Safety Must Come First, Says Swan Golf Designs

London, England: In a sign of what may be to come in Asia, Swan Golf Designs (SGD) is finding that increasing numbers of enquiries from United Kingdom clubs are coming as a result of concerns over the safety of their golf courses.
According to SGD, an Associate Business Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation, many are related to external boundaries which are simply too close to fairways and greens, resulting in serious and often untenable conflict with third party persons and properties.
Equally there are many concerns being expressed over the conflicts internally in play between holes where they may not be adequately separated.
Howard Swan, Principal at SGD, said: “Prevention is certainly better than cure in this instance, and we work hard to ensure that any new courses or holes we design do not create safety concerns, either now or in the foreseeable future.
“However, it is common to find older courses laid out on smaller parcels of land than would be considered appropriate today. They may well suffer from potential safety conflicts that were not apparent at the time of their development, with no obvious solution.
“In these situations it is essential that the risks are properly assessed and evaluated, with measures being put in place to minimise the dangers.
“At SGD we are helping all of our clients to take be proactive in dealing with safety on their golf courses, with the aim of preventing accidents from happening rather than dealing with consequences. The physical and legal costs of such events are well known, with golf clubs risking both financial penalty and damage to their reputation if it is shown that they have not acted responsibly.”