Ross Watson studies the layout of the Caloundra golf course – his first and last design project.
IT WAS just chance that Ross Watson, who has designed more Australian golf courses than perhaps any other golf architect, chose to retire to Caloundra, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
By coincidence, it was at Caloundra that Watson began his illustrious career more than four decades ago – redesigning the town’s 18-hole course, refurbishing the tees and bunkers, and renovating all 18 greens.
And, by a stroke of remarkable fortune and a healthy dose of what he describes as ‘serendipity,’ it will be at that same course that Watson brings down the curtain on a body of work that has made him a legend.
“We’d been looking at going back to the Gold Coast, where we had lived for 43 years, but couldn’t find anything we liked,” Watson said. “I then thought I’d investigate the Sunshine Coast, found something that suited us perfectly, and here we are.”
Watson and his wife Carol, who had been living in the Brisbane suburb of Manly, chose to settle at Caloundra Cay, a Palm Lakes Over 50s resort.
It was there he ran into former Caloundra Golf Club president Jim Burns, who suggested he might help out with a major refurbishment of the same course he designed all those years ago.
Ross Watson and his wife Carol drink to a remarkable career that refuses to end.
“The greens need a total refurbishment, which will include having all Bermuda 328 grass replaced with Tif eagle,” he said.
The task also includes installing new drainage systems and replacing the par-five fourth hole with two new holes – a par-four and a par-three.
“I have arrived here right at the perfect time,” Watson said. “And I am really excited about the challenge.”
Back in 1980, Watson had cut his teeth in golf course design with Gold Coast consulting engineers Geoff Burchill and Partners, working on the development of Windaroo Golf Club near Beenleigh.
When that project ended, Watson wrote to every golf club in the country, offering his services. Caloundra was the first to respond, launching a new career for the former road design draftsman.
Watson changed the layout of the old Caloundra course, refurbished tees and bunkers, and renovated all 18 greens. By the time work was complete, Ross Watson Golf Course Design Services was ready for new challenges.
Since then, he has been responsible for countless projects in Australia and throughout Asia.
He’s placed his imprimatur on Royal Sydney, Avondale, Horizons, Magenta Shores, Kooindah Waters and Terrey Hills (all NSW), The Vines (Perth), and Queensland courses Paradise Palms, Pacific Harbour, Robina Woods, The Palms (Sanctuary Cove), Brisbane Golf Club, Palm Meadows, Indooroopilly, Cairns and Townsville.
Watson has designed 19 courses in Malaysia, six in Japan, and one each in South Korea and Guam. Along the way he’s worked with the likes of Graham Marsh, Norman Von Nida, Bob Shearer and Craig Parry.
The Caloundra Golf Club on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast is set to undergo a refurbishment under the guidance of Ross Watson.
Now 80, Watson was the founding president of the Society of Australian Golf Course Architects, and is a life member of that organisation.
He was also an outstanding young golfer, who once toyed with the idea of becoming a trainee professional at Sydney’s Windsor Golf Club.
His role at Caloundra includes an honorary membership and, though a dodgy back has kept him off the golf course in recent years, he’s thinking about a comeback.
He still owns a handicap of 11.2 – well shy of his best mark of two – has started to take a few practice swings and is looking forward to an occasional social game with his new mates.
