Golfweek’s March issue hit the shelves yesterday honoring The Cliffs at Mountain Park as a Top 100 Modern Course in America.
The golf course made the cut into Golfweek’s sought-after Best 100 Modern Courses in America, and is its most impressive accolade to date. Golfweek’s team of raters placed the Gary Player Signature designed private course in the magazine, released for 2015, alongside the finest in the country. This is the first time any of The Cliffs’ seven championship golf courses have broken through the Top 100.
“The location offered a unique opportunity to create a special course,” said Gary Player. “The design of Mountain Park will offer a wide variety of playing scenarios which provides diversity and interest. By keeping an open mind to the playable characteristics of Mountain Park, you will fully enjoy a new golf experience.”
The design team opted to route the course on the lowest-lying ground straddling the water, instead of using the high road through the uplands overlooking the Saluda River valley. This allowed the river to be used as a strategic element throughout the course while placing the holes on the ground along the flood plain. Each nine starts on wide-open terrain, then goes though narrower ground before opening again.
“Knowing the golf course began as a flat piece of ground, our vision was to enhance the existing topography to produce a low profile, traditional style golf course,” said Senior Designer, Jeff Lawrence. “Random shaping, unique bunkering, strategic value and a traditional look are the key elements and visual strengths of the golf course. The contrast between the white bunker sand, dark green fairways and tan colored native grasses is undoubtedly visually dramatic.”
The Cliffs at Mountain Park has wide fairways, playable native areas, large gently contoured greens and generous collection areas. The intention of playing fast and firm will be accentuated by keeping all playable areas cut as fairway (except tees and greens), thus allowing playing options that will create a fun aspect to Mountain Park. Players must think their way around the golf course, not just get up and rip it. Exceptional green-to-tee connections and gentle contouring encourages walking, so players can embrace the opportunity and enjoy the golf via a walking experience.
The Cliffs at Mountain Park has continued to accumulated accolades since its opening in 2013. GOLF Magazine and Golf Digest gave Mountain Park the honor as one of the Best New Courses of 2013 and 2014. Golfweek recognized the course among the Top 100 Residential Courses of 2015. And since 2013, it has been recognized by the South Carolina Golf Panel as one of the top courses in the state.
ABOUT GARY PLAYER DESIGN
Established by Marc Player in the early 1980s and widely recognized as the most successful international golf course architectural firm in the world, Gary Player Design has branded more than 325 layouts with the mark of a champion. Over its existence, the firm has worked on five continents and in more than 30 countries, and prides itself on taking Gary Player and his design experience to emerging markets to help develop the game of golf globally.
The company offers three tiers of golf course design brands, Black Knight Design™, Player Design™ and Gary Player Signature Design™ – of which Mr. Player is personally involved in each Signature project. The cornerstone of Gary Player’s design approach is to create playable and memorable golf courses within the constraints of a given site, while being ultra-sensitive to the surrounding environment.
The result is a portfolio of award-winning and environmentally-recognized courses around the world, including the Top 3 Courses in South Africa and a multitude of Asian awards – most notably the Best Golf Course in both Hong Kong and Indonesia. The company’s portfolio includes nine Gary Player-branded golf courses in China, eight in the Philippines, twelve in Japan, four in Korea, as well as others in Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and India.
Gary Player Design has both existing and active projects in Greece, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, the Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Cypress, as well in the Middle East in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Oman, Qatar and Morocco.
Multiple rankings have also been received in the US by Golf Digest and Golf Magazine, and several courses have been certified by the Audubon International for environmental stewardship. With projects under construction in Canada, Mexico and the United States, Gary Player Design lays claim to 45 golf courses in North America.
Marc Player is the Chief Executive of Black Knight International, the holding company of The Player Group, of which Gary Player Design is an operating division. Presently the design company has more than 60 projects around the world in the design and construction phase, including five that opened in 2010.
For further information and/or a listing of awards, contact Scott Ferrell at +1 864 477-2720 or visit www.garyplayerdesign.com.
Contact:
Bo Wood, Gary Player Group
Tel: 864-477-2720
Email: b.wood@garyplayer.com
Spencer Castillo, Castillo & Ruig
Tel: 310-664-8843
Email: scastillo@discovercrc.com
