Project Overview 

Long range planning for Shawnee Country Club outside Oklahoma City, Oklahoma was undertaken to provide club leaders with options for moving the golf club ahead for a new generation of golfers. Our work involved evaluation of the course in terms of agronomic, safety and strategy. We also made an analysis of land owned by the club with the possibility of developing portions into residential homesites.

As part of our work we infused our branding and marketing experience to offer repositioning of the club. This included conceptual approaches to a new club crest, membership recruitment materials and an overall transformation of the club’s culture.

The club history is rich with potential. The original course layout was created by noted Golden Age golf architect Perry Maxwell. Throughout the years most of Maxwell’s design hallmarks were lost to remodeling, expansion and the need for residential lots to offset economic hardships of the once-thriving country club.

“It’s always depressing to see what were once great course settings be compromised,” comments Richardson. “The path forward is one where you look back, but avoid dwelling on what you have lost as much as working with the best the site has to offer as you try and piece it all back together.”

At Shawnee the proposed approach was to restore as much of the Maxwell philosophy and design as practical, reducing the turf footprint and allowing the course to take on a much more natural and free-formed ambiance. As with most long range master planning projects, the Shawnee Country Club vision was packaged and tailored for club leaders and staff. The format was a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation covering all aspects of the club and its future: History, Current Conditions, Land Planning, Conceptual Designs, Routing Adjustments and Re-positioning of Marketing and Image.