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Course News

Ground broken on golf project
Lyndhurst, N.J. – EnCap Golf broke ground on the $1-million Meadowlands Golf Project in New Jersey. The project is a brownfield redevelopment. The central component of the project is the clean up and remediation of landfills and the construction of two first-class golf courses, related amenities and the preservation of hundreds of acres of open space. The 18-hole, links-style courses will be open to the public.
The landfill closure and remediation of this phase of the golf project is expected to take four years to compete. The construction of the golf courses and resort village is expected to be completed within seven to 10 years.
“The Meadowland Golf Project is the perfect example of how public/private partnerships can succeed in protecting our natural resources, while building neighborhoods and creating economic opportunities,” says Bill Gauger, president of EnCap Golf Holdings.

Incline Village reopens course
Incline Village, Nev. – The par-72, 18-hole Championship Course at Incline Village went through a renovation, including replacing the in-ground irrigation system and renovating the greens, bunkers, tees, fairways, roughs, cart paths, landscaping and practice facilities. Limited residents-only play started Sept. 1, and public play begins May 2005. Architect Kyle Phillips of Golf Course Design; irrigation specialist Bryant Taylor of Gordon Golf; United States Golf Association Turf Advisory Service and Incline Village’s grounds superintendent Jeff Clouthier oversaw the $4.8-million construction project.
Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed the course.
The greens were rebuilt to meet USGA specifications for consistency and efficient drainage. Greens were reseeded with a blend of creeping bentgrass. Bunkers were reshaped to reflect the course’s original design and were built for optimum drainage and sand consistency. The fairways and roughs were stripped, resoiled and reseeded with Kentucky bluegrass. The tees were reseeded with a bluegrass/rye combination for cold weather durability.
Also, the Chateau clubhouse, which is 22,580 square feet, went through a complete $7.9-million renovation.

Burnt Mill course under construction
Wells, Maine – Burnt Mill Country Club, which is being developed on 360 acres of farmland and woodlands, will feature an 18-hole, 7,292-yard championship golf course designed by PGA Tour player Brad Faxon and Maine golf architect Brad Booth; a nine-hole, par-3 short course designed to be played in 90 minutes or less; a golf practice and teaching facility; a clubhouse built around a historic barn and a swimming pool. The nine-hole course is expected to open in the spring of 2005, and the 18-hole course is expected to open sometime in 2006.

Mystic Rock reopens course
Farmington, Pa. – PGA Tour winners Rocco Medjate and Vijay Singh and Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa owners Joe Hardy and Maggie Magerko reopened the Mystic Rock course in June. Most notably, the 18th hole was relocated, which narrowed the fairway and placed the green in a 10,000-seat amphitheater setting.
“All of the greens have been contoured and reshaped, which will give PGA Tour officials greater flexibility and opportunities to tuck the hole locations behind the bunkers and closer to the edge of the greens,” says Brian Anderson, golf course superintendent at Nemacolin Woodlands.

Protected species slows development
Westford, Mass. – Ed and Betty Kennedy, owners of the Butter Brook Golf Club, want to expand their nine-hole course, which opened in April, with another nine holes, but rare blue-spotted salamanders and negotiation with the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program are hindering them. The protected species is propagating in and around a vernal pool on land adjacent to the would-be back nine. Construction of the second loop is scheduled to commence this fall.
Architect Mark Mungeam worked around a similar pool on the front nine where newts are thriving. Mungeam’s back-nine design provides the pool in question with more than 600 feet of room. Bay State statutes normally mandate that protected wetlands and vernal pools be given a 100-foot buffer. But the NHESP hasn’t changed its mind, and the situation remains in limbo, though the Kennedys and Mungeam are confident a compromise will be reached.
Additionally, Mungeam is busy creating the private Quail Ridge Country Club in Acton, Mass. Also under construction is the spectacular Golf Club at Oxford Greens in Oxford, Conn., where he’s working with Billy Casper Golf Management on a daily-fee course in a new Del Webb community. Also in Connecticut, Mungeam is helping to renovate the New London Country Club.

Grizzly Ranch to open next year
Portola, Calif. – Grizzly Ranch, the first private golf and recreation community in the western Sierra’s Feather River country, initiated its first public offering of home sites and golf memberships. Construction is expected to be completed this year on an 18-hole signature golf course designed by Robert Cupp. Members begin play in the summer of 2005.
Cupp and land planner Gage Davis created a golf course that blends into its natural California environment. The family-friendly, par-72 course is designed to attract players of all abilities and age levels.

