Status report

Before the glorious end result a golf course renovation project is revealed, there’s the ordeal of the renovation itself. The daunting task costs money and can cause considerable disruptions on a golf course. That said, while crews are digging 18-inch-wide trenches five feet deep at the year-round course at Boulder (Colo.) Country Club, there’s potential for sizable headaches. But director of course and grounds Mike McLaren says he feels fine.

The 27-hole course is a third of the way through a $4-million overhaul of the irrigation system, which, when completed, will cover 188 acres. In addition to that project, McLaren is overseeing the renovation of the course’s 86 bunkers and addition of seven new ones – an $800,000 project. Throw in the fact material from the bunkers is being pulled off to redo some tee boxes, and that’s enough to keep McLaren busy. Oh, and he still has to maintain the course for play.

McLaren credits the crews (Modern Golf is building the bunkers and American Landscapes is redoing the irrigation system) for working in a nondisruptive manner, which keeps the golfers happy. One of the main reasons golfers are happy is because there are no surprises, McLaren says, adding that’s the key to a successful project.

“My feeling is that if you communicate properly, everything will be put into the ground properly,” he says. “You can have a great, successful project that isn’t communicating well. It doesn’t matter how well it went if people aren’t happy with it.”

McLaren has committed to closing no more than three holes at the same time since project started in the beginning of September. So far he has only had to close one at a time and there haven’t been any major disruptions.

He expects there will be more simultaneous hole closures in the spring as work on the laterals and heads begins, but McLaren doesn’t expect a lower level of happiness from the golfers. This is because the lines of communication have remained open during the project to keep the board and membership informed, which in turn keeps them happy, he says.

A project manager is directly responsible for meeting with the contractors every evening so there are no surprises. Every morning the course status is reported to the golf shop, who can then tell the day’s golfers anything they need to know about the course conditions or hole closures. It’s also communicated on the electronic tee sheet.

He has meetings with the construction team once a week for a status report. It’s written up and displayed where the 500 golfing members – or any other members – can read it. McLaren also posts updates throughout the clubhouse, including in the men’s and ladies’ card rooms and on information kiosks. He already has told the members what to expect during the next leg of the project next spring so there are no surprises.

Communication also is essential to having a project to complete in the first place. Granted, McLaren’s budget is among the top10 percent of golf course budgets in Colorado, the golf course planning committee doesn’t automatically rubber-stamp every request he puts in front of them. It takes communication on his part to make the committee understand why each request is a necessity for the course.

Sometimes it takes more than words to communicate to the board the need for a project. For example, when McLaren proposed a new maintenance facility, he thought it would be better if the board saw it for themselves.

“My maintenance facility at the time was old and decrepit – an OSHA nightmare,” he says. “I had an entire checklist and had the board come down to go over it.”

As the board walked in the building, they began pointing things out before McLaren could say anything.

“To actually have the board come down and be a part of this living situation and of this maintenance facility, they got a feel for how bad it was,” he says. “My understanding is that they went back that night and decided to replace the maintenance building.”

The club recently completed the $1.3-million maintenance facility project. McLaren says he’s fortunate that he was allowed to design the building exactly how he wanted it.

McLaren feels fortunate that he’s had the club’s leadership on his side. The general manager has had a lot to do with the course’s financial success, he says. The club’s board president became chairman of the golf course planning committee and saw eye-to-eye with McLaren.

“Through his influence and my direction, we were able to push a lot of things through the membership,” McLaren says.

McLaren says he’s glad to have been at the course eight years to see these projects come to fruition. He credits the grounds committee, the general manager and the membership as a whole for getting the ball rolling.