Blackwell

Restoring Simpson's strategy and aesthetics

Blackwell is a beautiful Fowler & Simpson design located just south of Birmingham in Warwickshire. The course provides a very intelligent and interesting routing over what is a relatively small site, providing a lot of variety during the round. The course is attributed to both Herbert Fowler and Tim Simpson, but the general assumption based on correspondence and sketches that have been unearthed is that Tom Simpson did most of the work on site. As one would expect with one of Tom Simpson's creations, both the greens and bunkering are most compelling. It is no surprise that Blackwell is regarded as one of the best parkland courses in the UK.

Over time, however, the course has lost some of its original detailing. The bunkering in particular has suffered. The original lace edged bunkers that Simpson built had been lost. Additionally, the injudicious planting of trees has narrowed some of the playing corridors to such an extent that original strategies of play have been lost.

The club interviewed several architects and selected IVGD to help create a master plan which would detail how the course's original elements and style should be restored. That plan was duly developed in 2014/15. Since then, 1-2 holes have been worked on every year.

What is unique is the fact that all work is being carried out in house by course manager Rhys Thomas and his green staff, with our close involvement in all restoration activities. Thus far, holes 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17 and 18 have been restored.

Blackwell is a traditional members club and as such has decided to do the restoration works spread out over a number of years, so as to minimise the disturbance for the members. The advantage of this way of working has been that it has allowed the club to do all the work in-house. After a steep learning curve course manager Rhys Thomas and his crew are now delivering work that is at par with some of the best golf construction companies. This has allowed the club to execute the works with high quality and at a reasonable budget.

"Blackwell Golf Club has been working with Frank Pont at IVGD for a number of years. We are delighted with the results which have been roundly praised by members and visitors alike."

“Not only has Frank demonstrated his skills in interpreting and overseeing any remodelling, he has also been aware of, and sympathetic to, the sensitivities and timescales around alterations at a traditional club such as ours."

"Having just completed the largest single redesign at Blackwell – namely our eleventh hole – we are extremely pleased with the outcome and look forward to our relationship with Frank continuing to the next phase.""

The rstoration work of this Simpson/Fowler gem has not gone unnoticed in the golf world, and the club is starting to rise in the various UK rankings. The current posisition in Golf World England Top 100 is at position 57.