Home-Grown in Michigan

by Dan Dinelli (editor@clubandresortbusiness.com)
June 2006
 

Since its inception a little more than 10 years ago, Pilgrim’s Run Golf Club, in Pierson, Mich., has already earned a ranking by Michigan Golf magazine as a top-10 public facility, as well as accolades from Golf Digest and other publications as one of the country’s best, and most affordable, new public courses. And in 2007, Pilgrim’s Run will host a U.S. Open Qualifier.

But from a superintendent’s point of view, the real story at Pilgrim’s Run is the unique way in which course and grounds professionals contributed to its original design and construction, and how they now help to maintain it.

Owned by Chicagoans Robert and Judith Van Kampen, who made their fortune in the mutual fund and securities markets, Pilgrim’s Run got its start after the Van Kampens retired from active involvement in their company (Van Kampen Investments) and relocated to western Michigan. Seeking a parcel of land where a course could be built for use not only by members of their family, but also company employees and other area residents, the Van Kampens purchased 830 acres east of Muskegon and north of Grand Rapids.

It was clear that this parcel of rolling terrain—made up of wetland, ponds, forests, and natural grasslands—would make for a great golf course that would highlight and preserve the land’s natural features. For the rest of the story of how the Pilgrim’s Run course was built out of less than half the acreage, and how its 120 acres of turf are now maintained, I spoke with Course Superintendent Ken Hunt, a member of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and acting board member for its Western Michigan chapter.

A 1992 graduate of Michigan State University, Ken was Assistant Superintendent at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Oxmoor Valley Course in Birmingham, Ala., before getting involved from the outset with the Pilgrim’s Run project, starting as Assistant Superintendent for four years before being promoted to Superintendent in 1999.

Pilgrim’s Run Superintendent Ken Hunt was happy to get back on solid ground—and turf equipment—after helping with a lot of the heavy construction for the new course

Here’s what Ken told me about this interesting approach to getting not only superintendents, but others who work in course management, involved from the start in a project that successfully created a new place for top-quality, yet affordable, public golf, while preserving the natural surroundings. (More information can be found at the course website, www.pilgrimsrun.com).

Q Ken, I understand you have a unique story to share about the construction of Pilgrim’s Run and its design process.Tell me about it. A The Van Kampens wanted to build a golf course for their family and employees, and they had six initial employees in mind who would be involved with the design of the course. They put the numbers 1 through 18 into a hat, and each employee picked out three numbers. These numbers would be the holes for which they would assist in the design.

Q Interesting concept, six different people designing individual golf holes.How was it organized to ensure that the golf course would function as a whole when completed? A Kris Shumaker, a superintendent at the time at a course in Saugatuck, Mich., was hired to do the routing of the course and oversee the construction. He spent countless hours reading up on architecture and course design before starting the project. Then Kris was given a topography map of the total 830 acres and asked to route 18 holes on the land. He routed the course to fit a lot of the natural terrain, so we would not have to move a lot of earth during the construction.

Q After the hole-by-hole design and routing process, how was the course constructed? A All of the construction was done in-house, including the earthmoving, irrigation, final grade work, and seeding—except on green and bunker complexes. Architect Mike Devries, from Traverse City, Mich., did those areas and also consulted on other parts of the project. We only had six full-time employees at this time and a handful of seasonal employees. This slowed the process down, but gave us total control to build a course with the quality we wanted to achieve. And this experience has been invaluable to me over the years as the course superintendent, because I now know everything not only about the original irrigation and drainage structure, but even where all the holes are from the tree stumps that were pulled out. I also spent a lot of time on heavy equipment during construction; it felt good to finally get on turf equipment after the construction was all done!

Q How much input did the employees actually have during the design and construction phase? A Each employee was given the routing of their particular holes and asked to design the features they would like to see on them. They then drew these out and went over the design with Kris Shumaker, and it was decided what would and what wouldn’t work, as far as playability and aesthetics. This could have turned out to be a big problem, but all parties worked well together and made the process run smoothly. Then during construction, each “designer” would come out to the course periodically and look at the progress being made and also talk about the design and how things fit in. If Kris or Mike saw problems with the design, they would consult with the designer, and the three of them would come up with the change that best fit the terrain and playability. And again, the green complexes were the responsibility of Mike Devries, to help design and do the final grade work and ensure that we maintained the same feel throughout the entire golf course.

Q How did the Van Kampens come up with the name Pilgrim’s Run? A The course is named after the book, Pilgrim’s Progress. Each hole on the course also has a name that comes out of this book. For example, No. 18 is called Entice, because it’s a big risk-reward hole—you can either go over the pond for a short pitch, or play it safe and go around. No. 10, where two large white oaks guard each edge of the fairway at the landing area, is called Wicked Gate, and No. 6, our most photographed hole, is called Vainglory.

There are some interesting bunker shapes on the course, too: on No. 18, for example, the designer made two fairway bunkers in the shape of a “V” and a “K,” to thank the owners.

Historic buildings from a nearby farm were also preserved as part of the course’s construction; the carriage house above was turned into an 18th-hole shelter.

Q I also understand there are some unique historic buildings that are on the site; tell me about them. A There are two, one on the 18th tee and one that we use for a starter’s building. Both were built back in the 1850s by Ben Ensley, who had a farm just a mile from where the golf course is now. The smaller one that’s now the starter’s building used to be an outhouse, and the other was a carriage house—both were located halfway on the main road between Grand Rapids and Big Rapids, and this was a stop for many people traveling by horse between the two cities.

At the time of construction, Kris Shumaker knew was trying to figure out where we could use them, and how, on the course. Both were in a state of disrepair, so we approached the owner and offered to buy them from him. Once on the property, we started to do renovations to them, and now one is the starter’s shack and the other has been used for a shelter. They both are great conversation pieces, and it’s nice that the course has saved a piece of history for the area.

Q Recently, Michigan, like a lot of states, has been hit pretty hard with course closings.Does Pilgrim’s Run have a long range operating strategy in the face of this trend? A It’s true, the golf market in Michigan has been tough over the past few years, and we don’t see it improving a whole lot any time soon. At Pilgrim’s Run, that’s caused us to make many adjustments to the way we run the course, while still striving to provide great service and quality to the people who play here. For our golf professional, Jeff O’Malley, that means looking at special events and programs like couples and juniors twilight rates, and course-sponsored outings. On the superintendent’s side, I’ve done more pricing-out of products and looking at alternative agronomic methods, such as how to change mowing habits without risking overall quality on the course. We now mow twice a week on tees, fairways, and roughs. Clipping removal has also become a big part of our practices on fairways, and aerifying has been an integral part of maintaining the turf—both core aerifying and spiking, which helps water and air movement in the soil and cuts down on labor hours for hand-watering and total amounts of irrigation-run times. Verticutting has also become a big part of our practices, to help control thatch.

Dan Dinelli is a member of the Club & Resort Business Editorial Advisory Board and writes frequently for C&RB on course maintenance topics. Have a topic you’d like to see Dan address in a future issue? A question about a specific course and grounds challenge you’re facing at your club? Or would you just like to invite Dan to visit your club sometime to exchange ideas? Write to him at editor@clubandresortbusiness.com