Furber’s design philosophies
Renowned golf course designer, Les Furber, discussed his vision with GolfWest
NATURE’S INSPIRATION: Les Furber’s course designs are inspired by the natural topography of the site.—photo courtesy of Les Furber
Les Furber is one of the most sought after names in golf course design. Many of the golf destinations GolfWest has featured, such as Christina Lake, Golden and Radium Hot Springs, have been designed, re-designed or expanded by Furber. He spoke with GolfWest about some of the current trends in golf course design.
What is the role of creativity when working with an existing layout, and when working with the lay of the land?
The art of creative design with an existing golf course layout or designing a new project lies in the ability to recognize the desirable attributes of the landscape features and adapt your design philosophies to fit the landscape rather than transform the landscape to fit your design ideas. We strive to maintain and preserve as much of the naturalness of existing contours and vegetation as possible to attain a look of a mature golf course that has existed for many years.
How do you find the balance of challenge and playability, especially when creating a championship course that is open to the public?
A majority of our new golf courses are user fee public and resort golf courses that need to be designed to accommodate the skills and ability of the masses of golfers and still provide the qualities and challenge of a championship golf course. With the use of multiple tees we can change the distances and angles of attack to the target landing areas from the tee and shots to the greens. Strategically placed hazards and contours can offer a resistance to scoring factor and are intended to defend the par of the golf holes for championship play but still do allow safer alternative targets for the average golfers. We design green complexes that allow for easier everyday play but do feature difficult pin areas for championship play.
Please discuss the new trends in environmental consciousness in golf, and how your designs reflect that.
Environmental awareness has increased in recent years and we hope to be stewards of the environment with our designs to reduce water and chemical use and to minimize our earthwork requirements as much as possible. We promote the use of more drought-tolerant grasses and the establishment of conservation areas throughout the golf course property.
What are your current projects and ideas that excite you?
We continue to do some international projects, having opened a new 18-hole private course in Beroun, Czech Republic, in 2009. We expect to be doing more work in destinations like Eastern Europe, Belize and China as the global economy recovers. We will be completing a new 27-hole project called the Quarry Golf Club in Edmonton later this year and have a new 27-hole project in the works in Fort McMurray that is in the design stage at present.