Palo Alto Hills Golf & Country Club in Palo Alto, Calif., will remove diseased Monterey pines before moving on to a comprehensive renovation. Sylvania (Ohio) Country Club and Kenosha (Wis.) Country Club will both be restored with the aid of aerial photography.
Palo Alto Hills Golf & Country Club in Palo Alto, Calif., is set to receive a renovation by JMP Golf Design Group, Golf Course Architecture reported.
The 18-hole course was originally designed by Clark Glasson and overlooks San Francisco Bay. JMP is working closely with staff and members at Palo Alto to create a renovation master plan that addresses both the short term and long term needs of the club, Golf Course Architecture reported.
In the immediate future, the club needs to remove diseased Monterey Pines, and continue to reduce irrigation use due to the ongoing drought in the area, Golf Course Architecture reported.
“One cannot help but be inspired by the incredible photographs of the club in the late 50’s and early 60’s,” said Brian Costello. “The restored views of the bay and vistas towards the preserve define the unique and breath-taking personality of the course. The goal is to recapture this character and retain the reputation as one of the pre-eminent courses in the Bay Area.”
The course is located next to the Arastradero Open Space preserve, and JMP’s renovation master plan is set to include changes to help convert the Palo Alto Hills course from a parkland style to a more ‘rustic’ and open character, more in keeping with the nearby open space preserve, Golf Course Architecture reported.
C&RB featured Palo Alto Hills G&CC in its February 2007 cover story (“Turning Plans Into Action at Palo Alto Hills G&CC“).
Sylvania (Ohio) Country Club and Kenosha (Wis.) Country Club will also see renovations, both by architect Drew Rogers.
Sylvania CC is home to an original Willie Park Jr. design, and its renovation will begin in 2015. Rogers’ work at Sylvania will run concurrently with his firm’s planning efforts at Kenosha CC, one of only two Donald Ross-designed tracks in Wisconsin, and a design in similar need of recovery and restoration.
“The goals for projects such as these are straightforward but highly nuanced: We intend to recover these original features and bring them back into play in a way that best suits today’s game and its diverse range of players,” said Rogers.
Rogers’ work at both courses will reference original planning documents drawn up by Ross and Park, nearly 100 years ago, along with aerial photography, correspondence and notes archived at both clubs. “The aerials in particular will greatly aid the pending recovery of original design elements,” Rogers said, “as this vintage imagery will more clearly delineate how rampant tree growth has warped the architects’ intended strategies.”
Rogers envisions that nearly every green at Sylvania, for example, will be restored to their original perimeters, which will add new cupping areas while providing larger, more interesting, better integrated targets.
C&RB reported on Sylvania CC’s property-wide renovation plans last October (“‘Resort-Style’ Renovation at Sylvania (Ohio) CC Appeals to Families“).
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.