For immediate release: July 23, 2007
Design Workshop Golf teams with Hale Irwin to design Lodestone Golf Club in western Maryland
DENVER, CO – Land planning and golf design firm Design Workshop is teaming with legendary golf professional Hale Irwin to create The Lodestone Golf Club in McHenry, Maryland. Located on a mountain ridge above Deep Greek Lake and next to the Wisp Ski Resort, the 18-hole course will be the signature piece of the exclusive Lodestone Golf Club developed by Wisp Resort. Groundbreaking was held on Thursday, June 14 on the 12th hole at Lodestone, with the course slated to open as early as Fall 2008.
“We are extremely fortunate and honored to be working with Hale Irwin, who is as impressive a designer as he is a player,” said golf course architect Todd Schoeder, who heads the Design Workshop golf design team. “Course features at Lodestone are not forced. Rather, the land dictates the strategy and character of the design and lends a gentle touch and respect to the land, making it seem as though the course has existed for generations while respecting the history and traditions of the game.”
Lodestone is the first Hale Irwin signature Golf Course in Maryland and will be the highest-elevation course in the state. The site, 400-plus acres of land atop Marsh Mountain, is a former logging area, now covered by lush deciduous forest. The Lodestone course meanders through the forest and around mountainous streams, incorporating natural elements such as mossy rock outcroppings, natural water features and breathtaking views of Deep Creek Lake. A residential community as well the Irwin Estates is planned, with custom homesites on the course tucked into the natural forest environment.
Golf course architect Todd Schoeder has designed numerous high-profile golf courses, including the national award-winning Glacier Club in Durango, CO. Working with Hale Irwin, he is assisted on the Lodestone design by two other Design Workshop architects, Chad Murphy and Rick Wesselman, as well as Hale Irwin’s son Steve. The Lodestone Golf Course will be managed by OB Sports Management of Scottsdale, Arizona with course construction by Aspen Corporation of Daniels, West Virginia.
About Hale Irwin:
Hale Irwin has a total of 20 victories on the PGA Tour from 1971 to 1994, winning the 1974, 1979, and 1990 U.S. Opens, and playing on five Ryder Cups teams. Irwin was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1992. Playing on the over-50 Champions Tour since 1995, he has enjoyed even greater success, with 45 Champions Tour titles. He was the winner of the U.S. Senior Open in 1998 and 2000. Irwin is also one of the most sought-after golf course architects with notable courses in his design portfolio that include the Mountain Course at Cordillera in Vail, Colorado; The Jewel in Lake City, Minnesota; and Teton Reserve in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. For more information, visit http://www.haleirwininternational.com/
About Design Workshop Golf:
Design Workshop Golf is recognized worldwide for its imaginative approach to the strategy of golf course design. Blending disciplines of land-use planning and golf course architecture, the practice has crafted over 150 unique and spectacular courses. Design Workshop Golf is best known for combining modern techniques of sustainability with classic golf course design principles, resulting in places of distinctive character and personality that remain in harmony with the natural landscape, fulfill client needs, and provide a variety of challenges to the players. For more information, visit http://www.designworkshop.com/portfolio/golf.html
About Design Workshop:
Design Workshop is a practice of landscape architecture, land planning, urban design and tourism planning. Design Workshop combines principles of smart growth, sustainable design and environmentally sound planning to reconcile economic needs with the preservation of scenic, cultural and community values. Design Workshop’s pioneering efforts have been recognized with more than 125 awards from such organizations as the American Society of Landscape Architects, the American Planning Association and the Urban Land Institute.
