The reimagined course will open for play on 1 August, seven years after initial work began on its new layout, with the country club facilities set for completion in 2027.
‘We want this to be a hospitality experience. It’s not just a round of golf – it’s an experience. And we need good people to provide that,’ said Steve Lansdown, who bought the former four-star hotel at Vazon at the end of 2018.
‘So we’ll be looking to invest into that structure and that infrastructure and I’d like to think we can recruit virtually all of that locally. We have confidence we can get the right people here and people that want to be here.’
And the hope is that the new team will help to create a world-class sporting experience, with more than 20 full-time staff already working hard on shaping and maintaining the course itself.
‘The quality is what I hoped for and having played on some very good courses around the world in the past, this matches anything I’ve played on,’ said Mr Lansdown.
Watch a full interview with golf course designer Robin Hiseman
‘And I think it’s a credit to Robin [Hiseman], the golf course designer, and Rick [Hamilton, course manager] and his team that look after the place that it is in such good condition. Obviously, the challenge will be to keep it in that condition, to keep it playing that way, but I see no reason why that shouldn’t happen.
‘All the problems we had at the outset, with planning and environmental issues, etc., that people tried to raise, are now in the past. I think people can see that what we set out to do was a credit to the island, a credit to ourselves, and very much protects the environment, as well as produce a fantastic golf course and a fantastic sporting facility for the island,’ he said.
The man charged with overseeing the operation is new managing director Ben Stimson, who has taken up the role after working in premium golf environments in the UK and middle east.
‘This really is a dream job – there’s no getting around that,’ he said.
‘I’m so grateful and humbled to be in this opportunity to create something really, really special at La Grande Mare, for Guernsey, to help drive tourism to the local economy, but also to support local employment.
‘We’re going to have a team of over 100 associates, ranging from agronomy to landscape, to food and beverage, HR, finance, golf operations, events, membership, spa, leisure – there’s so much involved,’ he said.
‘The course itself is genuinely as good as it gets. The redesign of the golf course from European Golf Design is spectacular. They’ve designed multiple Ryder Cup venues, European tour venues, and other tour venues as well – and La Grande Mare fits that,’ he said.
‘In terms of my experience, drawing from working at high-end facilities, I can bring that hospitality side to it as well, to make sure that the overall experience matches the quality and conditioning of the golf course.’
While the hope is that that quality will attract visiting golfers to come over and experience the new offering, its focus – at least until the country club opens – is on a local market.
‘We know that the word will get out very, very quickly and we look forward to welcoming guests from off-island as well. But our main objective from August and for the rest of 2026 and early 2027 will be focusing on having local golfers and non-golfers to experience what we’ve created,’ said Mr Stimson.
For the time being, no membership will be required to play the course – with green fees, the price of a round of golf per person, set at £200.
That compares with a day rate of £110 for visitors to Royal Guernsey at L’Ancresse and green fees of £150 at La Moye in Jersey.
But its owner said the elevated experience on offer at La Grande Mare will justify its price.
‘People are buying a golfing experience, or just an experience of being in a very special place. So in that sense, I think you have to value it,’ said Mr Lansdown.
‘I think the island has to value these things. We won’t please all the people. There’ll be people that will be unhappy with what we’re saying and what we’re doing, but they’ll understand when they see the course. It won’t be for everybody, but I think a lot of people will recognise the value and will want to be part of it,’ he said.
The opening of the course follows the completion of the driving range and Golf Performance Centre last October as the years-long, multi-million pound investment into La Grande Mare’s redevelopment comes to fruition.
‘I look at Vraic restaurant and Bella Luce that’s being built – those are two quality establishments. And I think that’s raising the bar with everybody else. Everybody else is thinking, we’re going to have to raise our bar, and that’s just good for the island. It has to be,’ said Mr Lansdown.
‘I’m very optimistic, really. I’m optimistic for what we can achieve here, and I’m optimistic for what the island can achieve generally.’
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