Restoration, Renovation, Restorvation?

The restoration movement started at the 1979 U.S. Open at Inverness in Ohio, where three new holes clearly didn’t match the original Donald Ross-designed holes. That and other character destroying Ross renovations led to the formation of the Donald Ross Society. Eventually, other Golden Age golf course architects got their own preservation societies. It was also a reaction to decades of modern design, culminating in the money fed, award- and rankings-centered style of the 1980s.

Since then, it’s common for older courses to seek an architect specializing in restoring old courses. The specialized field of golf course architecture, with less 500 practitioners worldwide, has evolved into even more specialized sub-sectors, including restoration.

With restoration being trendy, most architects use that label as a sales pitch, but very loosely when concerning design intent. In building architecture, these terms are better defined, and could be in golf, too:

Restoration – In both golf course and building architecture, this means to use original designs from a particular era of history (Opening day, major changes to host a prominent event, etc.) to recreate the past as authentically as modern materials and construction allow.

Rehabilitation/Reuse – Keeping an old building’s exterior as near its original form as possible, but adapting its interior to a modern use such as offices or shops. In golf renovations, “Rehabilitation” is a better term when improving infrastructure or design to bring back a course’s former image, reputation or conditions, while not preserving its original design.

Remodel/Renovate/Restorvate – Generally, the first two are interchangeable, used where golf course features are totally redesigned, using most of the existing routing as a starting point. Many tout “sympathetic renovations” – sometimes called “restorvations” – which allows more conceptual design latitude, while nominally respecting the original style and intent. However, it involves value judgements based on “Would the architect do this if alive today?” discussions, which are always interesting, but never conclusive. “Latitude” to change becomes “License to change,” quickly turning restorations into total renovations with a restoration label.

Rebuild/Total Blow Up – “Blowing up” is a very literal term for buildings. In golf, it refers to building a new course of any style over an old one on the same site, including major or total re-routing.

Courses wanting a true restoration should select an architect on substance, and not nomenclature, finding one who respects design history and has experience in similar restorations. You might also bring in an independent historian/researcher with expertise in your original architect for additional perspective. You also need strong internal leadership to gain consensus for the concept of restoration.

True restorations are based on historical research, including original plans, early aerials and photos, newspaper articles, and knowledge of the original designer’s philosophies. The goal is to determine the history of every hole, from its original design intent and initial execution, to all changes made later by others, and whether those changes are reversible.

Sometimes, it’s easy.

Sometimes, it isn’t.

• Property boundary changes, earlier re-routing.
• Major design changes now embraced by golfers.
• Agronomic needs (poor water, etc.) require new solutions.
• Environmental areas and multiple/forward tees must be accommodated.
• Need for new practice areas not in original design.

Editor’s note:Visit www.golfcourseindustry.com for more on this subject.