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RICK JACOBSON OPENS HIS FIRST 18-HOLE CHAMPIONSHIP COURSE IN CHINA
Lion Lake Resort’s Moon Course Is Part of a 36-Hole Complex
Designed by the Esteemed Chicago-Area Golf Course Architect
Course Hosts The 2009 Ambassadors’ Cup
LIBERTYVILLE, Illinois (December 17, 2009) – Renowned Chicago area golf course architect Rick Jacobson has opened his first 18-hole golf course in China.
The Jacobson-designed Moon Course at Lion Lake Resort located northwest of Guangzhou, China (a/k/a Canton) had a “soft opening” in August in advance of the Nov. 20-22 inaugural Ambassadors’ Cup Invitational, where ambassadors from more than30 nations participated in the international competition.
“Rick Jacobson is the most responsible and passionate person among all the designers I have ever worked with,” said John Ho, vice president of Lion Lake Resort. “Rick has made many site inspections and he provided the construction team with detailed instructions. He likes to do things in person, and thus his design concepts are carried out more effectively and the construction process runs more efficiently.”
While the Moon Course at Lion Lake is Jacobson’s first course opening in China, he currently is working on a number of projects. Among those is Lion Lake’s new 18-hole Moonlight Course, now under construction. The Lion Lake facility is a mixed-use hotel, resort, residential, and office development located in the China’s largest golf market. Internationally known golf course management firm Troon Golf operates the golf facilities.
“We are very pleased that golfers are enjoying the Moon Course,” Jacobson said. “The process of designing and building a golf course is most satisfying when all the work is done and people are enjoying the great game of golf.”
Jacobson said he also is proud of the inaugural Ambassadors’ Cup.
“Golf is a sport that does not build walls between people; rather it builds bridges that connect people worldwide,” Jacobson told Ambassadors’ Cup contestants.
The Moon Course and the soon-to-be-completed Moonlight Courses are a study in contrasts.
The Moon Course is an unrefined quasi- inland links course that features native grasses, pine and juniper plantings, and classic bunkers with native grass eyebrows. Red rock outcroppings define the course’s dramatic visual character and are utilized as a design element throughout all 18 holes. The Moon Course has five sets of tees to accommodate golfers of varying skill levels. It measures 7,115 yards from the championship tees and 5,084 yards from the forward tees, with three sets of tees in between.
The Moonlight Course will be located on the south end of the resort and will have a much more refined character than the Moon Course.
The Moonlight Course has a highly manicured look with a lush tropical landscape and bunkers with long flowing lines in the style of Alister McKenzie, designer of such classics as Augusta National, Cypress Point, and Royal Melbourne. The Moonlight Course will be a similar yardage to the Moon Course and will have five sets of tees, Jacobson said. Another similarity is that both courses feature streams, lakes, and waterfalls.
“The two courses are a very dramatic contrast in design styles that will provide golfers with a variety of challenges and differing golf experiences,” Jacobson said. “We are very pleased that the Moonlight Course along with the Moon Course will form the foundation of one of China’s premier golf resorts. Golfers will find both courses to be visually dynamic and uniquely challenging to their golfing skills.”
Lion Lake features a two-level practice range, two large putting greens, and a short game practice area. All 36 holes will operate out of a full-service clubhouse.
“The Moon Course has been very well received by Chinese golfers as well as travelers from Europe and America,” Ho said. “More than 30 nations sent their delegates to play in the Ambassadors Cup. All loved the course and were looking forward to playing again next year.”
Jacobson has a number of other projects underway in China:
• The Chengdu Wolong Valley International Golf Club is an 18-hole championship course located at the focal point of a thriving mixed-use residential, commercial, hotel, and retail development in the city of Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province situated in southwestern China.
• An 18-hole resort course called Chaozhou (JOW-ZO) Golf Club located about an hour by air from Hong Kong.
• The Si Hui (SEE-WAY) Golf Club, a 27-hole “destination” course located in the Guangdong province near the city of Guangzhou (pop. 11 million), better known to the western world as Canton. Guangdong province is the home of Mission Hills, the world’s largest golf resort, just a half-hour by air from Hong Kong.
Jacobson has been active in international golf course design since he opened his own firm in 1991 following several years with Jack Nicklaus. Jacobson’s first original 18-hole design was the World Country Club in Osaka, Japan.
