The redesign and renovation of a classic public golf course in Denver has brought stormwater mitigation to the city, improved playability for golfers, and created maintenance benefits for the staff.
Anyone who thinks a golf course can be a drain on a community might want to reconsider. Or take a good look at the City Park Golf Course in Denver, Colo.
In a three-year endeavor, the 18-hole, 108-year-old public course was the site of a stormwater detention project for the city that has resulted in three primary benefits. The installation of new infrastructure in the heart of the Mile High City has improved stormwater quality by slowing down the water and clearing it of sediment and debris before it flows into the South Platte River. During major storms, the project has provided greater protection from flooding to downtown homes and businesses.
And the golf course, which was originally built in 1913 and was listed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1986, benefited from a complete redesign and renovation.
“Everything is brand new. There’s not one part of the golf course that isn’t brand new,” says Golf Course Superintendent Colin Murphy. “The golf course was 100 percent redesigned. Everything was relocated. We moved buildings and put in a channel that runs through the golf course. We had to design the golf course around all of that.”
In addition, the award-winning project included the construction of a new clubhouse and a new maintenance facility, both of which were relocated on the property. The driving range was also expanded, and a four-hole course was created for Denver’s First Tee program.
Interest, Input and Improvements
The City Park golf course was selected as the water detention site because it would protect more homes and businesses, reduce the need for private property acquisition, and provide for future stormwater needs. The golf course renovation was also seen as an integral part of the project, to enhance the existing city asset.
Guidelines for the redesign were finalized in late 2016 after an eight-month collaboration with representatives from registered neighborhood organizations, community groups, golfers and residents.
“[Those groups’] effects are definitely felt,” says Head Golf Professional Susie Helmerich, LPGA. “They wanted a clubhouse where families could have dinner and where people who aren’t golfers feel comfortable. They wanted a full driving range where you can use all the clubs in your bag.”
In addition, the city worked closely with the State Historic Preservation Office, to ensure that the redesigned golf course would continue to be eligible for the historic registry.
To begin the project, City Park was closed in the fall of 2017. After a soft opening in August 2020, it reopened in September until November. Murphy—who worked at Overland Park, one of Denver’s other seven golf courses, during most of the renovation—became City Park’s superintendent in June 2020. He was brought on board in time for the last three months of construction, to finish the grow-in and to ready the golf course for play.
Helmerich, who is in her third season at City Park, served as the “eyes and ears from the golfers’ standpoint and the golf pro’s standpoint” during the renovation project.
She also had input in the design of the pro shop, to be sure the flow allows customers to navigate through the merchandise and to give the staff optimum sightlines from the counter.
Out with the Old
To improve the golf course, the entire layout was bulldozed so it could be rerouted to mitigate the drainage issues. While 256 trees were removed, 760 new trees were planted on the urban, parkland golf course, for a net gain of about 500 trees.
In a nod to the history of City Park, holes 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the course were constructed in the footprints of the original second, third, fourth, and fifth holes designed by Tom Bendelow, and the 15th hole was built where the first hole previously was located.
The renovation, directed by Todd Schoeder, included the creation of elevation changes and the addition of water features to the property as well.
One of the most consequential new water features is the half-mile-long, eight-foot-wide channel that was built to help filter out sediment and debris so it doesn’t flow into the river, while also serving as a design element and water hazard for the course.
Cattails and reeds were planted along the channel to serve as a buffer to the waterway and to act as a filter. Because stormwater filters through the natural vegetation and gets greater exposure to sunlight and oxygen in the process, it is actually of higher quality by the time it flows into the river.
The golf course now drains through an underground network of pipes that lead to an irrigation pond or to the large permeable concrete basin, or forebay, which also takes in stormwater from the surrounding watershed through a 102-inch diameter pipe. After the stormwater pours into the forebay, it is released slowly within eight hours from the basin into the channel for filtration.
