Kingswood undergoing Howard Swan redevelopment
- Tuesday, 10 March 2009
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The new signature 5th hole at Kingswood Golf and Country Club
Kingswood Golf and Country Club is currently undergoing a whole-scale redevelopment that, when finished, will bring it firmly up to date as a superb all-round test for the modern golfer.
The original 80-year-old championship course in Surrey was designed by James Braid and is now being renovated under the direction of architect Howard Swan.
Braid, most famous for winning five Open Championships, designed the original course in the 1920s, and while it remains a classic parkland course, certain parts have become outdated.
Following an appraisal of the entire course, Swan saw that the bunkering presented the most significant opportunity to add an element of ‘risk and reward’.
Bunkers have been moved further up the fairway, redundant ones have been removed and existing traps reshaped into what he describes as ‘curvelinear’ shapes, making them more visually appealing and improving sightlines into greens.
The 494-yard, par-5 5th is now arguably the course’s signature hole, with five new bunkers, including a trio of diagonal cross-bunkers dotting the fairway where many players would traditionally land their approach shots. Up at the green, the two bunkers guarding the front have been reshaped to make them more of a feature, as well as trap those who under-club their approach.
New tees are also being created at Kingswood Golf and Country Club as part of the project, increasing the length of the course from the championship tees to 6,960 yards.
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