Course news

Tucson, Ariz. - Pebble Beach Co.’s Spyglass Hill upgraded its irrigation system to enhance playing conditions and help maintain its status as one of the nation’s premier courses. When renovation is completed later this year, Spyglass Hill’s new irrigation equipment will mirror that of the Pebble Beach Golf Links and The Links at Spanish Bay, both owned by Pebble Beach. Equipment includes Rain Bird’s Cirrus central control, 500, 550, 700 and 750 Eagle series gear drive rotors, and the Freedom System handheld remote. The new system will help alleviate irrigation challenges and promote a more consistent playing course and healthier turfgrass, according to Chris Dalhamer, Spyglass Hill superintendent.

"Our main objective is to improve the irrigation system so that we can water more efficiently, while reducing water use, and energy and labor costs," Dalhamer says.

Spyglass Hill features various microclimates: heavily forested, shaded areas versus open areas exposed to the sun and ocean; and rough areas with dense, clay soil versus sand-capped fairways. Prior to renovation, Dalhamer didn’t have the ability to turn on one rotor at a time. As a result, the microclimates that required different volumes of water would receive the same amount, which caused some areas to receive too little or too much water. As a remedy, the new system will be wired to give Dalhamer the capability to turn on individual heads as needed.

Around the greens, the Eagle series rotors were installed and repositioned. The redesign and addition of the new half-circle heads is designed to offer more precise distribution of water on greens, green banks and around bunkers.

The Freedom system is expected to give Dalhamer access to every rotor on the course via a GPS map and to allow him the flexibility to adjust running times without the need to turn on the heads from the satellites.

Naples, Fla. - The nation’s first golf course to be grassed completely with SeaDwarf Seashore Paspalum opened March 3rd at Hammock Bay Golf & Country Club near Naples, Fla. The warm-season turfgrass was installed from tee to green, in the roughs and in all common areas around the golf course community’s residential homes and roadways.

Hammock Bay’s developer, WCI Communities, and golf course designers, Houston-based Jacobsen/Hardy Golf Course Design, selected SeaDwarf Seashore Paspalum for use as the only grass on the 18-hole, 7,080-yard course at Hammock Bay because of its salt tolerance and versatility of mowing heights. SeaDwarf Seashore Paspalum can tolerate salt levels as high as 22,000 ppm or higher and can be mowed from ¼-inch to about 4 inches. For additonal information, visit www.environmentalturf.com or call (772) 460-5575.

Village of Pinehurst, N.C. - Hospitality sales for the 2005 U.S. Open Championship are well ahead of schedule, according to Pinehurst officials. The U.S. Open is the National Championship conducted each year by the United States Golf Association. The U.S. Open was conducted last at Pinehurst in 1999.

The number of corporate hospitality marquees for the U.S. Open at Pinehurst has been increased from a record-breaking 50 in 1999 to 65 for the 2005 Open. To accommodate what will be the largest corporate marquee village in U.S. Open history, Pinehurst will use its practice facility, commonly referred to as Maniac Hill. A new contestant practice facility currently is under construction on the first holes of Pinehurst Nos. 3 and 5. However, both courses will remain open through 2005 National Championship play with exception to their respective first holes.

The Trophy Club package is a smaller entertainment option in a sports bar-themed pavilion featuring full food and beverage service, VIP parking, private restrooms, televisions and air-conditioning. Each package, priced at $40,000, includes a reserved table with corporate signage and 12 tickets per day.

Charleston, S.C. - The Daniel Island Co. hired Hendersonville, N.C.-based Tree Doctor to consult with Rees Jones, who is designing the second golf course on Daniel Island, to minimize the number of trees that are removed or damaged during course construction. Mead Tree Service also is part of the team working to preserve and maintain some of Daniel Island’s natural resources.

"Our job is to save as many trees as we can, while at the same time, not interfering with the integrity of the golf course design," says Kenneth Knox, a consulting arborist/urban forester from Tree Doctor.

Once Knox identifies a tree he thinks can be transplanted, the team turns to Mead to prepare it for the move and to nurture it through the aftershock.

"Saving the magnificent trees on this island has been a priority from day one," says Matt Sloan, Daniel Island’s c.o.o. "Trees set the character of this course in much the same way they help define the character of Charleston and the South Carolina coast."

Thirty-eight grand trees (30 inches or larger in diameter) were removed for the course. Forty-four trees that were in the path of the course routing, including several live oaks, were transplanted through the use of a giant tree spade or saved through massaging the original routing, Knox said. The cost to transplant each tree is about $3,500, excluding arborist services and care and maintenance.

Jacksonville, Fla. - McCumber Golf will redesign the course at Riverside Golf & Country Club in Macon, Ga. Riverside Golf & Country Club—an 18-hole, par-72 course originally built in the 1960s that features natural rolling terrain, large Georgia pine trees, and lakes and creeks—will be enhanced by McCumber Golf’s philosophy of suiting the course to the natural features of the land.

"Our redesign takes advantage of the spectacular vistas from tees and greens, in addition to bringing existing water features and rock outcroppings into play on several holes," says v.p. Jeff Lucovsky.

