The Year in Review - Part Four – Ian Andrew Golf Design

Away from work

The work on the Blue Course at Laval-sur-le-lac was done for Weir Golf Design, so I’ll talk about Laval tomorrow in that year-end review.

 

Ian Andrew Golf Design - In the Press

It was a great year for coverage with a vast majority focusing on the work at Highlands Links, but there were lots of other interviews and pieces that talked about golf design. Each title contains a link to the original piece.

Interview With Golf Course Architect Ian Andrew

Buffalo Golfer, October 30^th, 2012
“The more options I have with a piece of land, the more I am to offer up something innovative and interesting to play.”

"Wow" factor restored at Highlands Links

Rick Young, ScoreGolf, October 9^th, 2012
“While the golf course remains a work in progress, its transformation under the guidance of architect Ian Andrew, general manager Graham Hudson and some good folks from Parks Canada is nothing short of astounding.”

15th at Highlands Links completed

Andrew Completes Highlands Project

Adam Lawrence, Golf Course Architecture, September 25^th, 2012
“The two year project has seen Andrew, assisted by the course's in-house crew, rebuild most of Thompson's original bunkers, plus a considerable amount of tree clearing and green space recapture.”

Long Shots

Cecilia Paine and Kristen Brown, Landscapes Magazine, Fall 2012
The piece covers historical restorations of Canadian Golf Courses.

Ian Andrew on CTV Morning Live in Ottawa

CTV Studios, September 6th
Video interview about Carleton and also about golf architecture

Cape Breton Highlands: A Classic Canadian

James A. Frank, Links Magazine, Summer 2012
“Hudson is also continuing a program of architectural restoration—overseen by Thompson expert Ian Andrew—to bring the course back to how it looked when Thompson designed it”


18th at Highlands Links

Highlands Links getting a thorough makeover
Martin Kaufmann, GolfWeek, August 3rd, 2012
“Since 2009, Andrew has been addressing those issues through a gradual, but extensive, restoration. That includes the planned removal of 10 acres of trees; seven acres already have been removed, allowing the turf to get more exposure to the sun while also opening up views to the Atlantic Ocean.”

Atlantic Trail

Tom Peters, Canadian Golfer, March 9^th, 2012

Cape Breton Ready for Big Things

Bob Weeks, ScoreGolf, June 28th, 2012
"I got the tour of the course from Graham Hudson, the effervescent manager of the facility and a guy who has to be given a lot of credit for bringing this course back to condition. He went through the red tape of Parks Canada and brought in Ian Andrew to restore Highlands as well as to clear out trees to allow for better growing conditions as well as great scenery.”

Renovation of the Year in 2012

Thomas Dunne
Links Magazine
January 14th 2012

 

At Pebble with Mike for interview at Quail Hollow

Ian Andrew Golf Design - The Year in Stats

Clients I Worked With: 25
Existing Clients: 40
New Clients: 5 Carleton, Hillsdale, Toftrees (PA.), Glen Falls (NY.), PEI Golf Links
New Master Plans 2 Hillsdale & Carleton
Interviews 8 (others were in CA., IL, ON, NY, NY, NJ)
Money Spent Chasing Work: $7,877.00
Pending Decisions 3 (NY, NY, NJ)
New Master Plan for 2013: Pennhills, Bradford, PA.
Potential Master Plans for Next Year 5 (ON, QU, NY, NY, NJ)
Farthest Call I received: San Paulo, Brazil
Farthest trip for Interview: Monterrey, CA. (Potential Weir Project)
Interesting Recommendations: Gil Hanse, Bill Coore, PGA Tour and USGA

3rd Hole at Cedar Brae

 

Renovation and Restoration Work in 2012

The season began with fairway recapturing at Glen Falls CC, short grass work around the greens at Park Country Club and Cherry Hill Club. There was also spring bunker work at The Park CC and a full bunker restoration of the 16^th hole at Orchard Park CC. The summer brought three visits to do restore the 6^th, 7^th and 8^th bunkers at Highlands Links which completed all the bunker work on the course. The fall started with the construction of the Cutten Club Chipping Facility and Range Tee. It also brought the reconstruction of two greens on the North Course at Elm Ridge including short grass areas around the greens. Late fall saw the reconstruction of bunkering on the 7^th and 10^th holes at St. Thomas along with the relocation of the 3^rd hole at Cedar Brae. Throw the work at Laval-sur-le-lac into the mix and it was a really busy year with construction work.

10th Hole at St. Thomas

 

Renovation and Restoration Work in 2013

It will be a quieter year unless there is a big surprise.

In Ontario Carleton Golf & Yacht Club has approved the work on two of the holes for next year. Cedar Brae is planning on starting bunker work on 4 or 5 holes. I expect St. Thomas to continue with tree removal program and potentially take on more bunkers in the fall. I see the potential for a larger project on the horizon with Oakdale but nothing is set in stone yet.

In Montreal I see more grassing work at Elm Ridge and Hillsdale. I see some potential for bunker work at Hillsdale and there has been some talk about renovating all Laval’s Green Course bunkers, but I expect they will need a year without work first.

There is nothing scheduled out East or out West this coming year. Although I plan to finally get back to Saskatoon and play a few rounds at Saskatoon G&CC while on a short summer holiday with the family.

I expect more tinkering with the New York State courses, but I don’t see any major projects in the plans for any of them.

1st Tee at Spring Brook

 

Growth in America

 The vast majority of my calls right now are coming from American clubs. I seem to get a lot of calls from the New York City area, particularly from courses designed by Walter Travis. I’m interviewing at higher and higher profile clubs, which is a great sign for the future. The only thing I need to do is ensure it’s not a cattle call because the process is very expensive. I’ve taken to asking for travel expenses to gauge their interest and keep my costs down, only one club passed.

If you want to make sense of that, go back to where some recommendations came from and that is the reason I'm seing more American clubs calling.

 

The State of The Business

 

I have little on the books for next year, but that's the case every year at this time. It doesn't mean I don't worry a little over the winter and it shows in the piece a bit. As you can see from the stats, I have lots of potential work and that's good. That may mean nothing until they commit, but the fact that I still see all this activity in the renovation market bodes well for me. I won't get all of that work, most likely not even half, but it's very unlikely I'll get none. I still have 40 clients and they managed to fill the last three months with no major projects, so I'm quite certain I'll have a solid but unspectacular year.