Els thrilled with result of Wentworth redesign

Ernie Els lauded Wentworth's remodelled West Course after an opening round of one-under par in the BMW PGA.

The South African, whose team led the redesign, believes it boasts some of the best greens in England, and said the track has reverted to how original architect Harry Colt wanted it.

Els said: “It looks incredible. This was our original design intent from the very beginning and we’re so pleased it has finally come to fruition; it’s a moment of great satisfaction for me and for the rest of the team.

"Big thanks to Jeremy Slessor at European Golf Design, who collaborated with us on this latest phase of works on the West Course, and also to our partners at the European Tour. We’re extremely happy and proud to see the course looking the way it does here this week and to hear the positive feedback from the players and also from the Club’s members. That really means a lot to us.”

“I can’t tell you how happy it makes me feel to see the course looking the way it does here this week and to hear the positive feedback from the players and also from the club’s members. That really means a lot to us.

“Obviously a key focus of the renovation was improving the putting surfaces and the recent significant investment by the club’s owners, Reignwood Group, has allowed us to create arguably the purest, most consistent putting surfaces in the country.

“In addition, we undertook a further review of the bunkers on the golf course. As a result, all bunkers have been redesigned and reconstructed, with 29 bunkers removed from play. We believe this helps more closely realign the course with Harry Colt’s original vision and, in fact, many of the bunkers are very much in the Colt style now.”

Key features of this Ernie Els Design renovation include:

- All 18 greens re-built and re-seeded with 007 creeping bentgrass, which was chosen after trialling 10 blends over a 12-month period at the Club.

- The course is the first in England to benefit from sub-air technology.

- A total of 29 bunkers taken out of play to reintroduce some of the original playing strategies and all the remaining bunkers redesigned.