Success reflects the growing demand for Golf Courses, which provide enjoyment and test the skills of golfers of all abilities
Irish Golf Course designer, Jeff Howes Golf Design, has landed a number of prestigious European contracts with commissions including Talentis in Hungary, Hafjell GK in Norway and GC Adamstal in Austria. Jeff Howes Golf Design was established by Jeff Howes in 1991 in Kilkenny, the company has grown hugely successful, employing a highly qualified team of experts which design golf courses throughout Europe.
Jeff first came to prominence for his work on Kilkenny’s renowned Mount Juliet Golf Course where he was Jack Nicklaus’s Design Co-ordinator. Jeff had previously graduated with a Degree in Physical Geography, a Diploma in Turfgrass Management and had managed and supervised several projects in Japan and Thailand. He also worked with the highly-regarded Robert Trent Jones course Kananuskis in Canada.
"Mount Juliet was essentially the reason why I came and fell in love with Ireland" says Jeff. "It was a huge opportunity to work on this with Jack and I was delighted to be asked to do further work on the putting greens before the 2002 AMEX. And having Tiger Woods described the greens as the best he had putted on was a huge highlight for me".
A Jeff Howes golf course is unique and constructed for pleasure and durability in a manner sympathetic to its environment. "First and foremost", says Jeff, "I design to give the maximum pleasure to the greatest number of people for all grades of golf. Secondly, I make it a priority to incorporate the flow of a particular piece of land into my designs and thirdly, I always aim to design a course which will stand the test of time".
Jeff also sets out to challenge all golf abilities, including those of the pros. "The pro’s expect the courses they play to all be pretty much the same in terms of green speed, rough length and manicuring", says Jeff. "This tends to reduce the uniqueness that a particular course has to offer and I think it is making golf less attractive to the spectator. Perhaps the pro-tours should consult more with the course architects and try to get more variety from week to week".
Other highlights of work undertaken in Ireland by the Jeff Howes Golf Design team include; the Heritage Golf and Country Club, Co. Laois – a co-design with Seve Ballesteros, the re-design of Fota Island, Cork which hosted the Irish Open in 2001 and 2002 and Gowran Park Golf Course, Co. Kilkenny, which was a particular challenge designing the golf course in and around the existing horse racetrack. Current Irish projects include the Farnham Estate Golf Club, Radisson SAS, Cavan, Tramore Golf Club, Waterford, the Carrig Glas Golf Club, Longford, a co-design with Retief Goosen as well as other designs in Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Kildare, Cavan, Longford and Carlow.
International Jeff Howes golf course designs include; Golf Club Adamstal and Golf Club Föhrenwald of Austria and Thunersee Golf Course of Switzerland. Golf course designs currently under construction can be found in Austria, Norway and Hungary.
Jeff Howes Golf Design will be exhibiting at this year’s Fairway Golf Conference 2006 in the new Munich Trade Fair Centre, Germany from Friday (Sept. 29th) to Sunday (Oct. 1st).
The multi-national and multi-disciplinary Jeff Howes Golf Design team hail from Canada, Sweden, Germany and Ireland. Qualifications include Graphic Design, Architecture, Surveying, Cartography, IT and Greenkeeping. Jeff Howes and the Jeff Howes Golf Design team are all in membership of the European Institute of Golf Course Architects (EIGCA). Jeff Howes is also a member of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) and Golf Course Superintendents Association of Ireland (GCSAI). For further information contact Jeff Howes Golf Design, Barrack Street, Kilkenny, Ireland on +353 (0)56 7756622/3 E-Mail: jeffhowes@jhgd.com or see www.jhgd.com.
Contact:
Mary Tallent
Purcell Masterson Associates on +353 56 7723211/ 86 3010209
mary@purcellmasterson.com
Verena Merle
Jeff Howes Golf Design on +353 87 6432115
verenamerle@jhgd.com