBS DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
Phil Jacobs Design ascribes to the traditional and time honored values of Scottish
and Irish golf courses.
Our designs try to make the golf course blend in with its terrain, more than try to force a particular design philosophy onto the terrain. We work hard at ensuring that the end product will significantly improve the environment in the form of vegetation, wetlands or lakes.
The overall length of the golf course is not important to us; rather we focus on the individual holes and strive for maximum variety in terms of length of holes and direction of play when possible. Today’s golf ball and driver have made redundant the shot values of yesteryear on so many classic old golf courses. Many of these golf courses feature holes that were designed for a driver and a long iron into a Par 4 and today even the mediocre golfer can on his day hit a driver and a very short iron into that same green. Also, most Par 5’s on the old golf courses are now hit in two shots by a large percentage of golfers.
Our Design Philosophy focuses on finding exciting holes on any particular property ranging from 100m Par 3’s to 600m Par 5’s. We try to use either the prevailing wind conditions of the topography to slow the ball down and to make holes play longer than what they appear on the score card.
Our golf courses are above all fun to play with interesting and various challenges
that will entice the golfer to come back and play the golf course again. Bunkers and green complexes are the features that mostly define any particular golf course.
These features require a lot of thought to ensure that the golfing experience is constantly
changing and exciting. |
