Green Tyger Design News

Steve Ritson Designs a New Golf Course at Nyoum Mostakbal in Cairo, Egypt

Thu, 09 Jul 2020 10:30:34 GMT

Steve Ritson Designs a New Golf Course at Nyoum Motakbal, Cairo, Egypt

Steve Ritson of Green Tyger Design has been appointed to design a new golf course in the Mostakbal City Development, New Cairo, Egypt for Arab Developer Holdings as part of a purpose-built development of villas and apartments which shall be known as Nyoum Mostakbal.

Steve checking the golf course plans on the desert site near Cairo, with Mohamed Abdallah Sayed taking this photo together with members of the Porto Group earlier in 2019.

On this desert site, Steve has designed a compact 9 hole par 3 golf course, which is played from two different teeing positions to give an 18 hole experience and the main course also doubles as a footgolf course using mobile holes which means the course can be set up for either golf or footgolf. This will be the first purpose built footgolf course in Egypt and is perfect for the par 3 golf course.

The course will be floodlit so that the golf and footgolf can be played in the cool of the night time.

Several of the golf holes play over two new lakes and although short, the holes will test the nerve of

even the best golfers with the highlight of the round coming at the 9 th and 18 th holes played to an island green but as with all of our golf holes, there will be an option to bail out and play safe for the beginner or senior golfer.

The site also includes a junior course, an adventure putting course, a 1,000m2 practice putting green and academy short game area, with the whole package aimed at fun for the whole family. In quieter corners of the development, the landscape is designed in a similar style to the golf course but will be set aside for informal play, picnics and recreation.

The junior course is based on three holes, each played from 3 tee positions to give a 9 hole course

and the golfers will use plastic clubs and soft balls on artificial turf. This course will also double as a

footgolf course, with artificial water and sand traps to give a realistic experience of a full-size golf

course but in a safe and secure environment.

(A view of the overall site and golf course concept model courtesy of WATG)

Sustainable Golf Course Design

Our challenge in this desert environment is to create a sustainable golf course and to this end half of the golf course areas will be constructed using artificial turf, including the Adventure Putting Course and Junior Course areas, in order to reduce the need for potable water and keep maintenance to a minimum. The main golf course will be constructed using a high quality paspalum grass surface to create tees, greens and fairways but with large sandy waste bunker areas outside of the areas of play, planted with drought tolerant trees, shrubs and ground covers to further reduce the water demand in this area. The course is designed so that the grass areas can use grey and recycled water from the development but with a separate drip irrigation system to the landscape planted areas.

(View of the course from the surrounding apartment buildings)

International Golf Course Designer

Steve is now working on the detailed design of the course and despite the current pandemic the Porto Group are moving forward with the golf development and construction has already started on site, although further site visits may still be a problem for Steve based in the UK and we can only hope that travel can return to normal as soon as possible.

This is Steve’s second golf course in Egypt, as he previously designed the 18 hole Porto Sokhna, on the Red Sea coast and earlier in 2019, Steve also designed and oversaw the installation of a footgolf course at the Porto Marina Golf Course on Egypt’s Northern Coast, which is believed to be the first in Egypt.

Steve is a Chartered Landscape Architect with over 25 years experience as a golf course designer and is both a member of the Landscape Instutute and a Member of the European Institute of Golf Course Architects.

For more information about our golf course design service or if you are looking for any advice from a professional landscape design consultancy please call us now on 01788 55 11 03 or contact us online today!

Time for Golf Course Design to Change

Thu, 04 Jun 2020 12:50:32 GMT

Golf Course Design, It's Time to Change... ⏰

We have all had to take some time off and many projects have been put on the back-burner due to the recent pandemic but golf is now emerging from the lockdown and so we are asking what have we learned about the future of the fascinating game?

One theme we have been pursuing as golf course architects in recent times has been brought into sharp focus; its time that the game of golf needs to fundamentally change ( and this isn’t just social distancing) but a change which runs through all aspects of the game and this begins for us at the design of the course.

Up to the last recession in 2009, most new courses were designed to be a ‘championship’ golf course and aimed at an exclusive membership, however since this recession golf clubs have been struggling financially and this model is evidently not working and courses are closing at an alarming rate.

Changing golf course design

Time to TAKE STOCK , Time for a RE-THINK . Time to RE-IMAGINE what a golf course could be and that’s where we as golf course architect can help.

