Initial work at Royal Hobart nearing completion
Richard Chamberlain is nearing completion of a first phase of renovation work at Royal Hobart Golf Club in Tasmania, Australia.
“We’re aiming to give this golf course a serious facelift and a valuable transition into the next era of prosperity,” said Dieter Jones, a member of the master plan committee.
The impetus for the project began in 2014 with an audit of the 1997 master plan – created by Newton, Grant & Spencer – completed in the October. A report into the original design (by Vern Morcom in the early 1960s) was completed a month later.
The ‘Vern Morcom Report’ showed that some of the original designer’s intent and instructions were not carried out during construction (Morcom was working at Kingston Heath at the time and could not supervise construction at Royal Hobart).
Mowing lines had changed, plantings in 1980s and 90s had altered the original intent of Morcom design, while corridors were significantly narrowed, forcing play around vertical hazards.
The 1997 master plan was designed to make the course longer and harder. Since then, only small parts had been implemented with none since 2009. One aspect the plan failed to address was the safety issues around the first green and sixth and seventh holes.
Following both audits, the club determined that it was not vital to retain the existing Morcom design principles and the 1997 master plan was to be abandoned in favour of a new one.
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