Golf Club at Red Rocks
Routed through the Black Hills terrain and located within minutes of Rapid City, the Red Rock golf course features lush fairways, surrounded by native grasses and tall ponderosa pine trees. Dramatic elevation changes, links-style bunkers and USGA specification greens characterize the 7,000-yd, par-72 championship golf course.
The Golf Club at Red Rock was designed by Ron to provide the Black Hills with an exceptional golf experience for both the casual golfers and the more demanding player. With a minimum of four tee placements per hole, players of all levels can enjoy a challenging and exhilarating world-class golf experience at the Golf Club at Red Rock.
The Prairie Club
Ron worked directly with Tom Lehman and Chris Brands in developing the green complexes at the Prairie Club.
With 18 holes of Championship golf set in the widest of open spaces, the Dunes Course and its seven sets of tees stretch from 5752 to 8058 yards, providing golfers with a chance to play their game in an extraordinary setting where the marriage of wind, sky and land has created a pure, unadulterated golf experience. Marked by dramatic elevation changes, endless views of the Sandhills in all directions and immense blowouts easily viewed by satellite, golfers face this wind-shaped landscape and massive rolling seascape of prairie grass, searching, hoping, for a bright calm slick of green fairway.
The Island Golf Club
Located in Haikou City, Hainan Province, China, Ron lead the Construction Project Management the first Tom Doak designed golf course in China.
Faced with immense challenges, the Island Golf Club showcased the management talents of Ron. The project location is in the middle of the Nandu River which is a tidal river located 6 kilometers up river from the China Sea. The entire island was raised an average of 2.5 meters with some changes as much as 10 meters by dredging sand from the river and putting an estimated 5 million cubic meters of sand onto the island. Then a retaining wall was built around the entire property to protect it from flooding during typhoon related water surges of nearly 20 feet. Only then could the golf course design team build their championship course.
As part of the overall plan, Ron coordinated the efforts of the golf design team, the golf course and irrigation contractors, the landscape design & contractor, and other outside consultants such as the clubhouse, marina, and hotel designers. All of this was accomplished in a concerted effort with the owner’s management team to protect the owner and provide the finest golf course possible. On this project Ron dealt with many cross-cultural challenges.
Valentine Golf Club (currently in progress)
Located in Valentine, NE, this course is still in progress and scheduled to open in the fall of 2016.
The 10 hole course for the city of Valentine is one of the more unique projects for Ron as much of the work was accomplished by volunteers. The Tom Lehman and Chris Brands design rolls through the Sand Hills of Nebraska’s northern border along the Minnechaducza Creek. Many of the pine-studded golf holes offer dramatic views uncommon in Nebraska. Utilizing volunteer help guided by Ron Farris and Don Habenicht the course is being built on a budget that other project would have difficulty adhere to. Ron is providing Project Management, golf course shaping, and grow-in consulting.
St. Andrews Links Trust – Golf Academy
Located in Haikou City, Hainan Province, People’s Republic of China.
In 2015 Ron was fortunate to design and construct the St. Andrews Links Trust golf academy in Haikou, China. The Links Trust operates the seven courses in St. Andrews Scotland, including the famed Old Course. The academy is the first international training center for the Trust and the first one in China. The White Horse Construction & Development Company teamed with the Trust to enhance their real estate project. The project includes a Tom Doak designed golf course. Ron provided golf course construction project management services for the project. As an extension of his duties, Ron provided the design of the driving range and short-game training center and over saw the construction of the golf academy.
As an experiment in environmental construction techniques, we built a replica of the Road Hole bunker that exists on the 17th hole of the Old Course in St. Andrews. All natural coconut fiber mats were used to replicate the sod rivetting of the bunker. Local Hainan ladies built the bunker with specific dimensions provided by the St. Andrews Links Trust.
Additional Projects
Design Work
St. Andrews Links Trust Golf Academy
The Prairie Club
Moccasin Creek Golf Club
Willow Creek CC
The Golf Club at RED ROCK
Cedar Shore Resort
Hillsview Golf Course
Turf & Erosion Solutions
Oahe Trails Golf Course
Verona Hills Golf Club
Scenic Golf Club
Ayakami Golf Club
Miyazaki Sunshine Golf Club
Japan West Aso Golf Course
Design and Design Consulting Work
White Gates Golf Club
Ballyneal Golf Club
Battle Creek Golf Course
Madison CC
Elk Point CC
Koimonji Golf Club
Yanai Golf Club
Lake Forest Golf Club
Mauritius Resort Development
Gran Mariya CC
Chukyo Golf Club
Project Management and Consulting
China
Mulan Bay CC
Simapo Island Golf Club
Mao Feng Shan
Japan
Mariya Country Club
Glenmoor CC
Kannami Springs CC
St. Lakes CC
Diego CC
Golden Lakes CC
Olympic Staff CC
Pete Dye CC VIP Course
Pete Dye CC Royal Course
USA
Valentine Golf Club
Arcadia Bluffs CC
Plum Creek
Austin Country Club
The Long Cove Club
