DUTCH MASTER
FRANK PONT
AT WORK ON
RESTORING
CRUDEN BAY
LINKS


By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Scottishgolfview.com has arranged with Dutch golf course architect, Frank Pont, to give you the inside story on the work he has undertaken on Cruden Bay golf course.
Frank, pictured right, has for long been an overseas member of the Cruden Bay club and jumped at the chance to put some of his ideas into practice on a links course that was opened by the Great North of Scotland Railway in 1899.
Without stealing Frank’s thunder, I can tell you that he is making major changes to the 14th hole – that’s the one with the sunken green – and that an extra hole is planned out at the southern boundary of the course.
This doesn’t mean that there will be 19 holes to play for Cruden Bay members and visitors. The additional or spare hole – a par 3 – will only used when maintenance work on another hole means it would be better if it were withdrawn for play for the period required.
Forgot to mention, that the work on the Cruden Bay course will be done by the greenstaff.
You can read about Frank Pont on his website: http://www.frankpont.com/ (remember to click on the small Union Jack on the right hand side of his Home Page so that the words are in English!).
FROM THE FRANK PONT WEBSITE
Here are some of the bullet points from Frank’s website:
Royal Hague picks Frank as golf course arcitect for the renovation of their greens
The Royal Hague will work intensively with Frank to restore and renovate their historic Colt/Alison designed greens.
Four European top 100 golf courses are working with Frank
With Kennemer, Royal Hague, Pan and Eindhoven as his clients, Frank now is working for four clubs that are listed in Europe's top 100 golf courses.
Frank dominates the market of top Dutch golf courses
Based on the latest Golfers Magazine ranking of the Netherlands, Frank is the undisputed market leader in the top segment of Dutch golf courses. He now has nine clients among the top 25 courses in the Netherlands.
Six historic Colt-designed courses are working with Frank to restore their golf courses
Frank is currently restoring six Colt-designed course on the European continent, more than any other golf architect


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