Thomson Perrett & Lobb to design a classic championship layout on Carya’s sand hills
(London, England – July 25, 2006) Thomson Perrett & Lobb, the international golf course architecture practice founded by five times Open Champion Peter Thomson with partners Ross Perrett and Tim Lobb, is to create a classic, heathland style course on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.
The Carya Golf Club in Belek Tourism Centre, Antalya, will be a championship golf course set on undulating sand hills and cutting through mature pine and eucalyptus forest.
Peter Thomson, the five-times Open Champion who celebrated the 50th anniversary of his Open victory at Royal Liverpool Golf Club this year, said: "This is an exceptional piece of land on which to build a golf course. It is reminiscent of the famous Surrey heathland courses near London that I rate among the world’s best and which I was fortunate to enjoy much success on in my playing days. So I am very excited about the prospect of TPL creating a classic, traditional style course in Turkey."
The 96-hectare site is just 200 metres from a beach. The sandy terrain will enable the course to be constructed with minimal disruption to the environment.
Course designer Tim Lobb said: "What will set this course apart is its traditional and classic style. It’s one of the best pieces of land I have seen in the region, with a sand ridge that will feature on numerous holes. The area is heavily forested with corridors of trees through which we will run holes, plus spectacular pine and eucalyptus that will become an integral part of the course strategy. It’s an outstanding site that enables us to create a free flowing, expansive and highly natural course."
TPL beat off bids from six international practices to win the contract from Turkish developers Carya Turizm Yatirimlari. A clubhouse with practice facility and training holes will be added and linked to a new five-star hotel plus luxury villas. Significant attention will be paid to minimising disruption to the environment.
Ross Perrett, landscape architect as well as respected course designer, added: "TPL takes a holistic approach to design where we respect the land and strive to bring the golf course to life with creative flair and imagination. In the case of Carya, sound environmental golf course design will result in the long term sustainability and ultimate success of the development."
Design work on the new course is already underway, with construction due to start in Autumn 2006. The opening date is November 2007.
Mithat Yenigun, chairman of Carya Turizm Yatirimlari, who signed contracts with Peter Thomson at Royal Liverpool during the Open, said: "We decided to work with TPL for two reasons. Firstly, Peter Thomson, a golfing legend and master course designer would be helping create and promote our course; secondly, we value the experience of Tim Lobb, his work in this region and the quality of his course designs.
"This is an outstanding piece of land and we believe that TPL will make Carya Golf Club the best golf course in Turkey. We look forward to welcoming international golfers to the course, five-star hotel and luxury villas later next year."
Pictured above: Tim Lobb (far left) and Peter Thomson (centre) with representatives of Carya Golf Club outside the clubhouse of Royal Liverpool GC during the Open Championship.
Peter Thomson OA, CBE
Peter Thomson is one of the greatest professional golfers of all time. During a playing career that spanned five decades, he won more than 100 tournaments worldwide. But it is for his remarkable record in the Open Championship that he is best known. One of only four men to have lifted the Claret Jug five times (J H Taylor, James Braid and Tom Watson being the others), Thomson dominated the Championship during a seven-year spell from 1952, winning it four times (three times in succession) and never finishing worse than second. His fifth victory came in 1965.
His appreciation of the seaside links courses upon which the Open is traditionally played emanated from his golfing education on Melbourne’s magnificent sand belt courses. This experience, plus his instinctive feel for landforms and an architect’s eye for detail, sets him apart as a course designer. Many of his works are inspired by the great links, with naturally routed holes, distinctively shaped greens and deliberate bunkering that results in an exhilarating and creative golfing challenge.
Peter Thomson is a golf pioneer, too. During the 1960s and 1970s, he introduced golf to South East Asia and Japan, and played a leading role in establishing professional tournament circuits there. Many of the finest courses in the region – from that era, to the great new developments of today – have been designed by Peter Thomson and his company.
Ross Perrett
Ross is President of the Society of Australian Golf Course Architects and is a leading proponent for environmental awareness in golf development.
Before joining Peter Thomson’s company in 1988, he established his own architecture and landscape architecture practice in Melbourne specialising in major land developments such as golf resorts and housing estates. Admired for his course design skills, Ross maintains a lead role in the master planning of the many resort and residential golf projects Thomson Perrett & Lobb manages.
Tim Lobb
Australian Tim Lobb has been based in Europe since 1998, when he joined European Golf Design as a senior golf course designer. During six years with the firm, he was responsible for designing internationally acclaimed courses and resort developments in Ireland, Turkey, Finland, Portugal, Spain, Russia, Bulgaria, England, Wales, St Kitts & Nevis and the Czech Republic.
Tim has built a strong reputation for his professional project delivery and creativity in design. Tim heads up the London office of Thomson Perrett & Lobb and is an associate of the European Institute of Golf Course Architects.
Contact:
Thomson Perrett & Lobb
For more information contact Tim Lobb on
tel +44 (0)1483 270 190
e-mail tlobb@tpl.eu.com or visit www.tpl.eu.com
Landmark Media
For interview opportunities and images, contact Gary Firkins on
tel +44 (0)1780 752 790
e-mail gary@landmark-media.com
