UNDER THE BANYAN TREE Jul-Dec 2015 | Page 64

EXPLORE TASTE REFLECT CREATE your opinion, it makes its return to the Olympics next year for the first time since 1904. The design companies of Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Greg Norman were among the eight in the final tender for designing a course fitting for the greatest of all sporting spectaculars. But the contract was given to Gil Hanse – not an immediately recognisable name to those uninitiated with golf, but one of the most respected golf course architects in the game. Among his admirers is Phil Mickelson. “I think he’s one of the best architects in the business,” said Mickelson. “He understands how to make a golf course playable for the average player, but challenging for the good one. He does it better than probably anyone. “For him to ge Ёѡ