We spend a lot of time on site studying the golf course to develop a master plan that will last a generation.

As part of a year-long master plan process, we anticipate spending 10-15 days on the golf course to gain a deep understanding of how it plays for golfers of all skill levels. During this time, we assess the course conditions, inspect the important infrastructure, and study the course's history to meet our long-range goals.

We can often be seen walking around the golf course with our clipboard, working on detailed field notes. During this process, we also use a drone to get a better perspective for documenting all the important features of the course. We often use old photos of the course for inspiration or as a detailed guide for restorations. We work closely with the committee and the course superintendent to understand the golf course from every angle and under the surface. We both watch and play the course with a variety of skill levels to get a complete understanding of the playing experience.

We next turn to the design studio to visually communicate our concepts and ideas to our clients.

Our master plan booklets comprise scaled plans for each hole, accompanied by additional notes, historic photographs and six beautifully crafted perspectives that help clients envision how the course will play and look. The project goals, key design features, and historical evolution of the course introduce the booklet to ensure clear communication of the scope of work based on our year-long analysis.

This booklet is delivered to the committee in several stages throughout the year. Once the final design is approved, a beautiful plan of the finished course is drawn up and ready to hang in the clubhouse.

Preliminary Design and Finalizing the Plans. We typically provide our clients with our preliminary master plans in six-hole installments, with each delivery stage occurring throughout the year. This staggered approach enables us to refine our designs, receive valuable feedback, and establish trust with our clients as we work towards a final design. Following this, the entire master plan is finalized, and an approval process is carried out to solidify the plans that will guide the club for the next generation. Presentations to the club’s board and/or full membership are often the last part of the design and approval process.

Proper Golf has developed a reputation for creating exceptionally thorough budgets that keep projects on time and on or under budget. Each individual feature of the course is measured and itemized to create an accurate construction estimate. Bids and budgets can be produced whether the project is going to be phased over the long-term or bundled into a single large-scale project. The financial elements of each project are often the biggest and hardest hurdle for clubs during the planning and implementation process. Years of on-site construction experience and an extremely thorough budget are important components of all our master plans. Financing is often the most challenging aspect of any project. Our master plans are carefully crafted with years of on-site construction experience and a comprehensive budget to ensure their success.

Proper Golf champions the philosophy that golf course design should be an evolving process that considers the challenges and opportunities present in the field. While having a beautiful plan is important, it is equally crucial to devote the time and effort to see it through to fruition. Each golf course, individual hole, and feature presents numerous problems that need to be addressed, and the best solutions can only be found by actively participating in the construction process. Proper Golf takes pride in its highly involved Design/Shape process, which was honed over a decade of working onsite with Gil Hanse and Tom Doak.

Building golf courses is our passion. We love being on-site, on the machines, and sculpting the features we’ve imagined and drawn. There is so much satisfaction in taking what started as an idea and sculpting it with your own hands. It is immensely satisfying to take an idea, shape it with your own hands, and perfect every last detail in the dirt. We believe that constructing first-rate golf courses requires nothing less than our best efforts.

Shaping is a blend of artwork and problem-solving. Our work stands up to Mother Nature, can be maintained at the highest standards, and creates a beautiful and strategic challenge to golfers every day. Each step of the golf course design process is taken with the goal of ensuring the project's long-term success. This includes everything from creating a green from scratch to adding small wrinkles with a rake before seeding, building bunkers into existing sand dunes, or even using an excavator to delicately trace the landlines of a lost bunker from the golden age. All these steps are crucial to achieving a great end result.

To achieve the highest quality results in the construction of modern golf greens, attention to detail is paramount, and the most critical elements come down to fractions of an inch. At Proper Golf, we believe in being hands-on throughout the entire process, ensuring that the final product meets our high standards. Although we use advanced technology such as GPS Total Stations and lasers, our construction process always begins with a bulldozer, then refined with an excavator, and we take pride in finishing each green with a personal touch using a rake, shovel, and our own hands.

After patiently waiting for the work to settle in and grow, it is time to have fun!