How Today’s Technology is Impacting Golf Course Design Communication
Click the arrow to compare the existing conditions with the proposed design.
One of the fundamental challenges in golf course architecture is communicating a vision for something that does not yet exist.
Plans and drawings are essential to the design and construction process, but they don’t always translate easily for club members and other stakeholders. An architect may immediately understand what a bunker renovation, tree removal program or new strategic feature will mean for a specific hole. For someone looking at a two-dimensional plan, that vision can be much harder to grasp.
That’s why visualization has always been an important part of our work at Hills•Forrest•Smith.
For decades, we have used photo simulations to illustrate proposed improvements. Showing membership an image of a golf hole as it exists today alongside a realistic representation of what it could become is an effective communication tool. It turns an abstract concept into something people can understand, discuss and get excited about.
Technology advancements are taking that capability to another level, and it’s helping our clients to “see” projects in an entirely new way.
I started seriously experimenting with new tools to improve written communication. Whether developing master plan narratives, letters or client correspondence, I was able to quickly create a starting point that I can refine based on my project and client knowledge.
Next level: Visualization and Movement
More recently, I have begun applying that same technology to visualization, and it is making a positive impact for Hills•Forrest•Smith clients.
Consider a golf hole with a heavily wooded area where the design calls for selective tree removal and the introduction of a sandy waste area. Traditionally, producing a realistic photo simulation could require hours of searching for appropriate images and carefully manipulating them in Photoshop.
We can now help generate that visualization in minutes. I can take a photograph of existing conditions, sketch a proposed bunker or other feature onto the image and use technology to begin developing the “after” view. It does not always interpret the design correctly, which makes the architect’s oversight essential. But the speed at which we can explore, refine and communicate ideas has changed dramatically.
The next evolution is even more intriguing: adding movement.
We have begun taking completed photo simulations and using technology to turn them into short video flythroughs. Instead of viewing a static image of a proposed bunker complex, members can experience a simulated approach showing movement across that feature.
Movement provides perspective that a still image simply cannot.
Combining the latest communication with drone photography could expand that opportunity considerably. Imagine documenting every hole from a consistent flight path at the beginning of a project, then creating corresponding views of the proposed design, construction progress and completed work.
Existing conditions. Proposed improvements. Construction. Final product.
Those stages could ultimately be assembled into a visual record of an entire renovation, while providing clubs with a tool for communicating with their membership throughout the process.
Tools in the Hands of Skilled Architects
There are efficiency benefits as well. Visualization and communication work that once consumed weeks can potentially be condensed into days, allowing the architect to devote more time to evaluating alternatives, refining the design and working directly with the client.
That distinction is important.
Advancements in technology do not replace golf course architecture. It does not replace experience, judgment or an understanding of strategy, playability, aesthetics, agronomy and construction. The architect still determines what should be done and why.
Today’s tools simply give us increasingly powerful ways to help others see that vision.
For golf course architects, perhaps that is the most exciting opportunity: not allowing technology to dictate the design, but using it to communicate our ideas more clearly, efficiently and convincingly than ever before.
And given the pace at which these tools are developing, we are still early in discovering what they can do.
