Master Planning & Land Planning for Golf Course Communities
By Doug Carrick of Carrick Design, International award winning, golf course designers and master / land planners.

Finding the optimum balance between the requirements for the golf course and the residential development is always a challenging aspect of master planning and land planning for golf course communities. There is no question that homes fronting directly onto golf fairways will command higher selling prices than homes that are not. It is also known that golfers prefer playing holes that wind through natural corridors, as opposed to holes that play through residential areas. The key is to plan for an acceptable balance between these two golf course community requirements. Over the past few decades, golf course community developers have tended to master plan for maximum lot frontage on the golf course. This was often done to the detriment of the golf course and the overall golf experience. In recent years some golf course community developers have discovered that planning with more emphasis on creating a great golf experience and a great golf course often increases the overall value and appeal of real estate throughout the entire golf course community, even though the frontage of lots on the golf course may not have been maximized.

The character of the terrain and surrounding landscape can also influence the degree to which the golf course and residential community are integrated. A site that allows for planning of dramatic grade separation between golf fairways and elevated home sites will provide home owners with more privacy and security. It is also less intrusive visually and psychologically to golfers than homes and fairways sited on flat open terrain, devoid of trees. Heavily treed sites that allow for planning some visual screening between golf fairways and home sites invites a more comfortable integration of the golf course and residential community, without detracting from the golf experience.

On properties that are relatively flat and open, planning the configuration and relationship of golf holes to the residential community becomes even more important. A greater sense of green space and a more appealing golf experience can be created with a double row configuration of golf holes or with a more contiguous (“core type”) golf course layout.

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