MASTERS CLASSES: HOME OF GOLF LAUNCHES
DEGREE IN GOLF COURSE DESIGN

An internationally acclaimed university in Scotland, the home of golf, is set to offer a Masters Degree in Golf Course Architecture.

The School of Landscape Architecture within Edinburgh College of Art / Heriot Watt University has developed the degree - the first of its kind in Europe. The idea was first conceived in 1996 and is rooted in the belief that the School of Landscape Architecture is well placed to make a contribution to this specialist area of professional expertise.

For Catherine Ward Thompson, who as Head of the School of Landscape Architecture, has played a key role in its development, there is already evidence of strong market demand for a Masters Degree in Golf Course Architecture. A study commissioned in 1997 identified potential worldwide demand and primary markets in Norway, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the People's Republic of China, South East Asia, South American and the USA.

The aim of the course is to provide education in golf course architecture in a manner which reconciles the ideals of the School's philosophy in landscape design with the demands of the professional discipline.

The emphasis will be very much on an ecological and sustainable approach to golf course design. Says Ward Thompson:

"By teaching students how landscapes are formed and the type of development that can be accommodated in harmony with the processes working within the landscape, the course will advance an ecological and sustainable approach which reflects the traditional origins of golf course design."

"In recent years with the increased sophistication of machinery, drainage, irrigation and grassland management, many designers have ceased to work in harmony with landscape and increasingly imposed their will upon it, very often with disastrous or environmentally damaging results. The challenge in educating golf course architects is to enable students to acquire the necessary range of expertise, and to provide a foundation for the development of best practice in golf course architecture."

The course has been developed as a full-time one year degree leading to MSc. It will be modular and flexible to allow concentration of studies in particular areas depending on the qualifications of individual candidates.

It is anticipated that candidates will be landscape architects or experienced golf course managers / greenkeepers and golfers. It is anticipated further that there will be no difficulty for graduates achieving employment in the profession and that there will be world-wide opportunities. Applications and expressions of interest are invited now for the course, which comes into the curriculum in the Year 2000.