The Toro Student Golf Course Architect Award

The 2008 Toro Student Golf Course Architect Award went to Philip Spogard.

“The two years during the Diploma programme, combined with my University BSc degrees in Landscape Architecture and Law, has added to my existing knowledge of golf course architecture and provided me with a truly great network of equally minded golf course architects from around the world,” said Philip.

Philip Spogard (centre) with Andy Brown, Toro (right) & Ken Moodie, EIGCA (left)

“Receiving the award is something that I am extremely proud of,” he continued “and it was a great feeling to hear that both the EIGCA and Toro had chosen to recognize the quality of my hard work. The next year will hopefully bring many more memorable moments – in particular as my first design, Carya Golf Club, is opening in Turkey in November. It is a unique heathland inspired golf course where we have tried to strengthen the already existing heathland environment by propagating close to 1,000,000 indigenous heather plants on site.”

“Toro has been privileged to support the EIGCA Student Architect Award programme for a number of years and we have been consistently impressed with the quality of the students that have passed through the course,” said Andy Brown, Toro International’s Corporate Accounts Manager for Europe, Middle-East, Africa.
“Philip epitomizes the high standards that we have come to expect and it reflects very well on all the students who took the course this year that the choice of the Student of the Year was such a difficult one for the judges. We are confident that the student programme will continue to go from strength to strength and that the future of European golf course architecture will flourish in the years to come.”

Toro provide a paid trip to America as the prize for winning the award and in January this year Philip joined Nick O’Connell (2006) and Andrew Soulsby (2007) for the 10 day trip, visiting the Golf Industry Show in Orlando and various renowned golf courses in the area (and no doubt playing a few rounds with their host, Bruce Jamieson), finishing with a trip to the Toro facilities in Minnesota.

Previous winners of this award include:

Toro has been privileged to support the EIGCA Student Architect Award programme for a number of years and we have been consistently impressed with the quality of the students that have passed through the course

2008 Philip Spogard
2007 Andrew Soulsby
2006 Nicholas O’Connell
2005 Matt Schiffer
2004 Curtis Liesenfelt
2003 Johnny Stenegaerd
2002 Rolf Stephan Hansen
2001 Dimitri van Hauwaert
2000 Philip Sparks