Tianjin Binhai Lake’s Pete Dye course features 10 lakefront holes
(SCOTTSDALE, AZ) – Schmidt-Curley Design – one of golf’s most active and innovative design firms – announces the Pete Dye Course at Tianjin Binhai Lake will host the European Tour’s Volvo China Open for the first time, April 19-22.
Situated 50 miles southeast of Beijing, the par-72, 7,577-yard course sits on a windswept peninsula and boasts 10 waterfront holes. A man-made lake that previously occupied the site was drained and excavated to make construction possible.
Course hallmarks include generous playing corridors and small, undulating greens protected by a number of sleeper-faced bunkers, a Dye trademark. It has been named one of China’s “Top 10 Most Outstanding Golf Courses” by Golf Vacations Magazine, and “2011 China Top 10 New Golf Course” by GOLF Magazine.
“Pete has been a friend and mentor to us for more than 60 years combined,” says Brian Curley, co-founder with Lee Schmidt in 1997. “His approach to all aspects of the course design business made an enormous impression and has been a significant catalyst for our success.”
Former Ryder Cup players Ian Poulter and Paul Casey, as well as defending champion Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium, are among those scheduled to vie for the US$3 million purse.
Tianjin Binhai Lake is the fourth Schmidt-Curley credit to host a premier professional golf tournament in 2012. It joins the Old Course at Siam C.C. (Honda LPGA Thailand 2012), Vintage Course at Mission Hills Hainan (LET’s World Ladies Championship) and Wildfire Golf Club at JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa (LPGA’s RR Donnelley’s Founders Cup).
In October, the firm’s Blackstone Course at Mission Hills Hainan will be site of the World Celebrity Pro-Am, Asia’s preeminent international event for golfers, athletes and celebrities. Highly-ranked by GOLF Magazine, Asian Golf Monthly and others, it garnered great acclaim from Tour stars at last fall’s World Cup of Golf.
For more information: www.schmidt-curley.com, http://twitter.com/SchmidtCurley, http://www.facebook.com/SchmidtCurley, 480.483.1994.
To view select project images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/60163396@N04/.
About Schmidt-Curley Design
Founded in 1997 by partners Lee Schmidt and Brian Curley, Schmidt-Curley Design (www.schmidt-curley.com) is a full-service, international golf course architecture and master-planning firm. The tandem — leading fully-staffed offices in the USA (Scottsdale, Arizona) and China (Haikou, Hainan Island and Kunming) — has been named GOLF Magazine’s “Architect of the Year” and Asian Golf Monthly’s “Best Golf Course Architects.”
Schmidt-Curley has designed more than 150 layouts in 25 countries. High-profile credits include 10 of the 12 courses at storied Mission Hills Shenzhen — the “World’s Largest Golf Club” — and all 10 at Mission Hills’ new Hainan Island resort. Mission Hills Hainan’s Lava Fields Course is the only Chinese design ranked among Golf World’s “Top 100,” and was named GOLF Magazine’s “Best New International Course” of 2011.
Other award-winning results include Mission Hills Hainan’s Blackstone Course; Thailand’s Siam C.C. and Amata Spring G.C.; Southern Dunes G.C. (Arizona, USA); The Wilderness Club (Montana, USA) and French Lick Resort’s Donald Ross Course (Indiana, USA). The recently unveiled 54-hole Stone Forest International C.C. near Kunming is also garnering global acclaim.
Schmidt-Curley has worked extensively with golf’s biggest names — including Pete Dye, Nick Faldo, Jack Nicklaus and Fred Couples on numerous noteworthy projects — and boasts five ASGCA members (Schmidt, 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
