kylephillips.com
MJ Abbott... The team that built The Grove
Despite now working across a worldwide portfolio of venues, the premier pay-and-play model remains a novelty to Phillips, which is testament to the perfect balance that has been struck at The Grove. Despite the global financial difficulties, which have impinged greatly on golf as an industry, Kyle Phillips Golf Course Design has flourished, sending its founder far and wide. From Abu Dhabi’s Yas Links in the Middle East, to South Korea, where his latest masterpiece has just been unveiled, Phillips remains in high demand. “We just opened our first course in South Korea, and our first in Asia,” he said. “It’s called South Cape and presented a spectacular piece of ground, really rocky, and so is like mountain meeting sea. It’s not a links but a seaside course and it really is amazing.
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“We’re also opening another course in California called Menlo Country Club, that was originally designed in 1906 in Silicon Valley. We’ve extended it to 6,800 yards and created some variety architecturally to make it more interesting. That will open in July. “To add to that we are building a second golf course in Agadir, Morocco, and have renovated nine holes at Real Club de Las Brisas, near Marbella, and will do the second nine in September. We’re also working at Valderrama at the moment, as well, so we have lots of things in the pipeline. “It’s still a small boutique business but I love it. We’ve been very fortunate through the economic downturn to be working in a number of different places and to have been able to continue to undertake projects. I think we have a nice niche market.” GMé
When specialist contractor MJ Abbott started on site at The Grove in 2000 it was a unique experience for a team that had more than 40 years experience in the field. Contracts director Steve Briggs, who joined the company in the mid90s, explained how working with US designer Kyle Phillips took them into uncharted territory. “It was the first occasion we had worked with an architect-appointed shaper,” he said. “It was unusual then and still is relatively unusual over here now. “We did the shaping earthworks and handed back individual holes to the architect and the shaper, who final shaped it and tried to conceal the cart paths. Then we came back in to design and install the drainage, then irrigation systems and re-soil, before it went back to Kyle for final approval. “Look at it now and you can see how well they did, as you rarely see a cart path from the hole you’re playing on. “It’s not a process we’ve had many times, but we did work that way on the West Course greens at Wentworth with Ernie Els. It’s to avoid what they might consider ‘lost opportunities’; it may mean a little more work but they believe it gets the best results.” The project has been positive for MJ Abbott too, as the company’s relationship has remained strong with The Grove to this day, with additional work including secondary drainage, landscaping works, sports pitches, a sand volleyball court and even a beach.
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