Tiger Woods talks golf course design

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Tiger Woods hasn’t had much luck as a golf course designer. Projects in Dubai, North Carolina and Mexico all saw him do extensive work without ever opening a course due to circumstances beyond his control. It was with some relief, then, that he cut the ribbon on his first design to reach completion, El Cardonal, in Mexico. We sat down with him to discuss his favourite courses around the world and the ideas behind his first creation.

What are the key ingredients of a great golf course?
I believe great golf courses are the result of variety, strategy, a distinctive environment and the ability to make golfers think and make choices.

What challenges do you like to present?
I try to create lots of shot options that challenge players to think and make decisions during their rounds. I want my courses to be playable for every golfer, regardless of ability. I have played enough pro-ams over the years to know that not every golfer is a scratch handicap. I don’t want people to lose a dozen balls when they play our course.

Which courses inspired your design?
Pinehurst is a great example of a course that’s tough for us, but playable for everybody. It gets players thinking, with options around the greens. I love St Andrews because there are so many different ways to play it, to get the ball onto the green. The game today is very much played in the air. I hope to bring back the use of the ground in my designs. I try to leave the fronts of greens open giving players the option to bounce their approach shots into greens and using the contours to get the ball close to the flag.

Does it feature any signature holes
My goal on every course I design is to have 18 signature holes.

What do you hope people that play the course will make of it?
I want the golf courses I design to be distinct and memorable. The biggest compliment that a designer can receive is if a golfer can’t wait to play his golf course again.

Tiger Woods

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