Environmental Friendly Golf Courses are in Demand!
Amit Khullar, architect, Enar Consultants, which designed Delhi's Qutab Golf Course (Lado Sarai) and 
redesigned Jaipur's Rambagh Golf Club, an architect talks about the challenges and trends in the field.
Once you bag a project, how does the work begin? How do you go about it?
There are two-three primary factors that determine the development of a golf course. The most important is location. Golf courses normally are along a natural environment - next to a mountain, sea shore, or forest. It enhances the value of the entire facility. In places such as Noida and Gurgaon, you need to create such an environment. The Delhi Golf Club was set in a dense jungle, which was a part of the central ridge. You still have deer and peacocks there. In Lado Sarai, initially the plan was to use Qila Rai Pithora as a backdrop.
After getting a project, first thing is to get a site evaluation done. One has to preserve its natural features. Next is soil analysis. One may also have to figure out how to market the course. One course may take about six to eight months of intensive work.
With no big-bang name (like a Greg Norman), how did you take your projects further?
It was a challenge. We researched, went through archives, and applied the basic rules of landscaping.
One has to try and make a golf course as eco-friendly as possible. As you know, courses are great guzzlers of water.
Are there specific challenges to designing golf courses, particularly in India?
The whole effort is on aesthetics and to design a golf course such that the players will feel challenged. What's the level of difficulty you can pose to golfers? The player must get excited by playing there.
How many people are involved in materialising the design of a course?
There is a core team of two-three people. Engineers, horticulturists and irrigation specialists are included as well and of course, you consult golfers.
What's the current trend in golf course design?
The focus is on creating environment-friendly golf courses, where you recycle water and use natural resources, including organic pesticides. In terms of skill sets required of a golf course designer, one recent one is, integration of technology. For example, in the national capital region, you see night golfing.
Author: Rahat Bano (HT Horizons)
Date: 28th December, 2010
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