Jonathan Gaunt has over 20 years experience in golf course design and construction, and is currently working in Macedonia, Czech Republic, UK, Ireland and Morocco on a wide range of golf course projects. EATGOLF! got in touch to find out more.
How many courses have you designed to date?
Since 1987/88 I have designed over 30 courses in UK, Turkey, Denmark, Spain, Czech Republic and Morocco and I currently have another five in design process (to be built 2007 to 2010). I have also been involved in advising over 100 existing clubs throughout UK and continental Europe on reconstruction / restoration and renovation projects.
What was the first course you designed,
and how did the work come about?
In 1987 I was employed as contracts manager for Brian Pierson Contractors Ltd (working firstly on the reconstruction of the Jubilee Course at St Andrews (original Willie Auchterlonie design, with Donald Steel consulting), then bringing the 9-hole short course back into play at St George’s Hill (original Harry Colt design, with Donald Steel consulting). This was excellent grounding for my career.
In Spring 1988 I answered an advert in a trade journal for a job entitled “Contracts Manager / Designer” being offered by Golf Landscapes Ltd, based in Brentwood, Essex. On the second day I was working for them I was on site planning my first design (age 24), the Chesfield Downs Family Golf Centre 1 (then called Jack O’Legs Golf Centre). It was a 6,200 metres length 18- hole course and a 1,000 metres length 9-hole academy course (the ‘Lannock Links’) and driving range. The course changed owners from Clubhaus plc to Crown Golf plc, who maintain it to a very high standard. It has proven to be a commercial success.
How would you describe a Gaunt design?
There are no ‘gimmicks’, ‘signature holes’ or ‘trade marks’ with my golf course design style. I don’t do ‘traditional British’ design, or any other label, for that matter - to me that’s all very false. I have a design style that evolves and develops as I design (by hand before it is scanned / digitized onto computer). Each design is bespoke, developed for each unique site situation.
I don’t have pre-set templates on the computer and I don’t make promises to the client that he’ll get “something like... Augusta, or St Andrews”. I let the site dictate the design, but I allow my own specific ideas as to what good golf design should be to shape the outcome. For me to consider my own design style I suppose I am a perfectionist and you could say I won’t accept second best. I strive to create features on a golf course that look natural to the eye, something that may have been created by thousands of years of wind and rain and ice and snow.
A golf course that I am happy with in design terms is a landscape that doesn’t jar the eye, but still offers a great golfing, sporting challenge. I’d admit that the contours I design do have smooth flowing lines - possibly influenced by life-drawing art classes at school. Who knows? I like to see the shadows on subtle contours on a green or a bunker surround. Also, I find it a major challenge to create a finished surface that controls the flow of water (into a lake or stream, for example), away from the main playing areas. This has a big influence on the design of a golf course.
I have played golf since I was 7 years old and as a teenager it was at UK (Yorkshire) county level, so I’ve maintained a Category 1 handicap now for almost 30 years - this gives me a great starting point for any golf course design. Also, I have worked on golf courses designed by the best golf course architects - Harry S Colt, Alister MacKenzie, Tom Simpson, Herbert Fowler, Willie Auchterlonie, J H Taylor, John Abercrombie, Willie Park, Guy Campbell, Philip MacKenzie Ross, etc., - you cannot fail to be influenced by these masters. I think you may see some of their ideas in my design, but brought up to date. But, I also have a great deal of respect for the work of more contemporary architects - Donald Steel, Robert Trent Jones, Robert Von Hagge, Cabell Robinson, Martin Hawtree, Tom Fazio, Tom Doak, Peter Harradine, along with pro-golfer / designers such as Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Ben Crenshaw.
