It’s nothing new for golf courses to prioritize infrastructural needs over architectural wants. The desire for refined conditioning dates back to the beginnings of the game. Still, there is no doubt that something has shifted in the golf course restoration and renovation business over the past 20 years.
The modern idea of restoration formed in the 1980s and 90s, with the revival of appreciation for the “Golden Age” golf architecture of the 1910s, 20s, and 30s. Architects like Ron Forse, Ron Prichard, and Brian Silva—later joined by Keith Foster, Tom Doak, Gil Hanse, and Mike Clayton—began to advocate for and specialize in restoration work. The projects of this first wave had relatively modest budgets. They were usually completed piecemeal, over the span of several years, and without long shutdowns. As a result, the courses often retained their antique appearance—their “frayed-khaki patina,” as Rae calls it. They hadn’t been rebuilt so much as gradually nudged into forms resembling their original selves. For this kind of work, the word “restoration” seemed appropriate.
So what has changed recently? Bruce Hepner—who has led many restorations over the past 35 years, both as an associate with Tom Doak’s Renaissance Golf Design and as a solo architect—offers a one-word diagnosis: “Dollars.” “When it’s post-2010,” he explains, “when the stock market starts climbing and golf gets popular, anybody who got in on the stock market is making a lot of money. And there are a lot of new members [at golf clubs]…. They’re new to the game, and COVID brings another 10 to 20 percent of people who’ve never played golf before and are flush with cash. So now there are clubs that have no problem dropping $15 million. And I think that’s when the big-money renovations came in, and are still coming in.”
As Hepner sees it, the more a club spends on a project all at once, the further the pendulum swings away from restoration. “Because you have so much money, you can do anything you want,” Hepner says. “‘Okay, let’s put these bridges in. Put SubAir in. Let’s do Better Billy Bunkers.’ And they’re beautiful projects, but you look at them, and they don’t look like something restored to me. There’s no patina. It looks like a brand-new golf course.”
Aside from the simple fact that some people have a lot of post-Recession money to spend, a few other dynamics seem to be pushing clubs to go big:
1. Keeping up with the Joneses. When the club across town drops $20 million on a course renovation, you might think that you need to spend just as much to keep competing for members. “It’s a badge of honor, kind of,” Bruce Hepner says. “‘We spent 20.’ ‘Well, we spent 30.’”
2. The “wow” factor. A pricey, all-at-once renovation attracts a level of attention and excitement that a careful, years-long restoration cannot match. Tyler Rae remembers when, in 2006, Philadelphia Cricket Club called Keith Foster’s office, where Rae was working at the time. “They wanted to do work in 2007, 2008,” Rae says. “[Foster] said, ‘No, save your money, save your money, save your money. I don’t want to do a $1-million job. I don’t want to do a $2-million job. I want to do a $6-million job.’ So he had them save their money. And then they did everything, all in one fell swoop, shut it down for eight to 10 months, and blew it out. And they got all the awards. I mean, Philly Cricket went from 400th in America to 32nd. They flipped the switch, and they are the healthiest club in the Mid-Atlantic region now…. That, to me, is what I call the Philly Cricket Model. You rip the band-aid off, and you open it back up, and you get all the buzz and all these people flooding your initiation.”
