Andy got into golf through a friend at junior school, pretty soon he was spending all his free time on a golf course, "I don't know what hooked me about it, but it started to take over my spare time." He was really into art and design and after he saw an advert in a Golf World magazine about Carl Litton’s overseas golf course design services he knew that that's what he wanted to do. Andy didn't even know that was a career option until he saw that advert at 16.
Studying landscape architecture at Gloucester, Andy commented that the course was really art-based which appealed to him, "I liked that more than the scientific side of things and I think you see that in my work now". Having spent four years studying he graduated with his diploma then started the process of getting his professional body membership. Needing two years of practical experience for this Andy was lucky enough to get a job straight from college with David Williams. The job was a good fit and since it was a multidisciplinary firm there were opportunities to learn a lot. A couple of years later Andy got a job with European Golf Design where he spent 11 years, then he moved to Faldo Design where he has been for 20 years.
I've always come at golf course design from a landscape background and I just see golf courses as a specialist landscape, it's just that golf course design is a specialism of landscape design, you know.
Andy Haggar
Andy was the lead golf course designer for the Rumanza Golf & Country Club in Pakistan. Rumanza achieved GEO Development status in 2022 and was a great example of how golf can completely regenerate a parcel of land while becoming a hub for golf and the community. Key achievements in the project include:
GEO – For you, what makes a project sustainable?
"The courses have to have their own identity. Courses cannot just reprint in different countries throughout the world with no change. They have to be unique to where it is and as locally unique as you can get it. You know, you get the country, then the region, then maybe the village or town or whatever, as local as you can get. And I think that's really key because it gives it character and it roots it where it is and that's a key part of the sustainability for me. I think sometimes we don’t realise things are sustainable when they are in fact, GEO have helped me understand this and introduced me to a lot of sustainability considerations."
GEO – Talk to us about Rumanza, does it stick in your mind as a good project?
"Yeah, that was an absolute winner. I think there is so much about Rumanza that exemplifies sustainability. We were able to dig down and find all the sand we needed to shape the course, the site was pretty much pan-flat so to have that amount of good material on site was a welcome surprise. We ended up with three ‘zones’ in the course – the orchards, the lakes and a more open desert area, this brought an authentic and exciting feel to the course, it gave it character where there wasn’t before. Around 90% of the construction team at Rumanza were local Pakistani people which was great."
GEO - What were your thoughts on becoming a champion?
"Extremely honoured and to be honest, I feel slightly awkward, because I’m just one small part of a bigger team of people responsible for all the good work that goes into the projects and that of course includes all the elements of sustainability. On behalf of all those people, I’m happy to be championing this kind of direction in the wider industry."
GEO – How do you think perceptions of sustainability in golf has changed over the years?
"I think, obviously, it is becoming a much bigger consideration for clients and golf course architects. Like I said, we often have impacts on the sustainability of something without even realising it but in recent years it has been an easier conversation to have with clients. Clients sometimes question some decisions, which is fair enough. That's their job, and I expect that. But if you present them with a good answer and good reasoning, then 9 times out of 10 they understand and trust you. Sometimes it takes more than one conversation but if you believe in something enough and the positive impacts it will have then I find the client gets on board and once the course is finished they embrace it fully."
Find Andy and his work at:
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