LISBON, Portugal – Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest & Associates (AHSF) has announced it will present Pedro Figueiredo with the firm’s first Amateur Golfing Scholarship, to be awarded annually to an outstanding amateur player who exhibits the same core values – integrity, passion, fun, teamwork and creativity – embodied by the team at AHSF.
Furthering AHSF’s commitment to amateur golf around the world, the Portuguese Golf Federation (PGF) announced that AHSF has also agreed to assist in the design and construction supervision of Jamor Golf, a public, 18-hole golf course and practice facility in the heart of Lisbon, that will also serve as a PGF’s national training center.
“We’re donating our services to the Jamor Golf Project because we feel strongly that everyone in golf has an obligation to help grow the game worldwide,” said Drew Rogers, a partner with Hills/Forrest, which administers European operations from its office outside Brussels, Belgium. “What better way to do it than supporting amateur golf at the individual, grass-roots level? We strive for excellence in our course design work and we want to have similar impact on people who aspire to excellence in other areas of the game. That’s why we’re involved in the Jamor Golf Project, and that’s why we extending our support to amateur golfing scholars, starting with Pedro.”
As an AHSF Amateur Golfing Scholar, 14-year-old Figueiredo will receive travel and training support courtesy of Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest and Associates. A four-time national age-group champion in his native Portugal, Figueiredo has emerged as one of Europe’s finest junior competitors. He plays off a +0.1 at his home course, Clube Quinta do Peru in Azeitao, but he made a wider name for himself in 2005 by winning the prestigious Kendal Cup, the South Wales Boys Stroke Play Championship, and the International Andaluzia (an event for players 21 years of age or younger). Figueiredo also reached the quarterfinals at this year’s British Boys Amateur, a sub-18 tournament.
“Of course, we’ve made sure our support is applied in such a way that it does not negatively impact Pedro’s amateur status,” said Quentin Lutz, AHSF vice president of global business development. “Pedro’s a terrific young man – and he can play. We’re looking forward to following his career for many years to come.”
In choosing future amateur golfing scholars, AHSF has indicated it will continue to consider candidates worldwide, as the firm currently has more than 40 separate design projects underway in North America, Europe and Asia. Indeed, Hills/Forrest got to know Pedro Figueiredo – and got involved with the Jamor Golf Project – on account of its ongoing design work in Portugal. In 2002, the firm unveiled Oitavos Golfe, a resort gem in Cascais that played host to the European PGA Tour’s Portuguese Open in 2005; this fall, Hills/Forrest will break ground on a thorough renovation of Estoril Golf Club, one of the country’s oldest and most prestigious courses (20 times a host to the Portuguese Open).
“Because so much of the golf in Portugual is entirely focused toward the tourism industry, the cost of playing golf is somewhat prohibitive to many people in Portugal,” explains Drew Rogers, the AHSF partner who led design efforts at Oitavos Golfe and is overseeing the firm’s work at Estoril. “It’s clear the Portuguese Golf Federation is serious about growing the game here, promoting it and making it more accessible. The Jamor Golf project will do all these things. Naturally, we are eager to help in any way we can.”
The Jamor Golf Project was conceived two years ago when the PGF formed a technical committee to explore the idea of creating a 9-hole public course and academy in Lisbon, on the site of an existence golf practice facility. In 2005, the PGF was able to acquire more land, enabling construction of a full 18-hole course and training center.
Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest and Associates agreed to provide design consulting at no charge. Construction bids will go out this spring and ground could be broken as early as September, according to PGF Director Manuel Agrellos.
“The Federation needs such a venture in order that golf become more popular with the Portuguese people,” Agrellos explained. “The Federation will not only utilize this course as its national training center – this facility will make golf affordable to everybody. The Federation also believes the Jamor Golf Project will serve as an example for others to follow, where private promoters work together with municipalities to develop new, public courses that will help make golf a true national sport.
“Arthur Hills and his company have generously donated their expertise to this effort. We applaud their vision.”
| Hills/Forrest to refurbish historic Estoril Golf Course | |
ESTORIL, Portugal – Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest & Associates will break ground this September on a thorough renovation of historic Estoril Golf Club, one of Portugal's most prestigious resort and tournament courses.
