-Gregg Scott | Director of Golf, Army Navy Country Club

Renovation Business Plan

A golf course is a business and should be treated as such. Whether your golf course is a top-tier private club, an upscale resort property, operated by a government agency, or privately owned, it should have an active business plan in place to ensure the greatest success and enhance everyone's investment.

A business plan is not just a document that includes proformas, operational procedures, and marketing strategies, it should also be a living, breathing document for the physical asset (the golf course) itself.

Above: example design solution of Army Navy CC (Arlington) #6 White
Below: New Army Navy CC (Arlington) #6 White

The Process

Richard Mandell Golf Architecture undergoes an extensive process for existing golf courses called a Renovation Business Plan. Most clubs are familiar with the standard Renovation Master Plan that golf course architects typically provide. Our specific process goes beyond just showing a bunker complex and specifying: "Redo bunkers". More than just a pretty picture outlining possibilities, our Renovation Business Plan is a detailed game plan with concrete solutions, timing, and specific cost estimates.

The process begins with detailed analysis of not just the golf course but of the players of that golf course and the market in which the golf course exists. Richard Mandell Golf Architecture undertakes extensive interviews and golf course walk-throughs with the maintenance staff, the golf professional staff, and other course management. In addition, Richard spends time with a cross-section of players including seniors, women, and both low and high handicap players. During these walk-throughs Richard introduces and refers to his Renovation Business Plan Punch-List. This is a detailed questionnaire specifically tailored to golf course renovations. The range of topics address:

Maintenance
Drainage
Environmental impacts
Strategy
Aesthetics
Playability
Utilization of hazards
Cart paths
Golf course operations
Routing of the golf course

The Deliverables

The Renovation Business Plan is both a graphic document and a corresponding written report. The graphic portionis a color rendering of the golf course and includes specific solutions to a variety of questions and concerns. The plan depicts new golf course features and other elements, including clubhouse area, maintenance facility, and other related site plan suggestions. General concerns and solutions as well as proposed design style are included as well. The written portion of the Renovation Business Plan begins with more detailed analysis of the existing conditions as well as general and hole by hole solutions.

RMGA also includes detailed construction cost estimates that range from the absolute minimum scope of work to a complete re-construction. We customize our process to phase renovation efforts which best match a club's financial game plan or time schedule. If a club decides to spend as little or as much money as possible, or any amount in between, one can rest assured that it will be money wisely spent.

Compassionate Historic Restoration

No modern golf course architect should (or even could) profess to understand what classic golf course architects such as Donald Ross or Albert Tillinghast thought. Nor should one attest to what these designers would do in a particular situation if alive today. (If you run into an Architect who does, run the other way). RMGA will not tell you those things, but convey an understanding of strategic philosophies practiced throughout the history of golf course architecture as well as specific design characteristics inherent in the classic architects of the times.

The RMGA Renovation Business Plan process is generally the same whether the golf course is undergoing restoration efforts of a notable architect or not. But, additional efforts for a restoration include in-depth research of the history of the golf course as well as review and study of the original golf course architect. Historical drawings, aerial photography, news reports and other documentation become the basis for any restoration efforts. Our state of the art computer ability allows us to overlay historical routings and aerial photography on top of an existing site plan and accurately locate lost features for restoration.

In addition to the hole by hole analysis as it pertains to design and maintenance, RMGA also breaks down the historical significance and accuracy of each hole when developing a Renovation Business Plan for a restoration candidate. Our written report includes sections about the original designer of the golf course and his philosophies regarding strategy, tee design, green design, and hazard design (including sand bunker styles). This establishes the framework for future design decisions and solutions for the golf course. A detailed study of the history and significance of golf courses is standard operating procedure of all Richard Mandell Golf Architecture Renovation Business Plans.