Course news

College course to be developed
Pullman, Wash. - Golf course architect John Harbottle III was awarded the design contract for the planned, 18-hole championship Washington State University Golf Course. Construction documents are under way for the yet-to-be-named course located on 300 acres of rolling campus terrain. The school wants to create a college course that’s capable of hosting the NCAA Championship and exemplifies environmental stewardship. It will be an outdoor classroom where studies can be made in a variety of fields. Construction is scheduled for 2005.

Eagle Creek ends renovation work
Naples, Fla. - Eagle Creek Golf and Country Club, a private, gated golf community, completed a $2.2 million renovation of its 18-hole, championship golf course.
The course closed April 19, 2004 and underwent a transformation to replace the irrigation system, strip and bury the old turf, replant the entire course with certified 419 Bermudagrass and replace the asphalt cart paths with a combination of concrete and waste bunker material.
The club hired Cordova, Tenn.-based C.R. Sanders to renovate the course. The Sanders Group has worked on Augusta National for more than a decade.
Originally designed by Larry Packard, with the added help from golf professional emeritus Ken Venturi, Eagle Creek strived to maintain the original course design. The club made subtle changes to improve the playability and enhance the beauty of the course, which is located near a natural cypress preserve.
Tees were rebuilt and laser leveled on every hole. Bunkers were reshaped to original specifications and new sand was added. Seven holes were elevated to improve drainage and rebuilt to their original contours. The new irrigation system is completely computerized, allowing thorough control of all sprinkler heads for more precise watering and enabling Eagle Creek to reduce water consumption.
Kemper Lakes to renovate clubhouse
Hawthorn Woods, Ill. - Kemper Lakes Golf Club is renovating the interior of its clubhouse. The club hired Lake Forest-based architecture firm Witmer and Associates to provide the master plan for the redesigned clubhouse and the Hutchins Group to handle the interior design of the renovated facility.

New amenities will include a members lounge and card room, a bar and a large stone fireplace in the grill, a 1,200-square-foot golf shop with a separate entrance and a bag storage room located near the bag drop.
The renovation should be completed by mid-April. The public golf facility is trying to convert a into a private one.

Juniper Golf Club ready to open
Redmond, Ore. - Golf course architect John Harbottle III completed his first new course in Oregon. The Juniper Golf Club will be a stand-alone, daily-fee course with gently rolling desert terrain. The 180-acre project was developed by the Redmond Public Building Corp. and built by Oliphant Golf. It’s scheduled to open for play in July.

Norman to design Colorado course
Jupiter, Fla. - Greg Norman was selected to design a golf course for the private Cornerstone Club in Colorado on about 6,000 acres. The course will be set among aspen forests, rolling meadows and views of the San Juan and Cimarron Mountains.

The Cornerstone Club golf course is under construction and is scheduled to open in the summer of 2006.  This private-equity golf club will include dining that features local chefs, a swim and fitness center, tennis courts and special club area for kids.
California courses being renovated
Tacoma, Wash. - Golf course architect John Harbottle III has three renovations currently under construction in the Los Angeles area: Brentwood County Club, a classic Max Behr redesign; El Caballero Country Club, host of the Los Angeles LPGA event; and Saticoy Country Club, a William F. Bell original.
Additionally, plans are under way for renovation/restoration work at the William P. Bell classic, Brookside Golf Club in Pasadena; Hacienda Golf Club, originally designed by Willie Watson and Charles Mayo; Visalia County Club in Visalia, Calif.; Canterwood Country Club in Gig Harbor, Wash., and Lake Tahoe Golf Course, South Lake Tahoe, Calif.

Construction starts at Olde Stone
Bowling Green, Ky. - Designed by golf architecture firm Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest and Associates, The Course at Olde Stone is under construction.

The course, owned by developer Jim Scott, features white sand bunkers, bentgrass fairways and a layout that follows the natural topography of the gently rolling Kentucky hillside. The course is expected to provide golfers variety and challenging play, according to course architect Drew Rogers.
Some features include: a connected fairway between holes 11 and 12, a natural rock outcropping uncovered during grading and incorporated into the 12th hole and an extended bunker on the 17th hole.
Additionally, the course will have a series of extended collars or chipping areas that reach off some of the greens. These add variety and shot-making opportunities because if the ball misses the green, it will continue to run and collect on the extended collar.
The course topography has been paired with a new irrigation system, which provides the superintendent with pinpoint control over water distribution on the course.
“We’ve created a lot of land forms so you don’t feel like you’re on a flat plane,” Rogers says. “There is a lot of undulation on the fairways and we’ve achieved that by cutting down the area between the holes and filling in the holes. So there’s a lot of elevation change that no one envisioned.”

Giants Ridge wins Crittenden Award
Biwabik, Minn. - The Quarry Course at Giants Ridge received a Golf Development of the Year award from Crittenden. The Quarry, whose Jeffrey Brauer-designed, 18-hole layout spreads across acres of former sand and gravel mines, won the award for best public development built for more than $5 million. The judging of the third annual award is done by golf course builders and architects and is based on how well the course achieved the development team's vision, its visual appeal and the efficiency of its routing.

Westfield, LRA become partners
Westfield Center, Ohio, and Horsham, Penn. - The Westfield Group, a regional insurance company, engaged LRA Worldwide to help Westfield continue to enhance the guest experience at its corporate meeting center, inn, corporate dining facility and golf club in Westfield Center, Ohio.  The Westfield Hospitality facilities are used primarily for Westfield employees and independent agent guests, but the golf club also has hosted several high-profile national and international events, including the past four Junior PGA Championships and the 2004 Junior Ryder Cup.
LRA is charged with helping Westfield reinvent the “experience” at their facilities through an integrated approach that will include standards development, training modules and customer satisfaction research.  As the project moves forward, Westfield will be able to measure its progress against the service and facility standards set by other names in meeting facility, resort and golf course management.
Westfield executive Mark Farrell became more committed to this project after Westfield’s recent foray into hosting high-profile national and international golf tournaments.  When the project is completed, the company hopes that its club and hospitality operations will further enhance the representation of its brand image.