Destination Golf Global (Spring 2020) * | Page 55

“Golf is as much a mental game as it is physical, and so we aim to create courses that encourage players to think and then decide on the best angle of approach.” — Sir Nick Faldo Golf courses in 20 different countries, winner of six majors, and a net worth of $60 million, delve right into the design world created by Sir Nick Faldo. Andrew Haggar, lead architect at Faldo Design, gives us an exclusive insight into the man behind the award-winning design firm. Established in 1991, the most successful European golfer in history takes his experience from the course to create some of the world’s top golf courses. Q: What does Faldo Design bring that’s different to other design companies? Put simply, it must be Sir Nick Faldo! It’s a unique offering Faldo Design has – the design input of a six-time major champion who understands golf course design and has, what I call, a ‘design brain’, as well as golf course architects who are creative, imaginative, and match Sir Nick’s drive to achieve the highest quality. Sir Nick has a very broad and in-depth knowledge of golf, which makes his involvement in any golf course project beneficial. His experiences from a career in golf, as a player and of courses themselves, is a near-endless resource that he and his experienced golf architects are able to tap into whilst developing high-quality golf course designs. Q: How did your career in golf design begin? At the age of 16, whilst deciding whether to stay on at school or not, I saw an advert in a golf magazine from a golf course design company and that was it. I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I was very keen on golf, art, and design, so I figured that golf course design could be the perfect career for me. olfing Legend Sir Nick Faldo plays one of his signature courses After completing my A-levels and graduating with a degree in Landscape Architecture, I went to work for a multi-disciplinary company of architects, civil engineers, landscape architects, and also golf course architects, who were designing golf courses for the European Tour at the time. After two and a half years there, I went to work for European Golf Design, where I completed my professional qualification as a Landscape Architect and worked for 11 years, before joining Faldo Design. Since then I’ve never looked back.