David Williams Golf Design

David Williams Current Projects Include Three Harry Colt Courses

Among their current on-going project list, David Williams Golf Design, headed by Past President of EIGCA David Williams, has three courses either originally designed or modified by Harry Colt, generally regarded as Europe’s greatest ever golf architect.

The dramatic par 3 seventh hole alongside the River Wear at Wearside Golf Club

DWGD has recently carried out a Course Review and Audit at Wearside Golf Club in the north-east of England as part of an overall Masterplan for the club.  Although the original course was originally designed by Harry Vardon, major changes to the layout and course were undertaken by Harry Colt in the 1920s, and the majority of his design remains to the present day.

Following receipt of the report, Alan Sanders, representing the club commented “Feedback to the masterplan has been 100% positive from the membership, and we are looking forward to putting David’s proposals into action, starting this autumn”.  Although the changes proposed are not dramatic, subtle changes to bunkering, including some new bunkers, will improve the course.

Further south down the east coast of England, DWGD has been commissioned by Grimsby Golf Club to carry out a review and prepare a masterplan for their Harry Colt designed course, which opened in 1922.  Included within the masterplan will be the design of two completely new holes, situated on the banks of the River Freshney to replace two existing holes which may be lost to housing development.

The third project involving a Colt designed course sees David Williams return to Real Golf de Pedreña, near Santander in northern Spain, where DWGD has consulted for the past ten years.  As David states, “We originally produced a masterplan for the course, opened in 1928,  almost ten years ago, and since that time have been gradually implementing that plan, by re-designing and re-building all existing elements on an individual hole – tees, bunkers and greens – on a virtual annual basis.

So far, we have totally re-built seven holes – numbers 3, 5,9, 10, 11, 12 and 18 – and with this autumn’s project of re-building the opening hole and the dramatic par 3 7th hole (generally regarded as the ‘signature hole ‘ of the course), half the course will have been re-built in recent years.”

The totally new – but Colt inspired – par 3 10th hole at Pedreña, built during recent re-building programme

These changes have been extremely well received by members and visitors alike, leading to Pedreña being ranked “No 1 course in Spain” in Leadingcourses.com 2019 review, published in May this year.

David continues, “The club is extremely fortunate in that, as well as the Colt designed 18 hole Championship Course, there is a shorter 9  hole course – designed by the late great Seve Ballesteros, who was so long associated with the club – also starting and finishing close to the clubhouse. When we take a loop of holes out of the Colt course for re-construction, we replace them with a loop from the Ballesteros layout, so members and visitors always have 18 holes in play.”

DWGD have also re-built part of that Ballesteros course, creating two completely new holes last autumn, which opened for play earlier this summer.

He states “We have recently invited tenders for this autumn’s renovation work to the 1st and 7th holes of the Championship Course, and the contract has been awarded to JeriGolf of Jerez, who have worked with DWGD previously, not only at Pedreña but elsewhere in Spain”

Construction is programmed to start in early September, for completion in November.