"Creekside is one solid hole after another, with a few exceptional ones in the mix. The 14th may be the toughest par 4 in the state. 18 is a great gambling finish for all."
-Ron Whitten,
Golf Digest

We are pleased to announce that Richard Mandell Golf Architecture has been engaged to design our first project in China.  Richard has created a twenty-seven (27) hole golf course in the City of Zhangjiajie in Hunan Province.  Zhangjiajie is a tourist area that is similar to the United States’ Grand Canyon in scope.  In fact, the background for many scenes of the movie Avatar was filmed among the dramatic quartz sandstone peaks here thousands of meters high.  The course is called Skydoor Golf Club, named after one specific monument of the area called Tianmen Mountain (translated as Gate of Heaven).

Richard’s design ties the scenic attractions of Zhangjiajie directly to the individual holes of Skydoor Golf Club.  Each of the three nines of Skydoor is named for one of these scenic zones and best corresponds with its geographic location.  Each golf hole takes its cue from a landmark found in its respective scenic area.

The Tianzi Mountain nine begins and ends in the northwest corner of the site and utilizes features found at both the Tianzishan Natural Reserve and Suoxiyu Natural Reserve.  The Zhangjiajie Forest nine to the south of the Tianzi nine faces the city center more than the other nines and is closer to the Zhangjiajie National Forest.  The holes for this nine reflect legends and landmarks from both Zhnagjiajie National Forest and the Yuanjiajie Scenic Zone immediately located to the north.  The final nine-hole loop, named Tianmen Mountain, is the closest nine to the Tianmenshan National Forest Park.  The Skydoor Mountain feature can be seen from each of the Tianmen nine holes.

For someone who does not like to move much dirt, Richard was forced to move more dirt at Skydoor than he has in all the projects of his two-decade career combined.  58% of the site had either 3:1 or 2:1 slopes.  Another 15% of the site ranged from 20% - 33% in severity.  In other words, 73% of the site included slopes which Richard would avoid as golf hole terrain in normal situations.  “The extreme slopes of the site meant that we had to carve out playable areas just to make the golf course functional”, said Richard, “That same effort is what will also give the golf course character as well.  A site like this transforms quickly from functional to exceptional.”

Even though that does not correspond with millions of meters of earth moved, the fact is that without routing the golf course utilizing the natural high points and flats (as small as they may be), the golf course might not be built.  An example of this is the proposed third hole of the Zhangjiajie Forest nine called Avatar Mountain.  The routing follows along the ridge line of what amounts to a canyon.  The landing area flat was only thirty meters wide (33 yards) surrounded on all sides by 2:1 slopes.  We are dropping it 26 meters in order to create a playable landing area.  Although it seems like a lot of earthwork (and it is!), the hole would never work if another tried to fit the landing area into the side of this canyon as opposed to the top of the ridge.

After a very short construction document phase, bulk earthwork has already started and when everything is said and done, we will have moved almost 5,000,000 meters of earth.  But with the correct approach of high point to high point routing, The total quantity of earth moved could easily be doubled if Richard’s routing philosophy was not followed (for more information about Richard’s Golf Course Routing thoughts click here).  The golf course will fit into the land seamlessly and not have any awkward-fitting holes.