For the Pros and the Joes

Maintaining an experience that’s as enjoyable for PGA pros as it is for average handicappers is a major challenge for championship golf courses. It’s a balancing act we become quite familiar with at Silverado Resort and Spa (in Napa, Calif.). For the first time in nearly 30 years, the PGA returned to Silverado in October, capping a three-year renovation project overseen by Johnny Miller that received high praise from both tour pros and resort guests.

Here are some insights that helped us successfully manage the process at Silverado:
 

Architect’s buy-in

We were lucky Johnny Miller, who oversaw the redesign process on Silverado’s North Course, had a long history with the property, having raised his family in a house on the 11th hole. He knows our membership just as well as he knows championship golf. He also spent more than 40 days on the property during the redesign process, with much of that time spent just watching how average golfers played the course. This level of commitment to creating a playing experience that works for golfers at every level is evident in the final product.
 

Consistency

Consistency is probably the number one requirement of players of all abilities; it creates the perception of “fairness,” which is what all golfers want out of a layout. If you can create that, you’ll be well on the way. For example, we faced somewhat of a unique challenge in that Napa is famous as a growing region, and this applies to grass, as well. Pretty much any seed that finds its way into the ground will grow. When we got here, there were at least five species of grass growing including kikuyu, which is extremely aggressive and plays much different than species more traditional to the region. Sustaining a monoculture – one dominant species of grass – was the biggest thing we had to address to create that consistent playing experience. We opted for a bluegrass/rye hybrid and very deliberately communicated the rationale for that decision to our stakeholders, whose buy-in was essential. It takes a huge commitment financially, and it’s not something you can waiver on or your hard work will quickly be undone, but the necessity of consistency was something that all parties recognized.
 

Move ‘em back and forward

Manipulating the length of the course – being able to both add and take length away – was a major part of the redesign. We added 22 new tees, and most expected 18 of them would have been back or championship, as we looked towards hosting the PGA tour. But we actually added just as many forward tees as we did back, and those front ones see three or four times the traffic.
 

Adopt a different bunker mentality

Re-shaping and rethinking how bunkers are incorporated into the layout of the course was the biggest part of Johnny’s redesign. There were a number of bunkers on the course that were doubly punitive to bad shots but never came into play for low handicaps. So we actually eliminated bunkers, going from 70 to 51. There’s obviously a cost associated with bunker maintenance so we’ll save money long term, the course didn’t get any easier for the pros, and the average golfer spends less time in the sand. It was a win-win-win, and I suspect it’s a philosophy that a number of courses originally built in the ’60s and ’70s can benefit from.
 

Create better golfers

We spend just as much time thinking about creating better golfers as we do creating a better golf course. Through our junior programs, and especially through our senior instruction, we focus on physical fitness and nutrition alongside golf. It allows our members to play better golf as they age, and it builds a fitness foundation for our juniors that extends beyond golf into their other athletic pursuits. The overall effect is we’re helping to build up our players to a point where their games are up to whatever challenge the course poses.

Tim Geesey is director of golf operations at Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa, Calif.