We recently remodeled, including some re-routing, the Iron Horse Golf Course for the City of North Richland Hills, TX, which dramatically changed the course.
It was originally designed by Dick Phelps and opened in 1988. We actually competed for the city design commission shortly after beginning our firm in 1984 and were disappointed to lose out to the (then) more experienced firm. However, I recently found out that the history of that course goes back to at least 1980, and Mr. Phelps wasn’t even the original architect! I found a 1980 routing plan, drawn by yet another ASGCA member, Jack Snyder (deceased).
As originally envisioned by a local developer, the course was to occupy only the unusable for development floodplain areas. However, these only provided enough acreage for an executive course. Developers rarely want to pay for the course that raises their value, and eventually, the City of North Richland Hills became involved, wanting to provide a high-quality public course for its residents. They were convinced that a regulation course was required, and both parties agreed to expand the golf course footprint to what you see today.
This is a great example of how long the gestation period for golf projects can be. This one took over a decade, and at least two architects to get the plan where it needed to be.
If you are currently looking for a golf architect to help remodel or renovate a golf course that achieves a standard of excellence, choose Jeffrey D. Brauer. He helps all of his clients develop a comprehensive plan of action. Identifying what areas of your course are falling short, which practices for maintenance are inefficient, and how to increase your profits and attract new players to your course can make the difference between an average course design and a truly excellent one.
Jeffrey D. Brauer/GolfScapes, Inc.
3809 Canton Jade Way
Arlington, TX 76005
Ph: 817-797-6376
https://www.facebook.com/jdbgolfscapes/