SPORTS: GOLF

Our attention to detail is reflected in our mantra, ‘measure twice, cut once’.

We’re dedicated to achieving the best results for your course and its players, no matter their experience.

Unlike most Fields of Play, there are no standards for golf course designs. No two holes are the same, which means we work closely with either the project golf course architect or superintendent. This ensures we achieve your unique outcome for the hole or green.

Here at SPORTENG, we take a sustainable approach to all our designs. Not happy with just the status quo, we always strive to investigate new designs and construction techniques that deliver positive environmental outcomes.

We believe sustainability is intertwined with sports greatness.

As part of this, we integrate your requirements, from budget to performance values, through to sustainability practices – this ensures we achieve a successful result.

We consider the follow design outcomes when embodying our sustainability approach in golf course design:

• Designing an irrigation system that’s as efficient as possible to minimise precipitation requirements.
• Specifying a turf profile that will support healthy turf growth.
• Nominating a durable and drought-tolerant turf species that addresses the end users’ performance requirements.
• Considering the use of recycled material within the course.
• The SPORTENG team considers the whole-of-life cycle and the use of recycled materials at every stage of design and construction. We make sure that a sustainable end-product starts at the beginning of design.

A golf course usually has three areas throughout the course that need profile consideration:

• Greens and tees require a high quality profile to resist high intensity use.
• Fairways can have a high-quality profile that’s similar to the greens and tees, depending on the budget, but it’s usually a slightly reduce standard.
• Rough are often constructed from site won material or loam product, which ensures there’s less emphasis on performance and more focus on resilience.

From an engineering perspective, there are two important elements that complement each other – the 3D geometry of the course and the stormwater network. While the golf course architect or course superintendent influences the final design, the 3D geometry of the course incorporates the finished surface design and the bulk earthworks for the site.

For a well-designed golf course, the main playing areas need to be adequately drained. This allows golfers to play during rain events. There are some key areas of a golf course that require drainage, including:

• Tees and greens require high-quality drainage to ensure these areas are free draining.
• Bunkers are localised low points that will hold water if not appropriately drained with subsurface pipework.
• Fairways can be drained using subsoil pipework, depending on your budget. Another cost-effective approach is to allow surface run-off to low areas where drainage infrastructure can be located.
• General low areas beyond the fairways consist of overland flow to localised low points.

Nothing hard

A well-designed golf course should have minimal non-organic surfaces and objects throughout the course, which can negatively impact the way a golf ball bounces or rolls. The engineering and agronomic design for a golf course should appear seamless so that the engineering elements are not visible.

Turf surfaces and profiles

The level of competition and maintenance for a golf course will often influence the design of the playing surface. The species and associated profiles selected for a golf course need to be correctly specified. This allows us to prepare the surface so that it doesn’t negatively impact the ball’s bounce and roll.