Public-run course in planning stage
Shawnee, Mo. – MillCreek Land Co. has proposed to develop The Links at Mill Creek golf course and community. The 700-home development will feature a 7,100-yard, city-operated golf course. The 250-acre, 18-hole, par-72 course, clubhouse, and practice and maintenance facilities would cost about $11 million. MillCreek Land presented development details to the Shawnee City Council in May. Todd Clark of CE Golf Design would design the course. Construction of the course could start this fall, and it could open in late 2006.

Kinsale course opens in Ohio
Powell, Ohio – The Arthur Hills-designed Kinsale Golf and Fitness Club opened late this spring. It features an 18-hole, par-72 course that measures 7,200 yards from the tips. The turf has been left to grow in and mature for almost two years before opening.
“Leaving the grass to grow and strengthen its roots without play for two years is like five years of growth with play,” says golf course superintendent Don Sutton. “This, along with Ohio’s largest 18-hole irrigation system, promises we will have well-established grass, conditioned to perfection.”
Kinsale is accepting membership applications and will allow limited nonmember play during the first season.

Miacomet course ready for season
Nantucket Island, Mass. – The nine new Howard Maurer-designed holes at Miacomet Golf Course, the only public 18-hole course on Nantucket Island, heads into its first full season of play.
“Howard did an outstanding job of fitting nine new holes of comfortable golf on a relatively small piece of property,” says Charlie Passios, president of Moors, which manages the course for the owner, the Nantucket Islands Land Bank. “We get glowing comments from people. They want to know when we are renovating the other nine so everything matches.”
The Nantucket Islands Land Bank is charged with protecting the island’s unique and endangered landscapes.
“The new holes look like they have been there for a long time and simply dropped onto the land,” says Eric Savetsky, Land Bank director. “Howard’s vision resulted in exactly what we had been hoping for. I’ve only heard good things from golfers.”
Maurer enjoyed the project that called on him and the rest of the development team to overcome a number of environmental and political obstacles.
“The Land Bank staff let the experts do their thing and create what we thought needed to be created,” Maurer says. “With the sand-plain grasses, sensitive soils, flowing topography and ocean nearby, the site was screaming for a links-style course. And that’s what we delivered.”
Getting the new nine built was no small feat. The Land Bank acquired the property a number of years ago because it was going to be converted from an existing nine-hole course into housing, according to Kelly Durfee Cardoza of Avalon Consulting Group.

Trump Golf Club to welcome ADT Challenge
Palm Beach, Fla. – The Trump International Golf Club will host the NBC’s 13-year-old ADT Golf Skills Challenge, featuring PGA Tour professionals. The event will be taped Nov. 15 and will air Dec. 25 and 26. The competition was held at the Boca Raton Resort & Club the past three years. The ADT Skills Challenge will be the first PGA-sanctioned event to be staged at Trump International Golf Club, which opened in 1998.
Grayhawk to host Tommy Bahama golf challenge
Scottsdale, Ariz. – The Grayhawk Golf Club will host the Tommy Bahama Challenge, put on by Jastrow Productions, Gaylord Sports Management, Tommy Bahama and the PGA Tour. The newly created PGA-tour-sanctioned, challenge-season event will be held Jan. 1, 2005. Grayhawk comprises the Talon Course, designed by David Graham and Gary Panks and the Raptor Course, designed by Tom Fazio.

Pinehurst Resort kicks off road to 2005 U.S. Open
Pinehurst, N.C. – In June, Pinehurst Resort started the official clock to the 2005 U.S. Open – 356 days and counting until the nation’s golf championship returns to its historic grounds.
Employees of the resort gathered on the front lawn of the historic Carolina hotel to give a wave of welcome to the anticipated 45,000 international spectators expected to visit daily during next year’s U.S. Open. The championship will be sited on Pinehurst’s No. 2 course June 16 to 19.

