The Glencoe Golf and Country Club near Calgary, Canada, has approved a renovation plan by Whitman, Axland & Cutten (WAC Golf).
This story was originally reported by Golf Course Architecture magazine.
The 45-hole club is located west of the city, alongside Elbow River, and is wholly owned by The Glencoe Club, which was founded in 1931 and is now one of Canada’s largest private clubs, with a downtown Calgary base that offers a wide range of sporting and social activities and programs.
Robert Trent Jones designed the 18-hole Forest and 27-hole Meadows courses, which opened in the mid-1980s. Since then, Glencoe has regularly invested in its golf infrastructure and club facilities.
The clubhouse was revamped in 2022 and work will begin on overhauling the golf course maintenance facilities before the end of 2024.
In July 2024, the club approved a plan from WAC Golf for the renovation of the Meadows layout’s Lakes and Slopes nines. “It all started back in 2015 when the club and its committee began evaluating deficiencies on the Lakes and Slopes,” says architect Keith Cutten. “A year later, Rod Whitman was selected to create a comprehensive masterplan for the Meadows course.
“At the time, the scope of the proposed work was a little too grandiose for the club to digest. So, in 2018, the board set new priorities for capital investment, naming the clubhouse and maintenance buildings as additional priorities. Rod and I later presented a revised scope of work but sadly, any forward momentum was lost with the onset of a worldwide pandemic.”
Over the past two years, the club’s grounds and golf committee created a new scope document and engaged WAC Golf to develop a revised plan.
“The approved plan for the Meadows course seeks holistic changes – to maximise necessary investments in infrastructure – through the reimagination of a tired golfing landscape,” said Cutten. “The site will see significant rerouting aimed at shortening green-to-tee walks. An abundance of artificial shaping work will be removed, letting the ‘air’ out of the property and allowing the new golf features to blend seamlessly within the beautiful river valley setting.
“Much needed tree clearing in select locations will allow the golf to make the most of several natural ridges that transect the property. Existing wide corridors will provide the canvas needed to create thoughtful and varied strategies on each hole.
“And finally, the inclusion of at least seven teeing areas along a ribbon of turf, hidden amongst natural and man-made contours, will allow golfers with all levels of swing speed to enjoy the new course. Standout holes should include the second, sixth and eighth on the Slopes and the second, fifth, seventh and eighth on the Lakes.”
Preliminary tree, creek and lake work will begin in autumn 2025, with golf course construction to start in 2026.
