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In December, Rick Robbins, ASGCA, was asked to serve as a member of the Triangle Region chapter of The First Tee, a program that uses golf as a way to introduce life skills to youth groups, many of which would not otherwise have access to golf facilities. Rick had previously donated his time to design a First Tee practice facility for the Charlotte, NC chapter in the 1990's and was honored to be asked to serve on the board of his home region. According to Rick, "I feel like golf has provided me with some of my greatest life experiences as well as providing me with a profession I have loved for over 38 years, and I hope this is a chance to pay something back to the game."

All of the holes on the Lake and Maple Nines have been shaped and work is progressing on the Forest Nine now. The site seems to become more spectacular each time I make a site visit. The Maple and Forest Nines have holes at the higher elevations on the property at about 550 meters at #5 green of the Maple Nine and about the same at #8 tee on the Forest Nine.

Work is progressing very well with sand capping starting on the Lake Nine. During my most recent visit, the dam for the large reservoir on site was closed and water is now being impounded. By August, there will be enough water to allow for irrigation of the course for grow-in. The clubhouse construction also seems to be progressing at a good pace so that the first 18 holes of the course and club facilities will be able to open together in October.

Located in the heart of the city of Wuhan, in Hubei Province, this course will be part of a new development area of the city that will have many new high-tech and research facilities nearby. The property is ideal for golf with gently rolling terrain over much of the property that had a golf course on it in the past. A mountain ridge forms the entire north boundary of the property providing great south facing views and the opportunity to create a few holes with significant elevation changes. The style of the course will be a classic type, parkland design that will resemble the designs of Dr. Alistair McKenzie.

Plans are complete for the golf course construction. A contractor bid conference was held in June with 5 very experienced bidders present for the conference, attended by the architect and owner' representatives. Final negotiations are now under way to select the contractor and work should be able to begin within the next 2 weeks. We are happy to be working with IMG on this project as they will provide management and agronomic oversight to the owners along with assistance with staging a planned tournament.

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.