For as long as I can remember, my obsession has been great golf.
For the past 20+ years (working on Planet Golf) I have been scouring the world looking for outstanding golf courses, and studying the work of our game's finest designers.
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As a result of my studies, there have been few golf course designers start their career with anything like my knowledge of golf course design. There were no Harry Colt courses to study when Colt was starting out in this business. Nor was Bill Coore able to learn from any of his masterpieces back in the 1980s.
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The fact that I had studied every single one of golf’s worthwhile designs was a huge advantage when designing my first course, Cape Wickham.
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Not only have I learnt from the dozens of great courses worldwide that I’ve played and studied over the years, but a thousand plus poor ones have also taught me the pitfalls of design, and what is necessary to arrange a truly great golf layout. They’ve helped me to identify and avoid common mistakes, and provided guidance on how best to conceive, design and construct worthwhile individual golf holes.
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They also taught me restraint.
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As evident at Cape Wickham, The Cliffs KI and The Farm, my courses do not require an army to maintain, nor do they cost a fortune to build. My designs will never be the most difficult to play, but they will properly utilise and showcase natural landforms and natural character – and provide all golfers with a proper, fun and interesting challenge. They will always feature outstanding individual holes.
A life’s obsession with great golf, combined with the experience of studying more than 2,000 golf courses worldwide, has highlighted to me the importance of good design and careful golf course planning. There are other elements in golf construction and development, but in my view golf course design will always rank as the most important – and represent the extent of my expertise.
I am not a celebrity golfer or tour professional, nor am I a shaper or an agronomy / construction expert. What I can offer clients is a dedicated, informed and hands-on golf course design service.
While there have been many fine courses created during this modern era, my work remains almost entirely inspired by classic British designers, and old-school European and Australian golf architecture.
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Darius Oliver