Jacobson reunited with Nicklaus when the two collaborated on Bayside Resort and Golf Club in Fenwick Island, Del., which was named among the top new courses for 2006 by both Golf Digest and Golfweek magazines. Jacobson worked with Nicklaus on many of Nicklaus’ high-profile projects before starting his own company.
Jacobson also is well known for his renovations of several highly regarded classic courses, including Pete Dye’s Des Moines CC, site of the 1999 U.S. Senior Open; Oak Park CC and Bob O’Link GC, both Chicago area Donald Ross courses; North Shore CC in Glenview, Ill., an H.S. Colt/C.H. Alison course; Glen Oak CC in Glen Ellyn, Ill., a Tom Bendelow original, and Sunset Ridge CC in Northfield, Ill., voted No. 1 Renovation of the Year in 2005 by Golf Inc. Magazine.
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JACOBSON OPENS NEW BOWES CREEK COUNTRY CLUB
His First Original 18-Hole Course in the Chicago Area Is
Designed to be Fun and Challenging for Golfers of All Abilities
LIBERTYVILLE, Illinois (September 22, 2009) – During his 18 years in business, Rick Jacobson’s golf course designs have been built in places such as Delaware, Maryland, New York, Virginia, and Wisconsin not to mention the nations of China and Japan.
As of today, Jacobson, a native of north suburban Glenview, will have a course of his own in the Chicago area.
Jacobson’s Bowes Creek Country Club in northwest suburban Elgin officially opened today to media and dignitaries invited to play the inaugural 18 holes on a course that has been on the drawing board for more than a decade.
“Every time you open a new course, there’s a sense of gratification when you see the holes take shape and eventually watch the golfers out there enjoying the course,” Jacobson said. “It took a lot of patience and perseverance to see it through but it definitely was worth it.” Jacobson drew his first routing for the course in 1998.
The golf course is the focal point of a Toll Brothers’ real estate development of the same name. The city of Elgin will own and operate the course as a public facility.
Bowes Creek is a rustic, prairie-style design in which fescue eyebrows outline the edges of bunkers and act as an extension of the naturalistic look of the adjacent landscape.
“We are trying to create a uniqueness in our courses to give our clients a marketable product that ultimately makes them successful,” Jacobson said. “Bowes Creek is the style of golf course the land dictates – natural rather than a pure manufactured look.”
The course measures as long as 6900 yards from the professional tees and as short as 5000 yards from the forward tees. It will have a total of five sets of tees and play to a par of 71.
The course is laid out on varying types of topography and features elevation changes of up to 50 feet, particularly from tee boxes on the back nine. The layout spreads out over flat flood plain areas, rolling farm land, steeper elevations, prairie, wetlands, a lake, and groups of mature hardwood trees. A creek runs throughout the property, Jacobson added. For the most part, homes will be located on the perimeter of the course.
“Although the golf course is located in a real estate community, it is a public course that will serve golfers of dramatically different levels of skill and experience,” Jacobson said. “Our goal is to make the game fun and enjoyable while making it interesting and challenging.”
Jacobson also designed a full state-of-the-art practice area complete with an elevated 30-station driving range with target greens at varying distances, putting and chipping greens, and a private lesson tee on the range.
Jacobson Golf Course Design is an international golf course design firm founded by Rick Jacobson in 1991.
Voted the Golf Course Architect of the Year in 2007 by the National Association of Private Clubs and Directors, Jacobson is known nationally for such heralded original 18-hole designs as Augustine GC in Stafford, Va., Bull Run CC in Haymarket, Va., Bear Trap Dunes in Ocean View, Del., and The Club at Strawberry Creek in Kenosha, Wis.
Bayside Resort and Golf Club in Fenwick Island, Del. was named among the top new courses in the U.S. for 2006 by Golf Digest and Golfweek magazines. The course was collaboration between Jacobson and Jack Nicklaus, his former employer and mentor.
Jacobson also is widely known for his sensitive renovations of such highly regarded classic courses, including Pete Dye’s Des Moines CC, site of the 1999 U.S. Senior Open, and Sunset Ridge CC in Northfield, Ill., ranked No. 1 Renovation of the Year in the private club category in 2006 by Golf Inc. magazine.
