There was a time—the ‘70s and ‘80s—when golf course designers built their courses in incongruous settings. They looked like perfect, transplanted landscapes, which bore no relation to the surrounding terrain. But it was tremendously expensive.
A links course is, by definition, moulded from the natural terrain, so it’s easier to maintain. Typically, it hugs a coastline, though some are inland, like the Golden Greens Resort near Gurgaon. “Golf course design is all about recreating nature. If you divorce nature, you lose the aesthetics of the course.”
One of the greatest environmentalist complaints has been water conservation— golf courses are enormously thirsty. It’s an issue that’s particularly key in India. “With most courses planning for resorts, hotels and housing estates, there is obviously more water use,” says Bagga. “And that means more domestic effluent. So, if that can be recycled through a sewage treatment plant, it can be used on the course.” It’s a win-win all round—less water is wasted and the nutrient-heavy discharge is perfect for turf maintenance. Even players benefit from water conservation. “Look at the bigger bunkers you see these days,” says Bagga. “Not only do they reduce water use and maintenance costs, but they also create visual fear for the player.”
This is what Bagga calls “integrity of design”—marrying environmental concerns with the additional imperative of creating challenges for the player. It’s his guiding philosophy when it comes to positioning bunkers, rough areas, swales and multi-sloping greens.
“Architects are more sensitive to the environment because governments are forcing them to,” he says. Today, we know how to spell ‘environment’.