McCumber Golf’s other current projects include Tumble Brook Country Club in Bloomfield, Conn.; Magnolia Point Golf & Country Club in Green Cove Springs, Fla.; and the recently completed Tunica National Golf Course in Tunica, Miss., slated to open May 18.

McCumber Golf has designed or remodeled about 60 courses throughout the past 25 years.

State College, Pa. - The Club at Nevillewood in Presto is the first golf club in Pennsylvania to make a commitment to support the Pennsylvania Turfgrass Research Trust. The new endowment fund was created by the board in January to ensure a permanent source of reliable funding for critical ongoing research at Penn State’s Turfgrass Program and its Valentine Research Center.

The club’s board of directors voted to donate $5.00 for each person in the club who maintains a USGA handicap. The financial commitment by the club was a response to the Growing the Game campaign created by the Pennsylvania Turfgrass Council board to raise awareness of the fund and the research it will support, and to offer ways in which to support the fund. The short-term goal of this campaign is to partner with 75 golf facilities in the state to pledge annual contributions to this new fund. The ultimate goal is to create partnerships that will create at least $200,000 per year to grow the endowment.

Bullhead, Ariz. - Laughlin Ranch Golf Club—an 18-hole, par-72, daily-fee golf club—is under construction. The course, which was designed by David Druzisky, stretches more than 7,000 yards and is routed through the highlands overlooking the Colorado River. The course, which is scheduled to open Dec. 31, will feature expansive fairways, large undulating greens and five tee boxes per hole to choose from.

Jupiter, Fla. - Medallist Developments, a joint venture between Greg Norman’s Great White Shark Enterprises and Macquarie Bank of Australia, partnered with Thunder Enterprises, owner of 1,450 acres near of Knoxville, Tenn., to design and build the Tennessee National Golf Course there.

Norman’s design staff began studying the proposed site plans and visiting the property in the summer of 2003. Norman visited the site in late 2003 to begin formulating his design concepts for the course. During his second visit in early 2004 the routing plan was finalized.

The design process is in the second stage of development as Greg Norman Golf Course Design prepares construction plans and specifications.

Amenities at Tennessee National will include a country club, a community marina and a wellness center.

Scottsdale, Ariz. - From June 1 through August 31, the Raven Golf Club at Verrado is offering guests unlimited golf, unlimited use of the practice facility, use of a golf car, breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner from the Cocina Grille, and on-course nonalcoholic refreshments and snacks for $55 per player, Monday through Thursday or $65 per player Friday through Sunday.

Cortlandt Manor, N.Y. - Hollow Brook Golf Club, designed by Empire Golf, is a private, non-equity club that is scheduled to open in the fall. The golf club is Empire’s sixth course. The 6,900-yard course is constructed on 180 acres of rolling hills and dramatic elevation changes and features the Hollow Brook river traversing the property. Water is in play on more than half the holes. A rustic-style, cedar clubhouse is scheduled to open in the spring of 2005.

Vicksburg, Mich. - Angels Crossing Golf Club opened in May. The 27-hole public course covers 750 acres and stretches 7,169 yards on the back tees and 4,845 yards on the forward tees. There are five sets of tees per hole. The course overlooks Portage Creek and Barton Lake and sits on rolling land featuring dramatic elevation changes, ponds, and native trees and grasses. Bruce Matthews III designed the course, which includes amenities such as a practice facility, target greens, practice bunkers and a short-game area.

Alpharetta, Ga. - Textron Financial Corp., a golf course lender, completed its financing of the new Trump National Golf Club at Bedminster (N.J.) with an affiliate of The Trump Organization. Terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed.

Trump National Bedminster will offer an 18-hole course, 18 cottages, a men’s locker room located in a restored carriage house and a 15,000-square-foot clubhouse created from the renovated estate home on the property, all situated on 465 acres at the historic Lamington Farm.

The course is scheduled to be comleted by late summer 2004.

Oberlin, Ohio - Oberlin Golf Course finished remodeling its front nine holes. It now offers more playability for the average golfer, a more exciting bunker scheme and an improved practice facility, according to Denny Spencer, a golf course architects with Spencer Golf Concepts. The creation of the new ninth hole allowed for the practice range to be expanded and the establishment of a short-game practice area that uses the original ninth green. The course is closing the back nine holes during the fall for remodeling. All 18 holes will be open next spring.

Banff, Alberta, Canada - The Fairmont Banff Springs Stanley Thompson Golf Course in Banff National Park celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.

The 18-hole championship course (par 71 and 5,607 to 7,083 yards) was designed by golf architect Stanley Thompson and was opened by the Prince of Wales in 1929. At the time, it was the first course in the world to cost more than 1 million dollars to build, which is equivalent to about 25 million dollars nowadays.

Thompson’s goal at Banff was to create a course where players of varying abilities could challenge their skills. Thompson’s innovative flash-faced bunkers mirror the shape of the mountains and the natural run of the fairways.

The course is a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. It was only the third golf course in Alberta and the 15th in Canada to achieve this status. The course is recognized for its commitment to providing a sanctuary for wildlife on the course property to the delight of golfers, elk and the occasional bear that might be seen wandering along the fairways, and for greatly reducing water consumption and chemical use. Course crews continue to adhere to a maintenance program that supports the goals and mandate of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary System of Canada.