Aurora man put the swing in Solheim's course

BATAVIA -- Topographical designs and photos of golf courses dominate the walls in Greg Martin's conference room.

His Batavia office for Martin Design Partnership, a golf course architecture company, sits in a industrial-looking building near downtown and far from the green links Martin loves.

Martin's design work has been key in such area courses as the Aurora Country Club and Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, both sites for professional golf's Solheim Cup tournament this week.

Martin helped Rich Harvest Farms owner Jerry Rich expand and develop his nationally recognized course. The day before the Solheim Cup tournament officially teed off, Martin was awed by his role.

"It's kind of overwhelming to me that the golf world is watching two golf courses I've had a hand in," he said.

Born in Aurora, Martin grew up playing golf at local courses like Aurora's Phillips Park and by "sneaking in the Aurora Country Club." Later, he would take on both as redesign projects.

Some of his other projects include courses at Fox Bend in Oswego, White Tail in Yorkville, Pottawatomie in St. Charles, as well as some in different states and overseas.

"Each golf course needs a little bit different approach," Martin said. "It's easy to make a hard golf course. It's a lot harder to make it fun."

For Rich Harvest Farms, nine holes were already in place when Martin was tasked with expanding it to the current 18.

"No matter what I do or where I go, it's kind of my job to articulate the vision," Martin said. "His (Jerry Rich's) vision was a little bit different than the norm."

That difference paid off. Rich Harvest Farms is ranked as the 46th best course in America by Golf Digest magazine.

Martin's work helping to update the Aurora County Club, where the Junior Solheim Cup is being played, perhaps would not be noticed by many playing the course, said John Gurke, certified golf course superintendent.

The redesign process started around 2001 and, after a lull for several years, kicked off again in the fall of 2007. By the spring of last year, improvements to the bunkers, length of the fairways and several other components were complete.

But Gurke says the biggest improvement was the water irrigation on the course.

"That's the one thing that can ruin any golf course: having excess water that can't get off," Gurke said.

Practice rounds and pre-tournament events continued Thursday morning after severe storm warnings emptied the course Wednesday afternoon. Martin said he could only imagine the army of men and women who would have to prepare the course for tournament practice after the storm.

Despite Martin's enjoyment of the game, he appreciates golf's unrecognized benefits. Communities benefit when golf courses are designed to help with water retention, contain environmentally beneficial ecosystems or give youths an outdoor activity, Martin said.

"More and more, golf is asked to solve problems," Martin said. "I like the idea of golf solving problems."