Summing It Up
• Golf course renovation and restoration projects aren’t done in a vacuum any more—they must be approached as part of a comprehensive master plan with an eye towards how they will affect the non-golf aspects of an operation, too. |
A golf course renovation will be completed early next year in Wellington, Fla., that will literally represent a complete transformation of the property. The main course at Wellington Golf & Country Club, originally constructed in the mid-1980s, was closed this past April for a project that included the types of challenges many superintendents around the country have become all too familiar with in recent years, as the pace of renovations has intensified:
– filling in or cutting back man-made lakes on half a dozen holes;
– landscaping out from the course to add trees and shrubs and make surrounding homes less visible;
– incorporating native plants, such as railroad vines and muly grass, and adding beachy “waste areas,” to not only give the course greater definition and help players with shotmaking, but also enhance its natural environmental beauty.
But the biggest change of all at Wellington involved renovating the club’s existing practice range into an area that could be easily converted into a polo field, as well as a ring for show-jumping competitions and other equestrian disciplines. Making the field fit on the existing range added new challenges to golf course-related aspects of the renovation. The reason? Polo fields are typically crowned and drain to a 0.75 percent slope, while the minimum slope to move water off a golf course is generally 3 percent.
Westward Ho CC tries to limit the amount of cooking done on-site, using catering vans to transport finished dishes that need only plating and garnishing.The “before” (ABOVE) and “after” (Featured image, in artist’s rendering) of its 13th hole only tell part of how not just the golf course, but the name and nature of the property, will change when Wellington Golf & CC reopens as The Wanderers Club. |
In addition, the project team was directed to “tie the polo field into” the neighboring 10th hole, because the existing range wasn’t wide enough to accommodate a regulation-size polo field without encroaching onto the course. That meant redesigning the golf layout so whenever polo is played, the 10th hole will now change from a 420-yard, par 4 to a 180-yard, par 3.
“The vision of the owner [Houston businessman John Goodman, who also owns the International Polo Club in Palm Beach, Fla.] was to incorporate a spectator-friendly area for special equestrian events as part of the new course,” said PGA Tour veteran Peter Jacobsen, whose design firm was part of the project team. “It’s a unique but extremely efficient use of the practice range that will provide added value to the club members.”
And reflecting the fact that this was much more than just a golf course renovation, the club will even take on a new name when the course reopens—it will now be called The Wanderers Club at Wellington.
Expanded Definitions
The Wellington project is just one of many recently undertaken that illustrate how, increasingly, “golf course renovation” only tells part of the story. Certainly, a primary goal of all of these projects is still to enhance golf courses and make them challenging for competitive golfers, while keeping them pleasingly different to recreational players. Happy golfers of all types, after all, are still very good for any club or resort business.
But more and more, the projects also involve coordination with other, non-golf-related aspects of club and resort operations, as part of master planning strategies for expanding the overall appeal, and use, of the property.
One thing that hasn’t changed is how the superintendent’s role in these projects remains central, and critical (see box, pg. 44). He or she will still be the primary liaison between course architects and designers, general management, a club’s Greens and Executive Committees, and members and guests—not to mention being the department head who will still be most directly affected by the project’s outcome.
A recently completed greens reconstruction at Westmoreland CC in Wilmette, Ill., installed a new subsurface air system and new ceramic soil mix. |
In this position, the superintendent will also have the best perspective to answer the one question that needs to be asked before all others: Should we stop at renovating the course, or also take steps to restore it?
A Matter of Time
While the lines between these two options are blurring, the basic distinction holds that renovation is the process of improving specific areas of golf course facilities, such as greens and bunkers, while maintaining the overall layout of the course. Restorations, on the other hand, have come into favor among older clubs (although they are now also being seen at more youthful properties), as a method of improvement for reasons of historical preservation. Restorations typically take classic elements and fuse them with the modern game and current players’ expectations.
Restorations, however, are not as simple as digging up old plans and following them like a paint-by-numbers exercise. In many cases, restoring a course to its original design would be undesirable for today’s players. After all, club’s greens rolled much more slowly 80 years ago, there were far fewer trees, and irrigation systems—if they even existed—weren’t very effective.
A Superintendents’ duties during renovation or restoration projects are ever-expanding. The list can include:
• Establishing and directing relationships with architects, designers, contractors and other suppliers • Knowledge of construction procedures • Understanding specifications • Serving as the purchasing agent • Selecting the proper turfgrasses • Communicating project status to club membership • Ongoing maintenance of the course during the project • Pre-applying fertilizers and amendments • Controlling staging, storage and traffic • Renovations’ effects on irrigation • Researching materials, suppliers and outside expertise |
A restoration should boast some measure of authenticity, though. To do one right, superintendents need to research archival records to find original designs if possible. They then need to talk with senior members and club architects, as well as physically inspect the grounds, to see how time has changed the design. Using modern technology like Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) photography—a remote sensing system used to collect topographic data—can also help to restore reconstructed greens to original conditions.
The lines of distinction are blurring between renovations and restorations—and the objectives of “returning to the old look” must also be blended with concessions to the modern game and today’s operational practices. |
Once information like this has been gathered, the task is to determine how to best apply a modern interpretation, while also recapturing the best of what’s been lost. Classic or vintage features should be restored where they’ve been erased by time (or misguided renovations). Modern expectations for green speed, irrigation, and maintenance should be fused with the reimplementation of classic features. And the architect or designer should be challenged to use his or her creativity and practical knowledge to achieve these goals.
Natural Solutions
Even if a course has only a limited tradition or history, though, it doesn’t take long before a need can develop to take it “back to its roots.” Excessive vegetation, bad weather and aging will inevitably wear away the charms of the original greens, bunkers, traffic areas and tees. Sooner rather than later, improvements become necessary to enhance the attractiveness of even a relatively new course, and revive its original splendor.
Many of these fixes are fairly straightforward. Replacing the rootzone mix will revive putting surfaces. Bunkers can be restored when contaminated dirt is replaced by fresh new sand. Improved turfgrass, better drainage, level tees and consistent surroundings can all be expected as positive outcomes.
As the latest trend, a growing number of properties are improving both drainage and putting quality by replacing old rootzone mixes and planting new bentgrass or bermudagrass varieties. When the old rootzones are removed and a new mixture of sand, clay and organic materials such as rice hulls, finely ground bark, sawdust, or other organic waste products is added, drainage can improve dramatically.
But superintendents who’ve taken these steps warn that the increased drainage will also result in an initial loss of nutrients for the turf. The new mixes are normally sterile, with little nutrient content or nutrient-holding capacity, and in some cases it can take as many as two years before the mix matures. As that happens, golfers need to know that they should expect wide swings in appearance and putting quality.
When renovating any specific area of a course, improved playing conditions will not become immediately apparent. Many course improvement experts advise superintendents to take special care to communicate this within their clubs, both to internal management and to members and guests. And the sooner this can be conveyed before any work begins, the better.
Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) photography was used to help restore all reconstructed greens at Westmore-land CC to original contours. |
It also helps to stress that renovations of golf courses are different from makeovers of clubhouses or other structures on the property, because the improvements from the work will not be as instantly apparent. It’s more appropriate to compare the renovation of greens or bunkers to plastic surgery—initially, there will be scars and wounds from the work, and the improvement won’t be noticeable until all of the blemishes heal.
It should also be remembered that course improvement projects can tend to have a domino effect: A project that improves one area of the course may cause problems in others. But with proper planning and good across-the-team communication from the start, many of these “ripples across the pond” can be avoided or minimized, the desired results can be achieved, and the quality of the facility—golf course and beyond—will be greatly enhanced.
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.