He will also prepare a comprehensive course improvement plan for the entire 27 hole complex, including the practice facilities. This will be undertaken in conjunction with an entire site master plan, encompassing the club house and surrounds.

“With Kruse’s expertise and knowledge, he will be our go-to guy in regards to everything golf, on and around the course,” said general manager of Club Catalina, Guy Chapman.

Kruse was chosen from four highly regarded submissions.

Mr Kruse was on hand at Club Catalina on August 20-21 to meet with the Club Catalina board, management and greenkeeping staff, to get the initial stage of the redesign concept of the 15th hole underway.

He is the only golf course architect to have worked for the design firms of Australia’s greatest ever male golfers, the late Peter Thomson and Greg Norman.

He was with Thomson Wolveridge and Perrett for eight years, Greg Norman Golf Course Design for 10 years. He has also worked extensively abroad in Vietnam, Korea and China.

Many of the golf courses Kruse has worked on are in the Australian top 100, namely Avondale, Royal Sydney, Killara, Capital Golf Club and Settlers Run, just to name a few.

With degrees in horticulture and landscape architecture, Mr Kruse will bring an ecological approach to the design and the natural systems that inhabit the Batemans Bay Golf Course. Kruse is also the president of the Society of Australian Golf Course Architects.

One of the main areas of focus will be the vegetation management of the site, which has remained generally untouched for over 40 years.

Another key focus will be the possible introduction a new surrounds grass, Zoysia, that Club Catalina are trialing at the moment to gauge validity for the conditions.

With several trees already marked on the 15th for removal, works on are likely to commence in late August to early September, to capture the warmer months for the growing season.

A temporary green will be put into play on the 15th during the works, while the green complex is constructed.