• hbdeveloper
• On January 29, 2014

This is the first of a series of a mini-articles about the Themes in The Golf Club. Themes are the various environments that the Greg Norman Course Designer uses when creating a course and describe the terrain, the trees, the flowers, the shrubs, the animals, the birds, the water, the tees, the fairways, the rough, the greens and the surrounding land.

The Rural Theme is set in rolling countryside and surrounded by some rugged hills. The trees that can be found around the course are predominantly deciduous, or hardwoods – Birch, Beech, Oak, Chestnut, Silver Birch, Maple – but there are are also some evergreens or softwoods – Pine and Spruce. The wildlife that you are likely see around any course, such as rabbits and deer, is typical to this type of environment.

For the courses themselves, the greens will be fairly receptive and medium-fast in speed. The rough won’t be too punitive, at least the first cut, but will vary from area to area around the course. The fairways will be firm and sight lines will rarely be impaired by the trees.

Visually the courses will be fairly green and lush whilst the wind will vary from pretty much nothing to reasonably strong. You won’t get the strong winds found commonly in the Links Theme or, occasionally, in the Desert and Alpine themes.