Across the southeastern United States, Georgia may present the toughest test for a golf course architect. Its summers are long and humid, its rainfall is unpredictable, and its soils swing from sandy coastal plains to sticky red clay in the Piedmont. For architects like Jeff Lawrence, ASGCA, founder of Lawrence Golf Design, success in Georgia isn’t about adding flash — it’s about creating courses that survive the climate gracefully.
“In the Southeast, every square foot of turf has to justify itself,” Lawrence says. “You’re managing heat, humidity, and water all at once. The design itself has to make that easier.”
Georgia sits in what agronomists call the transition zone, where cool-season grasses struggle and warm-season species thrive only with careful water control. With daily highs hovering near 90°F for months, a course that drains poorly or traps humidity will see turf stress within days.
Lawrence notes that his team’s approach to greens and fairway design always begins with air movement and solar orientation — two factors that can’t be solved by maintenance alone.
By studying sun paths, shade patterns, and elevation, Lawrence Golf Design positions greens to catch airflow and minimize heat buildup in the soil. Slopes are subtle but strategic: not just to shed water, but to keep micro-environments from suffocating under stagnant humidity.
“You can’t irrigate your way out of heat stress,” Lawrence adds. “The best water management is often about oxygen, not just sprinklers.”
On many aging Georgia courses, the biggest design problem hides underground. Decades of silt accumulation and compacted clay mean traditional pipe systems fail to move water effectively — leading to soggy fairways one week and drought stress the next.
Lawrence’s philosophy borrows from his Carolina renovation experience: treat drainage as part of the course’s ecological system, not a separate infrastructure project.
That means designing graded collection zones, naturalized swales, and low-maintenance wetland areas that store and filter runoff.
The modern Georgia architect must think like an agronomist.
Bermudagrass remains the regional favorite, but selecting the right cultivar can make or break renovation ROI.
The data drives not just turf choice, but grading, irrigation zoning, and mowing strategy.
Georgia’s premier private clubs and municipalities alike are investing in smart-irrigation systems and soil-moisture sensors.
While Lawrence Golf Design embraces those tools, Lawrence insists that good architecture still dictates efficiency.
Courses with wide, flowing fairways can waste thousands of gallons daily when irrigation zones overlap. By reshaping fairway perimeters and creating tapered mow lines, Jeff Lawrence’s designs reduce irrigated acreage without making courses feel narrow.
It’s a delicate balance: embracing efficiency while keeping the natural, walkable rhythm that defines Southern golf.
At The Cliffs at Mountain Park similar strategies — precision irrigation and native landscaping — cut water use dramatically. The lessons carry north: the best conservation starts in the grading/grassing plans, not the pump house.
Georgia’s weather extremes — flash floods followed by weeks of dryness — push courses to handle both abundance and scarcity.
Every contour serves dual purposes: playable recovery and hydrologic control.
This holistic approach ensures that when drought hits, stored water in subsurface basins and ponds can supplement irrigation, reducing reliance on municipal sources.
“The Southeast doesn’t have a water problem,” Lawrence explains. “It has a distribution problem. Design can fix that.”
Renovating under Georgia’s climate isn’t just an agronomic test — it’s a financial one. Every additional irrigation head, bunker liner, or sodded acre adds cost and future liability.
Lawrence Golf Design helps clients focus investment where it creates lasting value: reshaping drainage first, simplifying green complexes, and eliminating excess turf around bunkers. The result is less input, more playability, and a look that fits Georgia’s bold natural palette — rolling terrain, golden roughs, and hardwood shadows.
Georgia’s golf landscape is evolving fast — with private clubs, municipal systems, and resort courses all seeking resiliency. The architects who succeed here aren’t just designers; they’re problem-solvers.
Lawrence Golf Design’s growing influence across the Southeast shows how adaptable master planning, honest soil science, and local empathy can sustain courses for decades.
The firm’s philosophy — work with the land, not against it — resonates perfectly in Georgia’s climate.
Every Georgia golf course lives between flood and drought.
Smart design unites agronomy, drainage, and artistry — building landscapes that stay beautiful when the temperature hits 95° and the humidity climbs past reason.