After discovering historical evidence of its original bunker design, the Virginia Beach, Va., property has begun a restoration that will reduce bunkers from 132,000 sq. ft. to 85,000 sq. ft., while creating a more sustainable maintenance program.
Following the recent discovery of original bunker designs at Cavalier Golf and Yacht Club in Virginia Beach, Va., the property is undergoing a renovation.
The bunker renovation is reducing the amount of bunkers on the golf course by approximately 47,000 sq. ft.—down to 85,000 sq. ft. from 132,000 sq. ft. The construction of the bunker renovation is being performed by Landscapes Unlimited, who also performed George Golf Design 2002 renovation at Cavalier.
“During the 2002 restoration, we had Charles Banks’ hand-drawn master plan showing green and bunker locations, but we had no photographs to confirm what was actually built,” said Lester George of George Golf Design. “The routing did, however, indicate that as many as 14 of the greens were still on Banks’ original grades.”
In that restoration, 14 original greens were cored out and rebuilt with a minimum amount of disturbance so as not to alter the 80-year-old contours, green surrounds and quirky walk-offs that remained close to the original routing after nearly a century.
In a stroke of luck, several years after the 2002 restoration, George ended up talking about his search for historic photos of Cavalier with an ex-government employee, Craig Disher, who worked as a photographic interpreter. Disher did some digging and managed to find a 1937 aerial photo in the National Archives that shows the bunkers as they were presumably built in 1929.
Through the latest project, the club is seeking to reduce its bunker square footage, create a more sustainable maintenance program, and retain its tradition of having a fun and playable Charles Banks golf course for our members, said General Manager John Milleson.
“Historical records are integral to successful golf course restorations. It’s exciting that this photographic evidence has enabled us to restore the golf course at Cavalier Golf and Yacht Club to Charles Banks original intent while meeting the modern needs of the membership and club,” said George.
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.