"Our Architect organised the competitive tendering process having completed a fully documented detailed design which was qualified and quantified. He oversaw the work and took responsibility for the contractor."

And now we have a golf course of our own in need of careful and sympathetic renovation where differentiation from all other venues is an essential ingredient to our quest for excellence and setting us apart.

After years of standing still whilst in the hands of all those experts I alluded to before, we decided to bring this corner of the Estate up to the high standards attributed to the "glorious" reputation of the other sporting gems of the Estate.

We took advice from a number of professionals; primarily from an experienced golf course management team, and a golf course Architect.

The Architect appraised our old course which was laid out by James Braid in 1908, and he presented us with a thoroughly thought through report from which we were able, with our management expertise, to define a way forward.

We set up a professional team comprising a golf course and landscape Architect, management consultant, agronomist, irrigation designer, working alongside our Club's professional management staff to execute the renovation programme.

We followed the advice of our professional team. Our Architect organised the competitive tendering process having completed a fully documented detailed design which was qualified and quantified. He oversaw the work and took responsibility for the contractor.
Regular meetings, inspections, reporting, proper financial estimating, budgetary control and managed programming - all essential ingredients of a professional approach to give us a feeling of trust and competence.

These are all the tools of a professional's trade but the best of them are also those that seek out, absorb and assimilate the standards and objectives for which we are striving.
Our option would have been to have done it all ourselves. We could have cut out the professional Architect but to what end? A lack of experience means lack of foresight. We would have fallen short of our target and Lord March's stated aspiration to make our renovated golf course the best of its type in the South of England. Some would have said that we would have saved money - not so!

I have little doubt that in the long run it would have cost us more as many more mistakes would have been made in trying to achieve our objective, not to mention incurring the wrath of many of our knowledgeable members.

Employing an Architect, doing it professionally, in a structured professional environment actually gave us, the best value for not an inconsiderable investment. We were able to review the renovation process at each stage, revise, refine, vary the detail as we felt best, and retain that necessary flexibility in such an approach.

We relied on our professional golf course Architect, his team and his experience. We gave him a clear brief (not always the case I am sure). He accepted it, took the responsibility of executing it, as if with his own purse, in protecting ours.

Although our renovated golf course is now back in play we continue to rely on him as we further the evolution of the Goodwood Club in the years to come. During the next year or so we see the Clubhouse renovated - through the hands of further professionals.

Why bother with a professional? Simply because it is the only sensible way not to burn your fingers!