Under the direction of partner Drew Rogers, designer of the celebrated Oitavos Golfe Quinta da Marinha in nearby Cascais, Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest and Associates (AHSF) will author major improvements to the Estoril layout: restoring all 18 putting surfaces, rebuilding every bunker on the course, and installing state–of–the–art irrigation systems. AHSF will also reduce the 27–hole Estoril layout to 18, thereby allowing construction of a modern practice facility and several residential properties.
”This is one of the finest golf courses in all of Portugal and Spain, but today the playing conditions fail to meet that high standard,” said Drew Rogers, a partner with AHSF, which has designed 180 courses worldwide and renovated 120 others, including contributing renovation work on three U.S. Open venues. “The design and routing strategies at Estoril are wonderful but the bunkers, tees and greens haven't really been touched in 60 years. It's a tired golf course where the features and infrastructure need to be restored and upgraded, not changed.”
Estoril Golf Club is owned by Estoril Plage, which also owns the Hotel Palacio, a 5–star luxury hotel in the resort village of Estoril. Guests of the hotel enjoy access to the private club.
The championship 18 at Estoril was designed in 1938 by Philip Mackenzie Ross, the Scottish architect responsible for Turnberry. Frank Pennink designed a third nine here in 1965. In addition to hosting the European PGA Tour's Portuguese Open on 20 separate occasions, Estoril has for 62 years been home to the International Amateur Championship.
The refurbishment of Estoril is in good hands, as Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest and Associates is one of golf's most trusted course renovators. The firm has assisted in the preparation of three layouts for U.S. Open Championships: Inverness in Toledo, Ohio; Oakland Hills in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.; and Oakmont near Pittsburgh, Pa. At Estoril, AHSF will be equally mindful of preserving the layout's inherent charms.
"We're going to be very sensitive of the original design here, which is both intriguing and attractive," Rogers said. "The bunkering and green contours are very good. The holes are routed in very interesting manner – through a dense forest of eucalyptus, pine and mimosa trees, over some lovely terrain.
"This course doesn't need major design changes, but it does need major physical improvements,” Rogers continued. “The new drainage and irrigation systems will radically improve the turf conditions – that's what players will notice first, along with the green surfaces, which will be rebuilt to USGA [United States Golf Association] specifications. We're going to rebuild the bunkers with new faces, new sand and modern drainage capabilities. We're going to move the cart paths out of view and redo all the tees boxes.
Rogers says the design team has the opportunity to lengthen several holes on the course, which is currently only 5,811 yards; however, he added that the existing design will not be greatly altered. “The greens are nicely sized and the contouring is intriguing,” he said. “There are some great bunkers out there and wonderful features that can't be improved upon – there's a punchbowl green at what is now the par–3 8th that has to be on the list of the most unique greens I've ever seen. What we're planning to do is bring all the course features, along with the playing conditions, up to the same high standard.”
The AHSF master plan for Estoril involves the elimination of 9 holes – most of them from the Pennink nine – to make way for the new practice facility and residential lots. It was a difficult decision for Estoril Plage, but the best portions of Estoril have been preserved, Rogers said, while several awkward holes on the property's hillsides will make better home sites.
Estoril Plage made another difficult decision in advance of groundbreaking – to close the club completely when construction begins this fall. "Closing a club down for renovation is always a difficult decision, but it's usually the right one," says Rogers. "It's more economical to get the work done all at once and reopen in a year's time, as opposed to phasing a job over the course of several years. When you phase a job, it's difficult to maintain a consistency of construction. This critical element is enabled when construction operations are conducted in a single phase.
"During our construction, the owners are also confident that they can provide alternate golfing venues for members and hotel guests at nearby courses, including Oitavos."
Rogers said the popularity of AHSF's design at Oitavos Golfe – the course opened in 2002, was immediately hailed as Europe's top new layout, then hosted the Portuguese Open in 2005 – played a major role in Hills/Forrest being chosen to renovate Estoril GC.
"The success and market position of Oitavos have certainly been a motor of sorts for other opportunities in Portugal," Rogers said. "We're fortunate that Oitavos was our first project here because it's made a big splash and that's proved a good calling card for our firm. We're confident that our work at Estoril will only reinforce our reputation here." |
