Arnold Palmer Design: Latest News

Never one to rest on his many laurels Arnold Palmer recently added a new level of intensity to his design operation by moving the company from Ponte Vedra, Florida, to his home at The Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando. It’s a good thing, as there’s plenty of work on the boards for the team at the renamed Arnold Palmer Design Company (formerly Palmer Course Design Company)

Center stage in terms of new endeavors is the Palmer Premier series of golf course operations. As Erik Larsen, Arnold Palmer Design’s executive vice–president, and
senior golf course architect explains, for a project to qualify for Premier, Arnold
Palmer Design will have ongoing input and approval on five variables: design construction, maintenance, club operation and marketing.

“There is no architectural firm that’s doing this,” he says. “We want to make sure
the whole golf experience is great from the minute you walk in, every time you walk in.”

Larsen explains that while Palmer courses are all designed to the highest standard, Premier operations will ensure that standard is maintained on an ongoing basis, and not just on the golf course. Clubhouse design, management and operation; maintenance of the course and club; construction and maintenance of all facilities; and the marketing of the club will be checked by Arnold Palmer Design on a continual basis. Operations holding themselves to the standards initially set by Palmer will enjoy Premier status. This
ensures that when a golfer sees “Premier” on a club, there’s no doubt about the quality.
It’s part of Palmer’s new approach.

“We decided to be more selective,” says Larsen. “We look forward to being part of great golf retreats.”

While fans will have to wait a little to experience Palmer Premier operations, the good news is that Premier candidates are already under way. White Oak Plantation in Tryon, North Carolina is slated to be open the second half of 2007 or early 2008, this former cotton plantation is set to be one of the finest golf course communities in the world. Featuring an outstanding golf course home sites; equestrian facilities; tennis; a top–tier restaurant; and all of the other amenities appropriate for a five–star property set on some of the most beautiful land in the South, White Oak Plantation will be as special as all great golf retreats, unique.

Another Southern project heading toward Premier status is The Reserve at Lake Keowee. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northwestern South Carolina, just two hours from both Atlanta and Charlotte, and already a successfully operating club, The Reserve at Lake Keowee is a private 3,900–acre community and features nearly 30 miles of shoreline on the beautiful lake. The Reserve features an array of onsite amenities for the whole family, including a pool pavilion (with beach & pool club coming soon)
racquet club, boating, hiking, and dining. Joining the Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf
Course already in place will be the Arnold Palmer Premier Golf Complex. The new
golf complex will feature an 18–hole course, a par–3 course and a learning center. The
Reserve will be the first place in the world to have both a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf
Course and an Arnold Palmer Premier Golf Complex. Life at The Reserve is reminiscent
of small town America where knowing andgetting together with your neighbors in a safe environment was taken for granted Adults, teens and small children alike enjoy the amenities and activities throughout the community especially at the award–winning Orchard House and the spacious Great Lawn in the center of The Village.

Yet another Premier project is the Tribute golf course, which is currently being built in Oregon. A joint project between Arnold Palmer Design with David Chapman, a renowned golf course community developer and close friend of Palmer’s (see interview
on Page 116), Tribute will emulate the exceptional quality of Chapman’s Tradition
course in La Quinta, California, a project for which the pair also teamed.

Palmer Premier projects aren’t confined to the United States. A Premier layout is being constructed under the direction of Arnold Palmer Design some 15 minutes drive north of Dublin and will provide the cornerstone for what is surely destined to become one of Ireland’s leading golf resorts.

The Milverton Demesne estate, being developed by Treasury Holdings is near the coastal village of Skerries and consists of beautiful rolling countryside that was originally shaped by an associate of the revered 18th century landscape architect Capability Brown. Totally unspoiled, it is populated with an abundance of mature trees and an astonishing variety of flora, especially around the old homestead.

The courses are being built, by the same team that designed both courses at The K Club, on a hill overlooking Skerries Bay wit the sea visible from holes 4–9 and No 15.

“This site lends itself to a truly spectacular course,” said Palmer. “We will construct elaborate water features and byre–circulating the water we will purify it before it flows towards the ocean.”

Also planned for the 437–acre resort, which is scheduled to open in 2009, is a further 18 holes of golf that we be given the Arnold Palmer Signature status, a 250–bedroom, 5–star conference hotel and spa, equestrian facilities and a tennis academy.

Harrison Minchew, vice president and senior golf course architect with Arnold Palmer Design, said: “The site of the Signature course is relatively gentle farmland. We plan to sculpt the earth and landscape extensively to create a different style and challenge of course from the first course.”

With projects like these lined up for the near future, it seems Palmer’s Premier line of courses is off to a good start. It’s certainly occupying a good deal of Arnold
Palmer Design staff ’s time — but not all of it. Signature Course work is still under way, with some amazing projects in the pipeline.

“We have some of the best sites we’ve ever had,” says Larsen. The team is excited, and for good reason. Larsen explains that while Arnold Palmer Design has never done
a golf hole on an ocean (“Been close, got ten within 50 yards, but never on the ocean”), he says the company now has five agreements to build five golf courses on a coast.

“In the next three years, we’ll probably d35 golf holes like No. 18 at Pebble Beach,” he says. “We’ve never had that chance; it’s great.”

The projects are spread around, with sites in Mexico, Texas, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic and St. Lucia. “This is the ocean, there’s the golf hole, there’s the rest of the site. They’re all under way, all in design.”

For those who believe the ocean is nothing more than the largest water hazard in existence, rest easy. Arnold Palmer Design is working on inland sites as well. In addition to White Oak Plantation and The Reserve at Lake Keowee, the team is working on a course near Hendersonville, North Carolina. Also, a course in northern Florida, Owl’s Head, is set to be completed in 2007. A stunning property, Owl’s Head is core golf, meaning acreage was set aside specifically for the course, with home sites being located well outside the course’s perimeter.

Meanwhile, Larsen says another Florida course, near Tampa, is getting ramped up, as well as another Chapman project, just north of Los Angeles. With so much going on, there’s plenty for fans of Palmer courses to look forward to. Somewhere among the white–glove service of the Premier series and the always–exceptional design of Palmer’s Signature courses, there’s something for everyone. And with some of these properties potentially opening as soon as 2007, it will be a happy new year indeed.

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