Here we look at the changes that ourselves and other leading golf architects have been advocating under the general heading of ‘environmentally sustainable' golf course design and show some examples of our new projects, which are starting construction soon to illustrate these changes.

Below are a list of our recommendations for a successful golf facility.

Recommendations for successful golf course design

Create shorter courses aimed at fun for all of the family rather than long ‘championship’ venues. After all there are few layout in the world which are capable of challenging the modern professional golfer and even low handicap golfers make up only a very small percentage of the paying membership. The course should be strategically testing and fun, easy to navigate for the visitor and to speed play and provide a variety of tees for all playing standards.
Encourage beginners onto the course by including short courses, separate from the main course, where they can develop their skills and confidence.
Provide excellent golf practice facilities such as a driving range, practice chipping and putting greens. These facilities will mark out the better golf clubs in future, where golfers can improve their skills, the professionals can teach and encourage new members to join the club.
Re-design golf courses to be economically sustainable with greater use of natural grasses in roughs, drought tolerant specialist fairway grasses, natural bunker surrounds, letting areas develop as wetlands or woodland which require less maintenance and use locally available resources such as sand for topdressing greens and bunkering.
Design new ponds and lakes to collect and recycle water within the course, rather than paying for abstraction licences or worse, having to rely on costly mains water.
Reduce tree cover if this has taken over the course, often due to overzealous 'forestry' tree planting schemes in the 70s and 80s. Too many trees can slow play, create a mess with leaf and branches strewn onto greens and fairways and can encourage grass diseases if air cannot circulate due to nearby trees.
Reduce the area of greens as these are areas of intensive maintenance requiring large inputs of time, fertiliser and water. If you have a smaller golf venue, why not replace the greens entirely with high quality artificial grass surfaces, reducing the need for expensive cutting machinery and expert green staff.

Steve Ritson of Green Tyger Design is a Chartered Landscape Architect with over 20 years experience as a golf course designer and is both a member of the Landscape Instutute and a Member of the European Institute of Golf Course Architects .

For more information about our golf course design service or if you are looking for any advice from a professional landscape design consultancy please call us now on 01788 55 11 03 or contact us online today!

Welcome to Steve Ritson's World of Golf Course Design

Tue, 05 May 2020 11:06:32 GMT

Welcome to Steve Ritson's World of Golf Course Design

Welcome to the small world of golf design where I shall be sharing some nuggets of wisdom, based on a great many, and some say too many! years as a golf course and landscape architect, first with Ritson Golf Design Ltd and now through to Green Tyger Design Ltd.

Now although this may seem to be a generous gesture on my behalf, it is really just that I currently have some time on my hands, as you most certainly do, courtesy of the current coronavirus lockdown, whereas normally you may find me in the office happily designing landscapes for golf courses.

The Answers to Golf Course Design Secrets

Subjects up for discussion include driving range design (yes, they are designed) why you should carry out a golf course audit (bit of a job advert here) and what is a golf course audit anyway. What is sustainable golf design and how can you save money whilst saving the earth (no really it could be that simple!)

Could you become rich by i mporting inert fill onto your beloved course or perhaps the answer to fixing the clubs financial problems is to squirrelling a few prestigious houses into a forgotten corner of the course and will all of the above require planning permission ??

... and many more questions that you were probably too afraid to ask, just in case the architect charged exorbitant fees for the answers!

Golf Course Design Advice

Normally (when not in lockdown) we visit golf courses and advise on how the golf course facilities could be improved, however I often find myself repeating the same general design advice over and over again and so by writing these general guidelines down, it may save a great deal of time and then you can get around to asking the really important question of how to improve YOUR own golf facility.

If you do not agree with something which I say, then please feel free to ask any questions or bring up any subject related to golf course or landscape design and of course be aware that I do not have all of the answers (spoiler alert here) but I do have training and experience as a golf course designer and member of the European Institute of Golf Course Architects , which I am glad to pass on if you are willing to listen.

Please keep an eye on our news section to hear my general guidelines on all aspects of both golf course design and landscape design.

If you are looking for a professional landscape design consultancy please call us now on 01788 55 11 03 or email us and find out how we can add value to your project.