Carmel to host girls junior event
Charlotte, N.C. – The United States Golf Association selected Carmel Country Club as the host for the 2006 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship July 17 to 22.
Carmel Country Club is a 36-hole facility founded in 1947. The south course was designed by Ellis Maples and opened in 1969. In 1988, Rees Jones made revisions to the South Course.
“We are delighted to be chosen to host the 58th U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship,” says general chairman Dave Cathcart. “Carmel Country Club has a long history of supporting junior golf and having this championship on our South Course is testimony to that commitment.”
Carmel Country Club, which is hosting its first USGA championship, has been the host site of the 2001 North Carolina Women’s Amateur, the 2004 Carolina Senior Women’s Amateur as well as serving as the qualifying site for the Kemper Open in the 1970s.
The U.S. Girls’ Junior was played at Mira Vista Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, July 19 to 24 and will be played at Banbury Golf Club in Eagle, Idaho, July 18 to 23 in 2005.

U.S. Senior Open to be played at Whistling Straits
Kohler, Wis. – The United States Golf Association selected Whistling Straits Country Club as the site of the 2007 U.S. Senior Open Championship, scheduled July 5 to 8.
Designed by Pete Dye and opened in 1998, the Straits Course at Whistling Straits is a links-style course located along two and a half miles of Lake Michigan shoreline north of Milwaukee. Using land that was previously an Army base, the design employs wide fescue fairways and sand-dune bunkers to complement the prevalent windy conditions. All four par-3 holes and four additional holes are adjacent to Lake Michigan and play from above beach level to 80-foot bluffs.
“We are excited to host this major championship,” says Herbert V. Kohler Jr., president and chief executive officer of Kohler Co. “The world’s most seasoned veterans of the game will be tested by a course that honors the origins and early character of golf. There’s nothing in championship play this side of the Atlantic like Whistling Straits.”
The site of the 2004 PGA Championship, Whistling Straits also has played host to the 1999 PGA Club Professionals Championship. It will be hosting its first USGA Championship.

Flint Hills National selected to host Senior Amateur
Andover, Kan. – Flint Hills National Golf Club will host the 2007 USGA Senior Amateur championship, which will be played Sept. 1 to 6.
Opened in 1997 and designed by Tom Fazio, Flint Hills will offer the challenge of a highly rated golf course on hilly terrain with many bunkers. Flint Hills hosted to the 2001 U.S. Women’s Amateur.
“This will be our second national championship, and we are looking forward to offering the best senior amateurs a warm welcome and a challenging test of golf,” says Jeff Johnson, president of Flint Hills National Golf Club.
The Senior Amateur will be played at Bel Air Country Club in Los Angeles Oct. 9 to 14, 2004; at The Farm Golf Club in Rocky Face, Ga., Sept. 17 to 22, 2005; and  at Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh, Ind., Sept. 16 to 21, 2006.

Merion to host Walker Cup
Ardmore, Pa. – The East Course at Merion Golf Club will host the 2009 Walker Cup Match, a biennial international amateur team competition. The match will be played Aug. 15 and 16.
Opened in 1912 and designed by Hugh Wilson, Merion has hosted 16 previous USGA championships – the most of any club – including four U.S. Opens and five U.S. Amateur championships. Merion also will host the 2005 U.S. Amateur prior to the Walker Cup Match.
“We are delighted to welcome one of the top amateur competitions in all of golf,” says William Albertini, president of Merion Golf Club. “We are committed to the spirit of this international competition, and we are dedicated to showcase our fine golf course and hospitality. We look forward to adding another chapter to Merion’s rich golf history.”
Prior to 2009, the Walker Cup Match will be played at the Chicago Golf Club from Aug. 13 to 14, 2005 and  at the Royal County Down Golf Club in Newcastle, Ireland, from Sept. 8 to 9, 2007.

SolVista features golf school
Granby, Colo. – SolVista Golf Club was selected as a John Jacobs’ Golf School location. The school conducted 14 sessions from June 13 through August 1. Golf professional Brain Ryall says SolVista is an ideal location for a golf school partly because it has extensive practice facilities. Other well-known Jacobs school sites include Poppy Hills Golf Club & Monterey Marriott in Pebble Beach and Stallion Mountain Country Club & Las Vegas Hilton.

Orlando Marriott wins golf award
Orlando, Fla. – The Orlando World Center Marriott Resort & Convention Center won the 2004 Gold Tee award from Meetings and Conventions magazine. The award honors outstanding golf and meeting properties. Hawk’s Landing Golf Club’s 18-hole, championship course is nestled amidst the resort’s 200 tropical acres. The par-72 course features hills, undulating tifdwarf greens, aquatic vegetation, tailored tee boxes, native grasses, multifarious trees, manicured fairways and water in play on 15 holes.