Salishan renewed

“The major changes needed at Salishan were to identify drainage of the entire course and make the greens playable and receptive,” says Oregon native Peter Jacobsen, PGA Tour veteran and partner with Jim Hardy in Houston-based Jacobsen Hardy. “I feel we accomplished both of those goals, but we did a lot more than that.”

The Salishan layout was completely rebunkered, and one hole, the par-3 15th, was completely reimagined.

After purchasing Salishan in 2003, Eugene-based owner Spring Capital Group embarked on a multi-million-dollar renovation of The Lodge at Salishan. This fall, Salishan’s day spa will open. But most important to golfers, Spring Capital committed $3 million to Jacobsen Hardy’s course upgrade.
Opened in 1965, Salishan Golf Links pioneered the Oregon coast for resort golf. Bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the west and the saltwater Siletz Bay to the north, Salishan attracted golfers because of its scenic location. However, the golf course never took maximum advantage of its location, according to Jacobsen. The layout was short, 6,000 yards, and throughout time, the course developed major drainage problems.

Salishan was a tired golf course and needed more than minor improvements, according to Rex VanHoose, Jacobsen Hardy’s senior architect in charge of the Salishan project.

“We solved the drainage issues, but we also brought a coherent strategy to the entire design,” VanHoose says. “Peter’s always telling us to let the land be the hero, and that’s what we did here. The holes relate much better to the terrain now. I never suspected that we could change things so dramatically on every hole.”

Salishan’s new 10th hole illustrates the scope of Jacobsen Hardy’s work. What had been a downhill, straightaway par 5 of 440 yards, with a perpetually soggy fairway, is now a dry, 457-yard double-dogleg thanks to strategic, fairway-pinching bunkers and a green that sits 30 yards to the right of the old one.

“It’s a great improvement, but we also created a tremendous view of Siletz Bay behind the green,” says VanHoose. “When we got there, the view was completely hidden by dense grouping of trees. You didn’t even know the bay was there until you got to the 11th tee. Now you see it from 10th tee.
“The 10th and 11th (a 202-yard par-3 hole) both capitalize on the ambience of Siletz Bay in ways they never did before. The 11th green used to sit below a dike that runs along the bay’s edge. We built up a new putting surface to the dike’s elevation, so now you’re looking out over the water across a horizon green. We also incorporated a sweeping dune feature behind the green, covered in beach grass, to provide a real sense of arrival on the links nine.”

Working with Salishan superintendent Ryan Bancroft and course contractor Eagle View Golf of Spring, Texas, Jacobsen Hardy accentuated the beach grass/waste area look throughout the seaside back nine. The front nine, which plays inland through a thick forest of pine, also was the subject of major improvements in playability and design.

“On the front side, I’d say the most notable improvement came at No. 3,” Hardy says. “We found a spot for a back tee, which added 50 yards to the third hole and revealed a beautiful escarpment feature. The hole measures 416 yards now, and the drive plays right over a miniature gulch. The old hole was a shorter par 4 with a hidden creek at 230 yards. Resort guests were always in it. With this back tee, the creek is 300, so it’s not such an issue.”

Jacobsen Hardy mitigated the site’s long-standing drainage issues by implementing a new technique called Sand Slits, in which drain lines were trenched, and the excavated soil was conveyed directly to a holding area without ever touching the ground.

“The subcontractor on this job [Mt. Vernon, Wash.-based Greenshield Systems] has developed custom-built equipment to execute this procedure, which is faster and cleaner than any drainage-installation process we’ve seen,” VanHoose says. “Basically, it’s a wheel-trencher attached to a Bobcat that features an integrated conveyer system that carries the dirt straight into a Ty-Crop – clean as can be. The dirt never hits the ground. The trench is cut perfectly. It’s laser equipped to monitor depth. But here’s the really neat part: With another attachment, Greenshield can reverse the process, conveying sand from a Ty-Crop into a portal that funnels sand into the trench while laying the pipe in the same motion.”

Many contractors struggle to lay 2,000 feet a day using traditional methods, and that doesn’t always include backfilling. With this system, 3,000 feet of drainage lines fully capped were laid a day, according to VanHoose.

The six trouble holes at Salishan – the first, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th, where soggy conditions had prevented maintenance crews from mowing for weeks at a time – were built in the 1960s atop an old bog. A layer of peat was laid down, then a foot of sand, then another foot of clay-peat mixture, then more sand, then another layer of clay and peat.

The greens Jacobsen Hardy encountered prior to the renovation at Salishan were severely contoured and averaged 5,000 square feet in size. The green contours, designed in the 1960s when mowing heights ranged from 9/32 to 1/4 of an inch, were a continual source of frustration for resort guests. Presently, the poa annua putting surfaces are cut at 1/8 to 1/10 of an inch.

“The greens at Salishan had become unplayable and unfair, and pin placements were scarce,” VanHoose says. “This is not to say that greens today can’t be designed with significant movement. To make them fair, however, the size of the green must increase to allow for this movement and for multiple pin placements. Because we were salvaging the existing turf from the existing green surfaces (100 percent pure poa annua), we were confined to the same average green size. In response to lower mowing heights, greater green speeds and 5,000-square-foot greens, we redesigned the putting surfaces with softer contours – no slope greater than 3 percent. The new greens offer subtle movement within each surface, creating a fair and playable test that’s plenty challenging, too.” GCN

At a glance:
Salishan Golf Links
www.salishan.com

Location: Gleneden Beach, Ore.
Course Type: Resort
Cost: $3 million
Construction began: Aug. 18, 2003
Course opened: Nov. 15, 2003 (course opened
 Memorial Day weekend, 2004)
Yardage:  6,470
Par:  71
Number of bunkers:  58
Average green size:  5,000 square feet
Greens:  100-percent poa annua
Tees:  bluegrass/rye mix
Fairways:  bluegrass/rye mix
Accent:  native and beach grasses
Slopes:  134 from the back,
 130 from the middle,
 128 from the forward
Ratings:  72.2, 70.4, 71.3
Professional:  Mark Swift
Director of Golf:  Mark Swift
Superintendent:  Ryan Bancroft
Architects:  Jim Hardy and Rex VanHoose
Design Firm:  Jacobsen Hardy
Design Builder:  Eagle View Golf