Award-winning firm continues dynamic activity on Hainan Island
(SCOTTSDALE, AZ) — Schmidt-Curley Design — one of the world’s most active and innovative golf course design firms — announces the B Course at Clearwater Bay Golf Club in Lingshui, China has opened for play.
It is Schmidt-Curley’s second design at Clearwater Bay for the Agile Group, one of China’s leading property developers. The par-72, 7,035-yard layout is Schmidt-Curley’s 13th course to debut on Hainan Island, epicenter of the Chinese golf course construction boom, since 2009.
Set on terrain dotted by picturesque lakes and groves of stately coconut palms, the B Course features a variety of bunker styles. They include steep, grass-faced, sandy waste areas and a number of penal pot bunkers. Water also comes into play on nine holes.
“The B Course has a unique look that relatively few projects in China have embraced,” says Lee Schmidt, who co-founded Schmidt-Curley Design with Brian Curley in 1997. “Despite the prevalence of hazards, it’s a design players of all abilities will enjoy. We were sure to provide plenty of width to playing corridors, and bunkers are typically flat-bottomed giving them more bark than bite.”
Two short par fours are highlights. Players who challenge a bunker and lake down the right side of the 380-yard third hole will be rewarded with a short pitch to the green. Those who select a safer line off the tee will be left with an exacting approach, especially when the pin is back right.
Hole No. 15 is a 337-yard par four with an exceptionally generous landing area. The putting surface, however, is perched three meters above the fairway and protected by deep bunkers and grass hollows.
The B Course ideally complements Clearwater Bay’s par-72, 7,333-yard A Course. Opened in 2009, it is characterized by high-flashed bunkers and several windswept, seaside holes.
Architect of record for all 10 golf courses at the new Mission Hills Hainan — host of this fall’s Omega Mission Hills World Cup — Schmidt-Curley has two fully-staffed Asian offices (Haikou and Kunming, China) in addition to its Scottsdale, AZ, USA headquarters. This promotes quicker mobilization, lower travel costs and other valuable advantages over competitors.
Acclaim for the firm includes consistently high finishes in Asian Golf Monthly’s “Best Golf Course Architect” rankings, and recent recognition from Golf Inc. magazine as one of the world’s four “most influential” design companies.
For more information, visit www.schmidt-curley.com, http://twitter.com/SchmidtCurley or call 480.483.1994. To view select project images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/60163396@N04/.
About Schmidt-Curley Design
Founded by partners Lee Schmidt and Brian Curley with offices in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA; Haikou, Hainan Island, China and Kunming, China, Schmidt-Curley is a full-service, international golf course architecture and master-planning firm with more than 100 layouts in 24 countries. The tandem is responsible for crafting 10 of the 12 courses at storied Mission Hills Shenzhen — the “World’s Largest Golf Club” — and designed and built all 10 golf courses at Mission Hills’ new Hainan Island resort. Schmidt-Curley’s recently unveiled 54-hole Stone Forest International C.C. near Kunming is also garnering global acclaim.
Other high profile, award-winning projects from Schmidt-Curley include Bali Hai and Siena Golf Clubs (Las Vegas), Amata Spring Golf Club (Chonburi, Thailand, four-time host of the PGA European Tour’s Royal Trophy), Terra Lago Golf Club (Indio, California, site of the Skins Game from 1999 – 2002), Twin Creeks Golf Club (Cedar Park, Texas) and Crosby National Golf Club (Rancho Santa Fe, California).
Schmidt-Curley has also worked extensively with golf’s biggest names — including Pete Dye, Nick Faldo, Jack Nicklaus and Fred Couples on numerous high-profile projects — and boasts five ASGCA members (Lee Schmidt, Brian Curley, Grant Haserot, Andy Raugust and Shane Witcombe).
Producing demanding yet beautiful and enjoyable courses, Schmidt-Curley strives to create golf experiences that stir the senses and elevate golfers’ appreciations for the land and the game. By balancing classic golf course architecture with ever-changing contemporary technology, Schmidt-Curley places an emphasis on site-adaptive courses, memorable and satisfying for all levels of play and always designed for cost-efficient maintenance and operations.
Contact:
Stephen Reynolds
Buffalo Communications
703.891.3509
sreynolds@buffalocommunications.com
www.buffalocommunications.com
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