Recognition
The following are extracts from media reviews.
| Development of the Year; Private Course Under $5 Million Construction CostGolf Inc.; December 2004 This exclusive private club was designed as a rustic yet elegant sportman's getaway, with fishing, hunting, sporting clays, horseback riding and hiking available in addition to the championship golf course. [...] the results were outstanding. "It was terrific use of the natural surroundings," said competition judge Todd Aterburn. |
| America's 50 Greatest Golf RetreatsGolf Digest Index: Winter 2006 - 2007 Graham Marsh took acres of a South Dakota cattle ranch and turned it into the state's best golf course. |
| Best New Private Course of 2004Golf Digest; January 2005 Other than a preliminary routing, Marsh prepared no blueprints and instead took a hands-on approach to field-designing every hole, which took 18 months. "That's why he played so poorly [in 2002]," Amundson says. "He would fly in on Sunday night and not leave for the next tournament until Wednesday night." Building a course without architectural plans was a new experience for everyone involved. "We spent a lot of time just trying to understand the site, its topography, its views, its potential," Marsh says. "We didn't want to impose anything artificial onto the site. We were determined to get the maximum out of the land." |
| America's BestGolfweek; March 2005 At No. 13, the private Sutton Bay Club, 40 miles north of Pierre, is the highest-debuting Modern course. Designed by [Graham] Marsh, a Champions Tour player from Australia, Sutton Bay sits on bluffs overlooking the Missouri river. The 5,000-acre site was transformed by club developer Mark Amundson into a hunting, fishing, and golf retreat. |
| One of the Ten Best New Courses in the U.S.The Golfer Magazine; The Best in the World, 2004 Most golf courses are like wine, requiring time and the subtle ministrations of nature to comfortably settle into their surroundings and to soften their rough edges. Still, certain wines are ready to be enjoyed at a younger age. So too the finest of the new courses, like Beaujolais Nouveau, have character that is immediately and undeniably unique. |
| High Plains DazzlerLinks Magazine; April 2004 Sutton Bay has even improved on the formula. Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw’s design at Sand Hills features returning nines, while Sutton Bay is a more authentic out-and-back routing in which the ninth green and 10th tee are nestled right up against a boundary fence. Its other leg up is the presence of Lake Oahe, a portion of the Missouri River dammed in the 1960s and visible from all 18 holes. Indeed, the “lake”—which is big enough (three miles wide, 230 miles long) to conjure its own weather systems—provides a visual presence at Sutton Bay which arguably exceeds that of the Pacific Ocean at either Bandon Dunes layout. |
| Home on the Range; The Rugged Splendor of Sutton BayThe Golfer; Design 2004 The setting is startling and grand — the wild pitch-and-tumble of the remote High Plains breaks upon the steel waters of Lake Oahe, and the austere yellow of the prairie grasses collides with emerald fairways and greens. Sweeping fairway vistas, cavernous bunkers and bold green complexes converge with an excellent strategic routing to make Sutton Bay one of the most surprising great designs in recent memory. |
| Design Build: A Better Way To Do ItGolf Course News; April 2004 "The property offered a panorama of massive dunes abutting Lake Oahe, a 200-mile-long reservoir formed by a dam on the Missouri River," Bill Kubly, chief executive officer of golf course builder Landscapes Unlimited, says. "It was an extraordinary opportunity, but we knew the team had to be on the same page. The goal of using a turnkey design-build approach was to speed up the process. Missing a season meant losing opportunity." |
Featured Golf Courses
BFA International Convention Centre Golf Club
The BFA International Convention Centre Golf Club is located in Boao on Dongyu Island in the Peoples Republic of China. The Resort features a World Class Championship Golf Course Designed by Australian PGA Touring Professional Graham Marsh. BFA features a five star Clubhouse, Hotel, Villas, Driving Range, Restaurants, Sauna and massage facilities. The Championship Golf Course is one of the most beautiful courses in China and throughout the world.
[ more info on BFA International Convention Centre Golf Club ]
Sutton Bay Golf Course
One of the most unique private clubs in the world. Created by people who love the game of golf, the natural beauty of the land, the challenge of hunting and fishing. Entertain family, friends, and clients at one of the most peaceful places on earth. Located on majestic plains and perched high above the Missouri River in South Dakota, Sutton Bay has been developed on a historic cattle ranch that has grazed herds, including the buffalo used in the film "Dances with Wolves." The 6500m championship course features spectacular elevation changes, natural green sites and fairways carved amongst the magnificent landforms.
