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Famous golf course designers
Produce challenging layouts in The Bahamas
Some of the greatest names in the world of golf have developed or redesigned the fields of play in Nassau and Freeport/Lucaya, making them picturesque and fun places to swing a club.
Fred Settle Jr of International Golf Design remodeled the Cable Beach Golf Club, the oldest public course in The Bahamas, in 2001. He added many water hazards, enlarged the greens and reversed the nines, among other major changes, and reinvented the course as a par 71, 6,453-yd, shotmaker’s layout.
Emmett Devereux, a pioneer in modern golf course design, crafted the original course, which opened just before the Great Depression in 1929. Designed back in the days of hickory-shafted clubs, Devereux’s courses were short by modern standards–in the 6,000- to 6,300-yd range. Cable Beach was his only work outside the United States. It became a private retreat for British expats in the 1930s.
Design wizard Dick Wilson put his stamp on the original Paradise Island golf course in 1958, shaping it along the shorelines of the ocean and Nassau Harbour. Back then, it included five lakes, a slew of sand traps and the world’s largest water hazard–the Atlantic Ocean.
Forty years later, PGA star-turned-designer Tom Weiskopf directed a complete rebuilding of the 300-acre course, keeping in mind the natural terrain and the crosswinds. Today’s players enjoy seaside tees and greens and a stunning panoramic view of the ocean on the par three 14th hole.
The new par 72, 7,123-yd Ocean Club Golf Club course reopened with great fanfare in December 2000, with legendary golfers such as Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Hale Irwin, Billy Casper and Tom Watson on hand to celebrate the event.
Weiskopf began taking an active role in designing golf courses in 1983. He built 23 courses with Jay Morrish before starting his own design company in 1994.
On the western end of New Providence Island, Dick Wilson and Joe Lee laid out the original Lyford Cay Club course in the 1950s. Rees Jones, son of famed designer Robert Trent Jones, transformed this world-class, par 72 layout in 2006, rebuilding all the greens, adding and reconstructing all fairway bunkers and reshaping the tees. The course stretches 7,007 yards from the championship tees.
Another name-brand golf course in western New Providence will be open for play soon. This one is a private, 18-hole championship design conceived by Ernie Els. It will be the centrepiece of the new Albany oceanfront luxury resort community.
This is the first Ernie Els golf course in The Bahamas. The 565-acre Albany project is being developed by the Tavistock Group with Tiger Woods and Els as partners.
The Blue Shark Golf Club (formerly South Ocean) on the west end of the island is based on a layout originally designed by “Gentleman Joe Lee.” It was recently and extensively redone by Greg Norman, who rebuilt the greens and lengthened the course to more than 7,100 yards. Blue Shark was closed at press time.
Norman also designed the spectacular 7,200-yd Emerald Bay course on Great Exuma, which opened in 2003. It’s built partly along a rocky peninsula, which offers a variety of iron shots and many dramatic views of the ocean.
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WBN10 - Sports_Golf
Famous golf course designers
Produce challenging layouts in The Bahamas
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