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Jérémy Pern | |
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Designer of over thirty golf courses in Europe, the architect has been called "environmental" and is reminding everyone about this delicate mixture between the pleasure of playing golf, the respect for environment and the economic development. He uses his expertise to describe the development of golf, now an essential part of the foundation of today's tourism. | |
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Can golf and environment live together? J.P.: today, environmental obligations are linked to European guidelines (water laws, ZNIEFF, Natura 2000) are specially drastic. Any architect is forced to follow those guidelines and the project has to follow standards. For example, in France, the law on water is stricter than other parts of the world. Depending on the different areas, water consumption have different restrictions, those variations are both politic and geographic. Obviously, building a golf course in the north of France, near a river, will be different than on the coast in the Var. In Brittany or Normandy, a golf course uses a few thousands of cubic meters of water each year. In the Var, or on a limestone terrain, you would need several hundreds of thousands of water annually. The environment is definitely Golf's Achilles' s heal. What do you mean? J.P.: it's a paradox. In some cases, golf courses are very positive for the environment. Thus, 100 hectares of land used for a golf course uses less water than if used for cornfields. On the other hand, if you build a golf course in the forest of Fontainebleau, it's totally different. In fact, it all depends on the location chosen to build it. During intensive farming, golf is very positive. Personally, with any golf course, I try to optimize environmental assets (wetlands for example) for it to be pleasant for golfers as well as for environmentalists. There is kind of a common sense of fury against golf because a lack of intellectual strictness. There are many "talibans" out there for whom any reason is good to react to any changes in their surroundings. In fact, every golf architect does their best to improve the environment instead of damaging it. In the event of a forest area for example, I will preserve or expand it so that it will fully blend with the course. Building a golf course is a matter of responsibilities. Last month, I went to Portugal, I refused to take on a project because it had a very rich wildlife. And if I work on protected areas, I try to work hand in hand with ecology specialists. I have a project in the Pyrénées on a Natura 2000 zone and I hope that I will come through.Is golf an active part in the economic development? J.P. : today, golf courses are in urban areas. They have become yesterday's parks. Take London for example: golf courses built on the outskirts of the city in the years 1910-30, are encircled by individual homes. In the urban areas, several executive employees live there and golf, like the theatre, the opera, the commercial center, is part of leisure. Golf has become full part of a tourist development. If today, you build a summer resort, it has to have a golf course. Roughly, a golf course is as important as a swimming pool, it's an additional amenity offered to customers. Algarve (south Portugal) which has forty golf courses on a very small territory, has a similar growth. The economy in south Portugal is based on golf like skiing is in the French Alps. A Golf course, a hotel-residence and a hotel all employ a lot of people, it is an obvious element for the economic development of the leisure industry. A similar growth is seen in Marrakech, where golf project are numerous. Precisely, how do you find the right balance between tourism and environment? J.P.: let's take the example of the Algarve region, it is a result of a thirty year old reflection, real estate has taken over, real estate is ruining the landscape, not golf courses. For the Alps, it's the same, it's not the slopes! Nowadays, things are different. I have a project in Croatia, where I try to recreate a local architecture. Take the example of Pont Royal, a golf course where I serve as consultant. The architect Chuck Legler, built a provencal village with quite a bit of real estate along the fairways. It has a very different vision from the Algarve or the Marbella regions. Today, to account for the major evolution of behaviors and mentalities, we try to keep the village like at Pont Royal, but without building along the fairways. People want to look at the golf course and not the home built along the fairway. Golf and tourism can live together only if a consistent housing development is proposed. A good developer will choose a good architect to build a lasting project allowing buyers to buy a different product. If real estate and golf are not thought as a whole, the result is rarely good. Interview Philippe Bridoux-Martinet
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