Bob Hunt and Aashish Vaishnava on Golf Design, Masterplanning, and the Evolution of Golf in India

Описание: Join Aashish Vaishnava, renowned Golf Course Architect and Master Planner based in India, and Bob Hunt, Signature Golf Course Architect with 45+ years of global experience, for an unfiltered conversation on what it takes to design world‑class golf courses that actually make money.
Bob Hunt shares his extraordinary journey — from a traditional architect in the UK to becoming one of the world’s most sought‑after golf masterplanners, working across 55 countries from Norway to Trinidad, China to South America. He reveals how he started designing golf courses almost by accident, learned from operators’ brutal feedback, and built PGA Design Consulting before founding International Design Group (IDG).
Key Highlights from the Interview:
🎨 Bob Hunt’s Origin Story
• How a 1980s property developer forced him into “leisure” (aka golf courses)
• Transitioning from poor building architecture to loving open golf landscapes
• Building the UK’s largest chain of golf hotels (later sold to Marriott)
💼 Business + Design Philosophy
• Why golf courses alone lose money — they must integrate with hotels, real estate, and operations
• The single‑point responsibility advantage: masterplanning + architecture + finance in one team
• Turning down projects that would bankrupt developers (none of Bob’s 400+ projects have failed)
🏌️ India Projects Spotlight
• Aamby Valley: Transforming a flawed course into India’s #1 championship venue (first Asian Tour host)
• Prestige Golfshire (Bangalore): Benchmark luxury golf resort using airport sewage water for sustainability
• Lessons from redeveloping dangerous, poorly planned Indian courses
🌍 Global Lessons Applied
• Turkey’s Belek boom (Bob led the EU study tour that launched it)
• Silents Golf (Turkey): 27 holes designed for future residential conversion
• Vetting celebrity architects’ plans (one had 1,073 changes, wiping out profits)
🚀 IDG Legacy & Future
• Jon’s rise as “rockstar architect” using tech for lightning‑fast routing
• Bob’s 5‑volume book on golf resort design to preserve decades of knowledge
• Why AI can’t replace human creativity in golf design
Aashish Vaishnava draws parallels to his own work, emphasizing how Bob’s mentorship shaped modern Indian golf architecture and why golf‑centric real estate demands integrated masterplanning.
Perfect for: Golf developers, architects, operators, investors, and enthusiasts who want the real story behind profitable, sustainable golf resorts.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro & Welcome
00:30 Bob’s Architecture to Golf Journey
02:20 Early UK Golf Hotel Chain
05:00 PGA Design Consulting Era
11:00 Golf Safety & Technical Publications
15:00 Turkey Golf Tourism Revolution
18:00 Prestige Golfshire Deep Dive
27:00 IDG Origins & John Hunt
32:00 AI vs Human Creativity
38:00 Avoiding Developer Disasters
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