Take care and stay safe,

Steve

An Introduction to Green Tyger Design

Mon, 06 Apr 2020 14:17:07 GMT

An Introduction to Green Tyger Design

An introduction to Green Tyger Design, Chartered Landscape Architects with an international portfolio of projects and over 20 years experience in the business.

In this series of news and articles, we hope you will enjoy learning more about the following subjects: landscape design, golf course design, visual impact assessment and environmental surveys.

Landscape Design

We are Chartered Landscape Architects and our core services are to provide our clients with all aspect of hard and soft landscape design . This work includes the design of all outdoor areas with the ‘hard landscape’ elements comprising paving, footpaths, ponds and fountains, play areas, car parks, retaining walls, external steps, lighting and the design or siting of artistic installations as focal points and ‘soft landscape’ elements comprising all living materials such as lawns, hedges, ground cover, shrubs and tree planting. In a nutshell, we design everything outside of buildings and main roads.

In the following series of articles, we delve into all aspects of landscape design and we will look at the latest trends in the industry, new materials on the market, investigate BIM and Augmented Reality and try to answer any questions you may have such as which plants are best to use for a variety of places and how they can be combined in the wider landscape to create that perfect sense of natural space.

Golf Course Design

Here our golf course architect, Steve Ritson a member of the European Institute of Golf Course Architects with over 20 years working in the UK and Africa, will give you the details and practical advice on golf course design , driving ranges and practice facilities or whether you are looking at putting some houses or holiday lodges onto a course, using imported fill to improve the course or practice facilities or maybe you are thinking of installing a footgolf course and do you need planning consent for all of the above?

Environmental Surveys

Around our core activities, we also work with several expert consultants who can carry out a variety of environmental surveys which are necessary for planning applications.

There is plenty of information on how to survey trees, topography, air quality, ecology, lighting, noise, soils and water resources but in our articles we will explore what the landscape architect is looking for in these surveys and how this information is used within the design to create added value to the finished project.

Visual Impact Assessment

This is a specialist area where we carry out landscape and visual impact assessments for all kinds of developments, whether it is a new building, an extension to a roof, raising stockpiles or sculpting a new landform. We explain why we use the latest technology to create accurate 3d computer models of whole landscapes and carry out Zones of Theoretical Visibility (ZTVs or ZVIs) to illustrate the changes and likely visual impact with the surrounding area to the planners and public in a way which is easy to understand and fast-track projects through the planning process.

Please keep an eye on our news section to get an update on some of our exciting on-going projects as we continue to work through the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you are looking for a professional landscape design consultancy please call us now on 01788 55 11 03 or email us and find out how we can add value to your project.

Introducing You To the New Green Tyger Design Site

Tue, 18 Feb 2020 16:30:56 GMT

Welcome to the New Green Tyger Design Website

Your go-to destination to hear about the latest landscape and golf course design projects completed by Chartered Landscape Architect Steve Ritson. The new website will also cover any industry-news and advancements so you can stay up to date and never miss a thing.

Why we built a new site?

We are delighted to officially announce the launch of our new revamped website after a busy few months of planning, designing, developing and testing to ensure the best user experience. The start of a new year and a new decade offered the perfect opportunity for Green Tyger Design to invest in the brand with a clean, fresh look and easy-to-use navigation. We've worked closely with CJF Marketing and would like to thank them for their efforts and look forward to the new site attracting more visitors. On the new site design, Steve Ritson, owner of Green Tyger Design had the following to say:

"After more than 20-years in business I felt like it was a good time to invest in the brand and update the company site. The website is often the first place any potential clients will engage with the company before picking up the phone or filling out a contact form. The new website now has a dedicated service page for each of Green Tyger Design's specialities; landscape design , golf course design , visual impact assessments and environmental surveys . Each page is full of rich content and has a consistent flow making it easier than ever for you to find the information you need".

Check out our case-studies

Be sure to check out our case-studies section which is a hub for the latest industry projects completed by Green Tyger Design. Our case-studies include a mixture of both new and old case studies and cover everything from minerals waste and restoration to golf design and everything in between!

New site features

We hope you like the website as much as we do and find it easier than ever to access information. Be sure to bookmark out site or check back regularly to stay up to date with the latest news. And, if you need more information about our landscape design services or need to talk to a professional landscape architect, give us a call now on 01788 551 103 or contact us online today.