A closer look at the European Tour and IMG's joint venture golf course design company
A Joint Venture
Established in 1992, European Golf Design is a joint venture golf course design company between the European Tour and IMG.
Since its inception, the design company has earned a reputation for producing successful resort, members and tournament golf courses, including the likes of 2010 Ryder Cup Courses Celtic Manor Twenty Ten.
With design commissions throughout European and beyond to Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean and Asia, European Golf Design have worked (and are currently working) on a list of 74 golf courses around the world.
There are four primary course designers: Ross McMurray (Celtic Manor Twenty Ten, The Marquess at Woburn, The Dutch), Gary Johnston (Dubai Hills, The Montgomerie Maxx Royal), Robin Hiseman (Casa Serena, Royal Golf Club at Riffa View), and Dave Sampson (Golf Club Marco Simone, Royal Greens Golf & Country Club).
Click here to find out more about the team behind European Golf Design
European Golf Design on Tour
There have been a number of golf courses associated with European Golf Design that have staged tournaments across various Tour's around the world, from the Ryder Cup and Turkish Airlines Open to the Evian Championship and Women's British Open.
Find out more about the projects here
Twenty Ten Course at Celtic Manor Resort: Opened in 2007, Twenty Ten was specifically designed to host the Ryder Cup, which it did to great acclaim when Europe regained the Cup in 2010. It hosted three Celtic Manor Wales Opens previous to the staging of the Ryder Cup.
The Marquess Course at Woburn G&CC: Ross McMurray was the lead designer on The Marquess, which opened in 2000 and has staged several big tournaments, including the 2015 British Masters and the 2016 Ricoh Women’s British Open.
Royal Golf Club: Robin Hiseman, in association with Colin Montgomerie, was responsible for the 27-hole desert golf course in Bahrain, which hosted the 2011 Volvo Golf Champions event on the European Tour that was won by Paul Casey.
The Montgomerie Maxx Royal: A collaboration between Colin Montgomerie and Gary Johnston, which has hosted the Turkish Airlines Open on four occasions, the latest during Tyrrell Hatton’s play-off victory in November 2019.
Royal Greens Golf & Country Club: First opened in 2017 and designed by Dave Sampson, the course at King Adbullah Economic City has been the venue for the Saudi International on both occasions – during Dustin Johnson’s win in 2019, and Graeme McDowell’s victory at the start of 2020.
Casa Serena: Designed by Robin Hiseman, the course in the Czech Republic opened in 2007 and held the Casa Serena Open on the European Senior Tour from 2008 to 2011.
Evian Resort: Dave Sampson completed and oversaw design and construction on the redevelopment of the French course in 2013, which became the fifth major on the LET and LPGA Tour schedule and has been played every year since.
European Golf Design is also responsible for the redesign of Wentworth's West Course, Golf-Club Crans-sur-Sierre, the North Course at Green Eagle Golf and both Le Golf National (2016 Ryder Cup), and Golf Club Marco Simone (2022 Ryder Cup).
