Award -winning golf course architect Raymond Hearn, ASGCA, was selected by the historic Aurora (ill.) Country Club for a renovation and restoration of the classic golf course from 1914.
“What an honor and privilege it is to collaborate with this historic club,” said Hearn, founder of Raymond Hearn Golf Course Designs. “Our goal is to make an extensive master plan that entails sympathetic recovery.”
Sympathetic recovery refers to a process in which a course is renovated to restore its original design and character, aimed at the history of the course and respect the original design intention of the architect, while also synchronizing with modern game and maintenance practices to improve strategy, shot value, playability, playability and sustainability.
“It is a careful balance between honoring the past and adapting to the present,” said Hearn.
The original 9-hole course design was by the legendary architect Tom Bendelow in 1914. Bendelow expanded the design to 18 holes in 1915 with a possible collaboration between William Langford according to various published sources. In 1935 the club consulted with the legendary golf course architect AW Tillinghast for some selected course improvements.
“We can’t be happier to get this prestigious assignment, because I know that the club was very interested in a wide range of golf -lane architects,” Hearn said. “We are walking in the footsteps of the architectural legends of Golfbaan.”
Hearn said that Aurora Country Club has a lively membership with excellent counsel and committee members.
“I will work closely with the Master Planning Committee of the club, including PGA Head Professional Curtis Malm and veteran golf course Chief Inspector John Gurke, CGCS,” he said. “We will communicate with them in every phase. After the master planning has been approved, my next assignment will help the club set up the implementation of project construction that the club feels comfortable with.”
Hearn said that he equates the club’s course on a classic artwork that is ready to reclaim his place at the best in the region.
“I want the sympathetic restoration work to increase the shot value, strategy, playability and beauty for all levels of wave capacity in the club, not just the handicap wave star with one digit,” he said. “I will clearly bring a tribute and tribute to the legendary architects involved in this design in my sympathetic restoration.”
Tom Cross, chairman of the Master Plan Committee, said that Aurora Country Club has always been dedicated to offer its members an exceptional golf experience and that this master planning initiative reflects the continuous dedication to that tradition of excellence.
“We follow a thoughtful, long -term approach to ensure that our course is still one of the best in the region for the coming generations,” he said. “Our partnership with Ray Hearn, whose award -winning, restoration work speaks for itself, shows our dedication to investing in world -class expertise while we plan to plan the future of Aurora. This process will be fully members, so that all improvements are in accordance with the values of our club and the vision of our membership.”
Gurke said that Raymond Hearn Golf Course Designs was a great choice of the club for the Master Plan and the project.
“I am very happy to work with Ray on this master plan for Aurora Country Club,” he said. “During the age of 35 here I immersed myself in the history and meaning of this golf course with architects, such as Bendelow, Langford and Tillinghast behind the Golden Age design. Ray is a renowned veteran designer who will tap into the past’s great passion, knowledge and respect for our club in the past, and will be in the future to Aurora Club.”
Raymond Hearn (www.rhgd.com) has developed a national reputation for making master plans for historical and modern courses such as the Crestmont CC (Donald Ross 1921) in West Orange, NJ; Moon Brook CC (Willie Park Jr. 1919) in Jamestown, NY; Washtenaw GC (Bert Way 1899) in Ypsilanti, Mi; Midlothian CC (Hebert Tweedie 1898) in Midlothian, Il; Metedeconk National GC (RTJ Sr. and Roger Rulewich 1987) in Jackson, NJ; Lincolnshire Fields CC (Larry Packard 1976) in Champaign, IL; White Lake GC (Tom Bendelow 1916) in Whitehall, Mi; Flossmoor CC (Hebert Tweedie 1899) in Flossmoor, IL; Inverness CC (Doug Fraser 1925) in Chelsea, Mi; Club de Golf de Panama (Jay Riviera 1922) Panama City, Panama; Savannah CC formerly Wilmington Island Golf (Donald Ross in 1927) Savannah, GA and various master planning for various Boyne Resort golf courses in Michigan, Montana and Maine.
Gurke said that the members of the Master Plan Committee have done their due diligence and have experienced that Hearn has completed on other Golden Age golf courses.
“He has a great passion for what he does, but also for what those who were created for him on these great courses,” he said. “I like his sympathetic recovery ideas.”
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