Natural design

Areas of natural sand not only blended with the barrier island environment, they simplified routine maintenance with fewer acres to mow.Here at the Bald Head Island Club, our 35-year old greens had far outlived their useful life and some elements began to present unfair challenges over time. These issues were also evident in other areas of the course. Blind water hazards came into play on several holes and many landing areas were located well short of where most average golfers are able to reach with today’s technology. As the golf course superintendent, I not only wanted to address these issues but to work with the architect to bring the island aesthetics to the reconstruction by elevating tees to create better views of the Atlantic Ocean and by placing native grasses and trees throughout the renaturalized sand areas which line the fairways.

The project goals were to renovate all 18 greens, greens complexes, tee complexes and bunkers while maintaining George Cobb’s style of low grounds and high surrounds. In addition, the renovation work helped to alleviate many maintenance and irrigation challenges and improved the playing conditions throughout the course.

There were two very important goals which also had to be achieved:

• Complete the renovation during the offseason and return the course to play as soon as practical; and 
• Design and build the golf course so that it complemented the surrounding North Carolina barrier island environment.

The architect’s vision also expanded on what was possible and we worked to adjust the scope and design accordingly. The biggest challenge we faced by far was doing this renovation over the winter months so as not to interfere with the island’s busy summer season. It was well understood by all that the summer was not the ideal time to take on such a project.

At the beginning of the project, sod was planned for all areas that were to be grassed. Not a big deal for most courses, right? For us, this required finding a sod supplier who could deliver, via barge, enough sod so an installation crew could lay two to three acres per day. Our team met this enormous challenge and all other logistical issues of renovating a golf course which is only accessible by boat or barge. The most significant part of the sod project was the replacement of all 18 greens. We amended the subsoil and chose MiniVerde ultra dwarf Bermudagrass to provide a smoother and faster putting surface. The new sod was contract grown by Modern Turf on the same greens mix that was going to be used on Bald Head Island prior to our construction. This was the key factor in achieving minimal disruption of the golf season.

To save hundreds of thousands of dollars, we found areas of a specific sand on the course that could be sifted and blended to USGA specifications.

Prior to the renovation, the greens as a whole were small, only averaging 5,500 square feet. Getting closer to George Cobb’s intent of anticipating the island’s windy conditions resulted in the new greens surfaces averaging 7,000 square feet. This allows for more variety in pin location, especially on windy days.

The collective efforts of our team resulted in a course that is more in tune with the island’s natural environment. The addition of natural and native sand areas helped to reduce the number of acres that needed to be mowed which simplified routine maintenance. Installing new irrigation resulted in a course that requires substantially less water. Special care was also taken to create naturalized areas throughout the course as new habitat for our diverse wildlife.

The club’s master plan had been a long and thorough process, incorporating the input of club staff, golf and greens committee members and professional consultants which included a golf course architect, golf course construction and irrigation designers.

The estimated total capital cost for this golf course renewal and renovation was about $4.3 million, not including contribution of time and materials from the ongoing golf course maintenance expense budget, as some of the work was completed in-house.

In today’s difficult economic climate and with fewer rounds of golf being played annually, many golf courses are cutting their golf course maintenance budgets. We took a different look at the economics by taking advantage of the poor economy and revitalizing our 18-hole, 35-year-old golf course.

Because the woods, dunes, native grasses, and lagoons on the property already provided valuable habitat, this renovation will form the core of our Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary program. Building upon these natural assets, the renovation helped us naturalize even further. We added more native plants and expanded the conservation programs to attract and sustain a greater diversity of species.

All total, the construction part of the project, which was completed in 150 working days, consisted of 85 employees, an estimated 110,000 man hours, 330 tractor-trailer loads worth of equipment supplies and raw materials, 54 acres of sod for surrounds and fairways, 144,000 square feet of greens sod, 184,000 square feet of tee sod, 1,200 tons of bunker sand, more than 100,000 cubic yards of soil moved, 35,000 square feet of pervious concrete pavers laid, and hundreds of trees and tens of thousands of native grasses planted.

Curious find
The most notable part of this reconstruction project was the discovery of three possibly Civil War-era skeletons that were buried under the No. 7 green. Rocks, shells from previous tropical storms, burnt wood from a Civil War fort: these things we expected to find. Three skeletons were probably the one thing we didn’t expect to find in that old subsoil.

The skeletons are still being investigated by the state’s archaeology department in Raleigh and will be returned back to their original resting place, near a slightly-moved No. 7 green.
 

Steen Wansley is Bald Head Island’s superintendent.