Singapore: Tanah Merah Country Club (TMCC) has appointed Robert Trent Jones II (RTJ II) to revamp its Garden Course.
At the 35th annual general meeting of the Asian Golf Industry Federation Golf Course Facility Member in April, Ho Beng Huat confirmed that the Club was planning to redevelop the Garden Course ‘as further land will be acquired by the authorities for the expansion of the East Coast Parkway, which runs parallel to the Garden Course’.
Since the middle of last year, the Club conducted a tender exercise with a select group of renowned golf course designers, in search of exciting new designs to completely redevelop the Garden Course, said TMCC President Ho
“After an extensive process, we are pleased to announce that Robert Trent Jones II has been appointed to redesign our beloved Garden Course,” said a TMCC statement.
RTJ II is now in the process of finalising its design for the Garden Course, which would see it being completely redeveloped as a par-71, 18-hole course with a length of 6,008 metres.
The new Garden Course will see gently undulating fairways and greens, with long sweeping lines running throughout the golf course.
TMCC said the Garden Course redevelopment project will take 12 months to complete and is tentatively scheduled to commence in January, 2019.
Previously, the Garden Course staged the Johnnie Walker Classic, the Singapore Open, Lexus Cup and the HSBC Women’s Champions.
Originally designed by Thomson, Wolveridge, Fream and Associates in 1984, and renovated by Max Wexler in 1990, the Garden Course was redesigned by Phil Jacobs in 2004.
Opened for play in 2006, the new Garden Course retained its unique feature of lakes surrounded by mature trees, multi-hued flowers and tropical foliage.
In 2015, the Garden Course was reconfigured to a par-70. It was the course’s third makeover but this time, unlike the previous two occasions, the necessary change was due to the Singapore Government’s acquisition of 10 hectares of the club land for expansion of Changi Airport.