More Good News - Barrow's View Golf Course - 2010

I will be constructing another new course in 2010 - Barrow's View Golf Course in Borodino, New York. The course will overlook beautiful Skaneateles Lake in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. The golf course is part of a larger development that includes housing, a cluster of retail and artist buildings, and additional recreational facilities including boating. The property includes a waterfront component that will allow golfers to arrive by boat. Overnite guests will be shuttled by boat to the village of Skaneateles for dining and shopping.  The course is named after John D. Barrows, a Hudson River School landscape and portrait painter who resided in Skaneateles during the late 1800's. His work includes many paintings of the Skaneateles Lake area. More recently, the town of Skaneateles became famous for hosting then President Bill Clinton - who vacationed on the lake during his presidency. I am attaching a couple of early sketches I prepared for the golf course. The routing and preliminary construction drawings have been completed. I will be writing more about this project and posting updated plans as they become available for release.

Lazy Swan Expanding to 18 Holes

The Lazy Swan Golf and Country Club in Saugerties, New York is expanding to 18 holes.

Construction on the new nine is scheduled to to take place in the 2010 season with an opening date set for 2011. The first nine that I designed opened in 2008. Since that time, six buildings have been constructed that make up the "Village Area". The buildings include the clubhouse, pro-shop, locker rooms, snack shop, pilates studio, and cart barn. Currently, the banquet hall is under construction. The views from the facility will frame golf holes and mountain views. (See attached photo). The Banquet hall is scheduled to open in the summer of 2010.

The golf course was originally planned as a nine hole course. However, reviews from the golfers were so positive that the owner, Tony Bacchi, decided to purchase additional land to build nine more holes. The holes will continue the overall themes created in the first nine and will enhance the diversity of the course by moving in and out of some beautifully wooded areas. The routing is complete and the project has been granted sketch plan approval. We anticipate a spring groundbreaking once final permits are secured.

Silent Blog + Trashed Studio = Good Signs

Things have been "good busy" in the studio for the last month and a half. (See image above) Next week we will have some news about at least one large project that will be under construction next year, and a very good chance more to follow. As I look around my studio, I see trash paper sketches everywhere, piles of paper stacked on my desk, and books from my design library strewn about. I know this is a good sign. Another good sign is when my design sketchbook begins to fill up again. I have been ripping through pages the last few weeks. This is where I begin to articulate design ideas that will eventually turn into golf holes.

Another good sign, unfortunately, is a silent blog. (First things first - especially in this economy) I am sure there are plenty of golf architects with very clean offices and plenty of time on their hands to do all the writing they want. Right now, I am fortunate not to be one of them. I must say, it is difficult to stay committed to the blog when there is so much studio work to be flushed out with relatively little time to do it. It is now December and come March, northern golf construction season begins. Only three full months away. Yikes! I can't wait......