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JACOBSON COMPLETES DESIGN ON HIS FOURTH COURSE IN CHINA
LIBERTYVILLE, Illinois (April 6, 2009) – With his practice continuing to thrive internationally, Chicago area golf course architect Rick Jacobson has completed the design on his firm’s fourth new layout on the Chinese mainland.
The Chengdu Wolong Valley International Golf Club is an 18-hole championship course located at the focal point of a thriving mixed-use residential, commercial, hotel, and retail development in the city of Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province situated in southwestern China.
“We are very excited to complete the design on a new 18-hole golf course located in the midst of an incredible city that is both a large regional population center as well as a major hub for international business,” Jacobson said. “The Chinese view golf as a tremendous asset for businesses, families, and friends to build strong relationships in a recreational setting.”
Known as the world’s only breeding and research center for China’s famed giant pandas, Chengdu boasts a 12-month golf season thanks to its mild winters and temperate summer climate. The course is adjacent to a special economic development zone that is the home of numerous international high tech companies and is just 20 minutes from the busiest international airport in southwestern China.
Jacobson said his design has a “Pine Valley theme,” which takes advantage of the site’s gently rolling topography. The concept features large sand waste areas with scrub pines, junipers, and fescue grasses reminiscent of George Arthur Crump’s original New Jersey masterpiece.
“It will have a naturalistic look, not a manicured look,” Jacobson said.
The naturalistic design concept will reduce the need for irrigation and chemical application requirements on turf grass, resulting in an environmentally responsible golf operation, Jacobson said.
The course will be tournament-ready, measuring just under 7,200 yards from the back tees. But, as is the case with all Jacobson designs, the course will be playable for hotel guests and higher handicappers, with the forward tees playing approximately 5,100 yards.
Seven interconnected lakes are strategically located to create a number of distinctive water holes, including No. 2, which features a major waterfall; No. 9, a risk-reward par 5 that requires a shot over water to reach the green in two, and No. 18, where the approach shot to the green must negotiate a water hazard.
The facility will have a large practice area for full-swing, short game, putting, and private instruction. The practice range will feature both natural turf grass and artificial teeing areas with target greens guarded by bunkers that emulate conditions found on the golf course, Jacobson noted. The course is expected to feature a Tuscan-style clubhouse that will provide golfers with dramatic panoramic views across a lake to several golf holes.
In May 2008, Chengdu was 48 miles from the epicenter of an 8.0 magnitude earthquake that killed 80,000 people in the Sichuan Province – including 4,000 in Chengdu - and injured 26,000 more. The golf course project is moving forward as part of the area’s recovery from the tragedy.
Jacobson currently has three other courses under construction in China:
• The 36-hole Lion’s Lake Resort golf course located in a resort community setting near Guangzhou;
• An 18-hole resort course called Chaozhou (JOW-ZO) Golf Club located about an hour by air from Hong Kong.
• The Si Hui (SEE-WAY) Golf Club, a 27-hole “destination” course located in the Guangdong province near the city of Guangzhou (pop. 11 million), better known to the western world as Canton. Guangdong province is the home of Mission Hills, the world’s largest golf resort, just a half-hour by air from Hong Kong.
Jacobson’s other international designs include an 18-hole seaside resort course at the Jewel of the Sea in the province of Calabria in Southern Italy. Jacobson also designed World Country Club in Osaka, Japan, an 18-hole private course.
Jacobson is known nationally for such heralded18-hole designs as Augustine GC in Stafford, Va., Bull Run CC in Haymarket, Va., Bear Trap Dunes in Ocean View, Del., and The Club at Strawberry Creek in Kenosha, Wis.
Jacobson collaborated with Jack Nicklaus on Bayside Resort and Golf Club in Fenwick Island, Del., named among the top new courses for 2006 by both Golf Digest and Golfweek magazines. Jacobson worked with Nicklaus on many of his high-profile projects before starting his own firm in 1991.
Jacobson also is widely known for his renovations of several highly regarded classic courses, including Pete Dye’s Des Moines CC, site of the 1999 U.S. Senior Open; Oak Park CC and Bob O’Link GC, both Chicago area Donald Ross courses; North Shore CC in Glenview, Ill., an H.S. Colt/C.H. Alison course; Glen Oak CC in Glen Ellyn, Ill., a Tom Bendelow course, and Sunset Ridge CC in Northfield, Ill. |
