Hanse's design will weave its way between dunes... and high-rise apartment blocks.
Architects’ architect Gil Hanse has been commissioned to design the venue for golf’s return to the Olympic Games in 2016.
Famed for his diligent and ecologically-sensitive approach to course design, Hanse – whose bid was strengthened by the cooperation of LPGA legend Amy Alcott – was selected ahead of several high-profile candidates, including Gary Player, Peter Thompson, Jack Nicla
Commended for “tackling the challenge of designing a course for use by both elite and amateur athletes” and addressing questions of “environmental sustainability”, the Hanse Golf Design proposal was deemed the “candidate that most aptly met the selection criteria” by the Rio 2016 selection committee.
The first draft.
The appointment of Hanse, whose naturalistic, links-inspired philosophy is considered something of an antidote to contemporary trends in “championship” course design, has been greeted with relief by a number interested parties, Phil Mickelson included.
The left-hander, who’ll be 46 by the time the golf world decamps to Rio, sounded relieved to hear a 7,800-yard, wire-roughed behemoth wouldn’t be on the cards.
“I’m a big fan of Gil Hanse. I think he’s one of the best architects in the business. He understands how to make a golf course playable for the average player but challenging for the good player. He does it better than probably anyone, Crenshaw and Coore maybe being the exception.
“For him to get the Olympic job, I give the Olympic Committee a real credit, a lot of credit, because, it would have been easier to go with a big name. And instead, they went with the best. I thought that was pretty cool.”
Mickelson’s insinuation that a number of Hanse’s high-profile competitors (read: Norman/Ochoa, Gary Player, Nicklaus/Sorenstam) were unworthy of consideration found an echo in the sentiments of Robert Trent Jones II, himself the architect of an unsuccessful bid.
From an article by the Golf Channel’s Ryan Ballengee:
“Like any sportsman who gets to compete at the Olympic level, it was clearly worth the effort. My feelings are mixed between the personal disappointment of not being selected [and] happiness that a true golf architect was selected.”
While the appointment of a talented and knowledgeable architect to helm the Olympic project is an encouraging development, no plans are yet in place to enliven the likely anticlimactic 72-hole strokeplay format.
Conor Nagle
(With thanks to Geoff Shackelford for some sterling aggregation)
I have actually been to that part of Rio – it has an American-style shopping mall and a bunch of other strip mall developments. You literally feel like you are in the U.S. except for the Portuguese that is spoken. On a rainy day, we took a cab down there – we were shocked that we had travelled so far to someplace exotic, and ended up in a place that felt like it was in the U.S.A.
It is also flat – it there are going to be dunes, they are going to have to build them.
I like this pick. I am so glad they didn’t pick Pete Dye or Nicklaus.
Pete Dye is a joke, as are his courses. I have never played a Pete Dye course that I enjoyed – they are filled with tricked up greens, gimmicky bunkers, and enough unnatural looking mounds to make me almost vomit. I don’t think Dye has ever grasped the concept of a risk/reward shot. On every Pete Dye hole I’ve played EVER, 99% of the shots are either a green light to super aggressive; or so incredibly dangerous, since there is no bailout, that unless you hit a 100% perfect shot you’re looking a big number. There is no subtlety to Dye’s designs. (Contrast this to, say a nice Tillinghast hole, which will give you a choice as how aggressive you want to be, and will probably demand a certain shape or flight to execute perfectly.)
I also don’t like Nicklaus courses. I mean, did any one watch the matchplay a few weeks ago??? That layout is awful. I realize it’s a resort courses, but, still… My home course (a muni, no less!) has five holes that are better laid out than anything on Dove Mountain. Jack;s designs are below average. Sadly, no one seems to be willing to admit this. I suppose he gets a pass because he was such a great player, but come on – Jack is Isiah Thomas of golf course design.
I’ve actually played one Hanse course before – TPC Boston – and it was a pretty sweet layout. There’s a HUGE variety of holes (everything from sub-300 yard par 4s to 600+ yard par 5s), and it flows very nicely with the land. A lot of diagonal and peanut-shaped, so pin position really matter (often the difference between go-for-bird shot and a hope-for-par shot). I did think there was a little too much water – I mean, it’s not like TPC Boston is in Florida and water is only defense available…
TPC Boston is not a Hanse original. You have to drive to just south of Boston (Hingham, MA) to see one of his masterpieces; Boston Golf Club. Hanse designed it from the ground up and that course plus his new one in Scotland, Castle Stewart are perhaps considered his best efforts so far. More to come. Trump wanted very much to buy Boston but the member’s just bought the club themselves. So Trump did something rather amazing…he buys Doral and hires Gil Hanse to make him his own masterpiece by completely redoing the Blue Monster. Have to love that!