Soon, you will likely hear it announced that "Stippleberg Golf Course" has been rated "the best golf course or the best new golf course"... In fact, Golf Baan Stippleberg, located in the Netherlands has been recognized as GolfInc's 2011 Development of the Year.
Each year GolfInc magazine features it's 'Development of the Year' award, recognizing newly opened golf course projects which have "admirably achieved their development goals". Strangely, it is not widely understood, this is not another "best" list or dumb blonde beautiful golf course contest. The intention of GolfIncs DOY award, although it features the golf project, is truly to recognize the efforts of the development team.
Judging this competition is difficult. The entries are diverse - in location, scope, cost, etc. So, one of the difficulties is 'comparing' projects. How do you compare a 6-hole half million dollar project to a 180 hole project, where each hole cost $1 million dollars? Also, since these are new projects, it was difficult for me to reconcile the "successful" part of the evaluation. For me, being successful must logically include some measure of financial appropriateness and/or success. But, whether or not these new projects will be financially successful, is yet to be determined for most.
Judging is accomplished from materials provided by the development team. The quality of the submission is critical, as judging is supposed to be based solely on this information. And, the information detail varied greatly, from one entrant to another. (Judging is supposed to be blind. But, if you're in the industry, you likely know about most of the entries.) The judging process took much longer than I anticipated. And, even if it was very interesting and I'm very glad for the opportunity, I've discovered it wasn't as easy or rewarding as I initially thought it might be. I surely prefer being "in the battle", rather than being an evaluator and critic....
The intent of the DOY award is commendable. It really is a validation of the development team's talents and dedication. It's too bad this is not clearly understood. Because this really makes this award unique and significant in our industry.
After being on both sides of this process, it's clear to me the competition is fierce and all the recognized courses, represent truly fine work. So, whether a course recieves 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th place or honorable mention - the development team should be proud of the accomplishment and recognition.
For this reason, I'm glad GolfInc recognized so many of the entrants. Some may think this dilutes the prestige of the winners. But, the fact is, there were a large number of outstanding submissions and it is worthy to distinguish the fine efforts of these development teams.
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