Mike Weir to Redesign Blue Course at Le Club Laval-sur-le-Lac
MONTREAL, June 28, 2011 /Canada NewsWire Telbec/ - Le Club Laval-sur-le-Lac is pleased to announce it will be partnering with Weir Golf Design to transform its Blue Course into one of the most challenging and prestigious golf courses in Canada.
"We're delighted to work with Mike Weir, the best golfer Canada has ever produced, and his partner, Ian Andrew, a respected Canadian course architect with whom we have collaborated for more than 15 years," said Paul Legault, Chairman of the Board of Le Club Laval-sur-le-Lac, at today's news conference. "Mr. Weir brings his unique vision and experience to this ambitious project. Over the course of his remarkable career, he has played on some of the world's best golf courses, racking up eight wins on the PGA Tour, including a Masters' Tournament championship in 2003."
Founded in 1917 by a group of French Canadian businessmen, Le Club Laval-sur-le-Lac was designed by the famous and celebrated Scottish architect Willie Park Jr., also one of the top professional golfers of his era. Over the years, the Club added two nine-hole courses (1968 and 1992), known today as the Blue Course. Today, Le Club Laval-sur-le-Lac is considered a standard among Canadian golf courses.
"We want to make the Blue Course just as appealing as the Green Course," said Rémi Racine, Vice-Chairman of the Board and the project leader. "With the help of Mr. Weir and Mr. Andrew, we'll have a beautiful, modern course that will challenge players at any level," he added.
The team of Weir and Andrew
Mike Weir and Ian Andrew joined forces in the summer of 2009 to form a partnership.
According to Mr. Weir, "Ian and I both believe in developing courses where you need to use your mind as well as your skills to succeed. We both believe in presenting the golfer with multiple options and allowing the golfer the opportunity to take on as much risk as they feel comfortable with, but if they want to score they are going to have to take on all the hazards and attack the course which brings more of the danger into play. This is the main reason I wanted to team up with Ian. We share such a common vision on golf architecture and believe we can offer a style of architecture that is far more interesting to play. Ian has an outstanding reputation as a course architect, developed through his restoration and renovation of many of North America's best courses. The detail work that he has done on those projects will be brought into our new designs. Golfers will be impressed by the level of detailing in our greens and bunkers."
Outstanding environment
"The Blue Course at Le Club Laval-sur-le-Lac boasts an outstanding property and we intend to take full advantage of it," said Mr. Andrew. "Twelve of the holes will follow the same basic configuration as the original holes. We will make modest changes to enhance each hole particularly at the green sites. The other six will tremendously improve after we re-route them to make much better use of the existing topography. Mike and I are being given the opportunity to build something very special at Laval-sur-le-Lac."
Mike Weir says he is inspired by courses whose main characteristics are in the greens. In addition to being higher and featuring more relief, the turf around the greens can be mowed to increase the level of difficulty for tournaments.
"We hope this new course will leave more room for players' creativity, whether they are amateurs or pros," he said.
Work will begin in the fall of 2011 and the golf course will be ready for the 2013 season.
About Le Club Laval-sur-le-Lac
Le Club Laval-sur-le-Lac is a private golf club that offers its members two beautifully appointed courses in an exceptional setting. The Club's philosophy is to offer a blend of traditional and modern features, which has produced a strong sense of belonging among its members, from one generation to the next.
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