Based in the heathlands of England, European Golf Design is the golf course design partnership of IMG and the European Tour. It was set-up, essentially, to streamline the practice of creating courses on behalf of celebrity ‘signature’ golfers. Where Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, Gary Player, Arnold Palmer etc have their own offices working on courses bearing their name, EGD have instead established what might be deemed a design 'factory', which produces golf courses that can be assigned to any one of the stars in the IMG stable.
In our view, most of their work is unremarkable. European Golf Design’s services seem best suited to those developers for whom the marketing pull of associating with a celebrity golfer is important, be it to help them sell real estate or hotel rooms. In many regions attaching a famous golf name to a project will clearly raise the profile of a new course, and help to attract positive media attention. Thankfully this isn't always the case, and in our view a great golf course is always your strongest selling point, which is why we recommend that developers focus squarely on quality course design.
For developers considering their golf course requirements and interested in the concept of ‘signature’ design, we suggest you speak with the Global Golf Group about the various options available and to discuss co-design between a Quality Architect and an appropriate celebrity golfer. Contact Global Golf Group for more information.