Nagle plans renovation of Toftrees

Toftrees Golf Resort will undergo a major renovation by Jim Nagle of Nagle Design Works — and the architect believes the property has the potential to become one of the best public courses in Pennsylvania.

Located just west of Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania, Toftrees dates from 1969 and was originally designed by architect Ed Ault. The resort is managed by Shaner Hotel Group and the golf course project is part of a substantial upgrading project for the whole resort.

“Shaner senior vice president George Wolfe called me a few months ago to talk about a bunker problem they were having on the course,” Nagle said. “I visited the course, and from a quick fix the conversation soon moved to potentially developing a comprehensive renovation plan for Toftrees.”

“Toward the end of the original owner’s life, capital investment was in short supply, and the golf course suffered,” Wolfe said. “Since we came in, we have slowly been fixing that. We brought Marriott Golf in to manage the golf operation, and now we’re taking the next steps. Although we have owned the resort for a number of years, it is only recently that we have started redeveloping it — our vision is to create a first-class hotel with excellent banqueting and convention facilities — and with that, it was obvious that upgrading the golf course would be important.

Originally semi-private, Toftrees “always felt like a private club,” Wolfe said. “There has always been a tie between the golf course and Penn State University, which is local. Ault did a lot of work in the region in the ’60s, but I think this must have been quite a big project for him, as there was a masterplan for the whole community involved. I’ve played a number of Ed Ault’s courses, and there’s no doubt in my mind that this is some of his best work. He had a great piece of land to work with.”

The site itself is what made Nagle sit up and take notice.

“It was the property that made this a great opportunity for me,” he said. “It has great undulation and some really nice features such as a wash running through it that could be opened up. The routing is very good. The only hole that stands out as being especially challenging is the 13th, which has a blind tee shot with the hillside on the left and a tight corridor. The rest of the course flows nicely, with wonderful contrast and elevation change.

“The course needs improvement, but it doesn’t need blowing up. Today, golfers have higher ‘design IQs’ than in decades past. With the advent of social media and the many golf design-related podcasts, golfers now demand more thoughtful engaging design: Toftrees can provide just that. The greens, routing, setting and natural topography lend themselves to creating a dynamic golf course that engages players and challenges them appropriately — something any resort or public facility needs to guarantee return play.

Like at so many courses, Toftrees features some troublesome trees.

“There is an abundance of inferior tree types on the property, but at the same time there are substantial mature stands of trees,” Nagle said. “The 15th, 16th and 17th have too many undesirable evergreens that are hiding the beauty of the land. Tree work is only one part of the plan, but it really stands out. The bunkering could be more creative, which would give better aesthetics and playability. At the moment, the course features ’60s/’70s bunker styling, and lots of them are elevated above natural grade. Most are at the sides and don’t create much interesting strategy. We will try to fix that.”

Wolfe, who has played “pretty much all of the best courses in Pennsylvania,” is confident that the renovation will allow Toftrees to become a top public course in the Keystone State.

“The course has great rhythm to its routing and great contour to the land,” Wolfe said. “The course is solid, but some past tinkering needs attention and, with Jim’s eye, I’m convinced that Toftrees will emerge from this project as a world-class track.”

Design work is starting immediately. No date has yet been set for construction to begin.