News

Even with a short construction season (late April to November), the work at China Maple is progressing very well. The holes on the Lake Nine were seeded last summer and much of the sand capping and finish work for the Maple Nine was also completed. There are only a few holes left to be final shaped on the Forest Nine in the spring so the entire 27-hole facility should be ready to open by fall of this year.

Construction of the clubhouse and entertainment center is now complete with the entertainment center building (photo on right) opening in October of last year. This unique building has a river flowing through it with a glass floor in the entry area to allow visitors to view the water. The basic building design concept plans were done by the project owner.

In late summer and fall of 2011, a complete renovation of the bunkers and drainage system was accomplished at this 1960's era private club just south of Des Moines, Iowa. Robbins & Associates had been retained in 2003 to design a 3rd nine holes and new practice range (The Ridge Nine) to expand and update the golf facility at Echo Valley. The owners felt that issues with flooding and drainage on holes along a creek that runs through the Vale and Creek Nines needed to be addressed so the course could be back in play sooner after a flood event. The most evident changes were the complete re-shaping of the 3rd and 7th holes and a new pond was added to the par 3, #7.

While the drainage work was being done to minimize flood damage, the owner took the opportunity to complete the cart path system so it is continuous on all 9 holes, re-shape and renovate all bunkers, put in a new main line for the irrigation system and several other minor changes that improved the Vale Nine. If everything proceeds as planned, we will complete the entire golf course this summer by performing a similar scope of work to the Creek Nine.

The grow-in and completion of final details are now under way at this new course on the west coast of Hainan Island. Developed by Hainan Airlines and constructed by Joy Golf Management, this course will be the center-piece for a new resort that will eventually have 54 holes of championship golf.

As fits the climate of the region, the course is a tropical design style with many palm trees and lush, colorful landscaping. The fairways are very wide to allow for the relatively constant wind. The site did not have very much elevation change so the shaping of bunker edges and fairway level changes was made sharper than normal to give good contrast. The course is scheduled to open around September of this year.

In early December, the construction of the new nine-hole, par 3 course and short game practice facility was finished. This project is part of a major golf training base for The Shanghai Golf Association, headed by David Wang, a long-time friend of Rick Robbins'. The facility already includes a state-of-the-art driving range that includes a restaurant, private range access rooms, pro shop, conference room and other facilities. Since the opening of the practice range last year, the facility has been used to begin training young students from area schools in addition to regular golfers.

With the completion of the new par 3 course and short game area that has a chipping green, sand play area and putting green, students will have a place to work on all aspects of their game. Being located in the newly developing Waigaoqiao District of Shanghai, it is accessible to many people by train, highways and the subway.

Scheduled to start later this year is a full championship golf course that will eventually host the Shanghai Open golf tournament. Routing plans have already been started and several of the planned lakes and canals that will form the main drainage function for the area have been dug. "I am very excited about this project for many reasons" stated Rick Robbins. "Being located in such a highly visible place as Shanghai is very good for marketing but even better for me personally is the opportunity to help create a new facility that will play a part in the growth of golf for many kids in China", Rick continued. "The long-term growth of golf as a popular sport in China will depend on access by the younger generation to places like this to learn the game."