Shaping The Future
Golf by Design was founded by James Wilcher in 1999 to fill a void in the golf architectural space for highly competent, non-signature, commercially orientated but importantly creative golf design solutions, without ego.
Excellence
Experience drawn over many years from a multitude of design commissions in a range of countries, cultures and climates has given the company a unique foundation upon which it has built its success
Experienced
Since those early days, and largely driven by clients’ needs, GBD has expanded its offering to encompass a full suite of consultancy services related to golf course design, from site selection and approvals through to design and delivery via project management or construction management
Exacting
The GBD team thrives on challenges and formulating solutions to those challenges, always to the benefit of our client. We are brief driven and always seek to ensure the Clients’ needs and desires is heard and delivered upon.
Design Philosophy
Golf by Design avoids a stylised design approach, we prefer to tailor each design to its environment, budget and the clients design brief. We emphasize the aesthetic and strategic importance of the selection and placement of each aspect of the golf course landscape, be it the texture and colour of the grasses, the depth and style of the bunkers or the integration of the vertical landscape. The textural diversity of these features enhances the presentation and playing appeal of the course. Identifying these subliminal messages of a site, exposing them, and developing them such that the character of the site is internalised within the overall design is critical to the strategic, aesthetic, environmental and playing dynamics of the finished course.
For the game of golf to be enjoyed by all, a commercial imperative, a course must offer playing options of varying difficulty and not favour players of specific ability. We achieve this through careful consideration of hazard placement; a range of teeing options; width of fairways; depth of rough; and the shape, size and slope of greens. These strategic aspects of golf course design should never be obvious, rather they are revealed only after continual play
Golf by Design prides itself on developing golf courses that complement and enhance the surrounding environment, encouraging the course to appear as a natural extension of the existing landscape. Still, in cases where the development site confers little natural advantage or is subject to constraints such as flooding or the developer’s commercial objectives, we have proven adept at applying our creative and strategic design skills to manufacture a natural looking result that satisfies our clients specific needs aesthetically and economically.












STAGE 3 (OF 6) OF REBUILD OF PYMBLE GOLF CLUB COMMENCES
After a difficult period during stage 2, GBD and the Pymble team have commenced construction...
Read MoreGBD HAS BEEN ENGAGED TO DESIGN 4 HOLES AT SUSSEX INLET GOLF CLUB
Golf by Design has been engaged by the Sheargold Group to detail design the first...
Read MoreKINGDOM LAKES REDEVELOPMENT APPOINTS GBD TO REDESIGN RUM CORP BARAKS
GBD have been commissioned to detail design changes including the original 9 holes, a new...
Read MoreNEWS
- STAGE 3 (OF 6) OF REBUILD OF PYMBLE GOLF CLUB COMMENCES
- GBD HAS BEEN ENGAGED TO DESIGN 4 HOLES AT SUSSEX INLET GOLF CLUB
- KINGDOM LAKES REDEVELOPMENT APPOINTS GBD TO REDESIGN RUM CORP BARAKS
- GBD TO REDESIGN PARKES GOLF CLUB
- PYMBLE GOLF CLUB APPOINTED GBD TO MANAGE DESIGN CHANGES GOING FORWARD LEADING UP TO THE CLUBS CENTENARY IN 2024
- GBD APPOINTED MICK CADDEY TO THE DESIGN AND DELIVERY TEAM
- GBD FINALISES CONTRACTUAL DOCUMENTATION TO GET NUDGEE GOLF CLUB’S REDEVELOPMENT UNDERWAY
- GBD HAS BEEN ENGAGED BY CITISCAPE IN SAUDI ARABIA AS THEIR GOLF CONSULTANT.
- PYMBLE GOLF CLUB APPOINTED GBD TO MANAGE DESIGN CHANGES GOING FORWARD LEADING UP TO THE CLUBS CENTENARY IN 2024
- GBD HAS BEEN COMMISSIONED BY NUDGEE GOLF CLUB TO DETAIL DESIGN THE REMAINING 8 HOLES OF WHAT IS TO BECOME A FULL 36 HOLE REBUILD.
- PATTERSON RIVER LOOK TO TAKE THEIR COURSE TO THE NEXT LEVEL AND HAVE ENGAGED GOLF BY DESIGN TO UNDERTAKE A COURSE MASTERPLAN
- GBD ENGAGED TO PROVIDE SUPPLEMENTARY MASTERPLAN FOR STRATHFIELD GOLF CLUB
- GBD HAS BEEN ENGAGED BY CITISCAPE IN SAUDI ARABIA AS THEIR GOLF CONSULTANT.
- GBD HAS BEEN COMMISSIONED BY NUDGEE GOLF CLUB TO DETAIL DESIGN THE REMAINING 8 HOLES OF WHAT IS TO BECOME A FULL 36 HOLE REBUILD.
- WORK HAS COMMENCED ON THE PYMBLE 2024 CENTENARY PROJECT.
- GOLF BY DESIGN HAS COMMENCED MASTER PLANNING FOR COURSE CHANGE AT MEREWETHER GOLF CLUB IN NEWCASTLE
Contact Us
- 106/20-22 Bayswater Rd, Potts Point, NSW 2011
- PO Box 492 Paddington, NSW 2021
- (61-2) 8354 1022
- 0407 932 770
- James@golfbydesign.com.au
- @Golf_by_Design_