Before the renovation, notes Murphy, the debris and silt from the surrounding roads and hardscapes that went into the golf course had no way of slowing down before reaching the river.
The new detention pond also features a “vault,” where debris that floats into the stormwater system upstream collects in the concrete basin and gets hauled away by city crews.
Crown Jewel
While integrating stormwater detention into a golf course is a common occurrence, turning City Park GC into a stormwater detention site is not the only benefit that has resulted from the renovation project. The City Park maintenance department has gained advantages as well.
The renovation included the installation of a new flow-managed irrigation system, new USGA bentgrass greens that replaced pushup poa greens, and a mix of bluegrass and ryegrass in the fairways, tees, and rough.
The bentgrass greens are more drought-tolerant, requiring fewer applications of water and fungicides, Murphy says. Before the renovation, City Park also had a mix of ryegrass and bluegrass in the fairways, tees, and rough, he adds, but the old grass was replaced with a newer variety that is more salt-tolerant.
The golf course also uses reclaimed water, which is more cost-efficient and environmentally friendly.
As an added bonus, the channel attracts egrets, herons, and other waterfowl, and the buffer zone has become a wildlife corridor for foxes and deer. The waterway has also become a low-maintenance area for the grounds crew.
“We don’t touch the six-foot buffer all the way around the channel,” Murphy says. “The wetlands area around the edge of the channel is the best water filter out there.”
When grounds crew members wash their equipment, grass clippings are recycled and organic matter is removed. “With anything that comes off the parking lot or maintenance facility, the water is filtered before it enters the stormwater system,” says Murphy.
All eight of the golf courses in the Denver system are certified as Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program properties, so sustainability has long been practiced at the facilities. The City Park staff uses a GPS spray system for its herbicide and fungicide applications, and the weather station helps the staff estimate evapotranspiration (the sum of water evaporation from soil and water transpiration through plants) each day.
In-ground as well as hand-held moisture sensors help the grounds crew monitor irrigation needs. While the in-ground sensors offer “readings 24/7,” says Murphy, crew members can “pick their spots on the greens” with the hand-held sensors.
Other eco-friendly changes at City Park that were part of the renovation include electric golf cars for players to use, and solar panels that were installed on the roof of the new state-of-the-art maintenance facility, to offset the electricity that is used to charge the golf cars. City Park is the only one of the city golf courses that has solar panels, Murphy notes.
A “Shiny New Crown Jewel”
Of course, the renovations have resulted in improved playability as well.
City Park, which reopened this season in May, is “the shiny new toy in town,” Helmerich says, and also “the crown jewel of Denver’s public golf course system.”
Golfers have taken notice, and since the course has reopened, they generally have needed to schedule tee times two weeks in advance. Helmerich credits the grounds crew with keeping the course in top condition.
“As a public golf course, we get lots of ball marks and divots, but the maintenance staff takes care of them and makes sure the greens are in great shape,” she says.
The renovated course has wider fairways, and avid golfers can now also sharpen every facet of their game on the new full-sized practice range. The previous range was designed for iron use only, and golfers had to hit off mats.
“Playing conditions have improved tremendously,” says Murphy. “The redesigned greens and bunkers are better.”
When they were relocated, the new clubhouse and the new maintenance facility were built in the center of the property. Although the maintenance facility previously was in the middle of City Park, the clubhouse was moved from a corner in the lowest point of the property. The two buildings now share a parking lot as well.
With its floor-to-ceiling windows, the clubhouse offers panoramic views of the city skyline and the Rocky Mountains, as well as “some amazing sunsets,” says Helmerich.
Community outreach efforts include First Tee programs, which serve more than 10,000 junior golfers. In addition to the four-hole course, First Tee facilities at City Park include a conference room and a classroom in the new clubhouse.
Murphy is involved with the program, speaking to the kids and instructors several times a year to help encourage interest in the golf profession as well as the game. “All of the golf courses have First Tee facilities, but City Park is the home base,” he says. Helmerich supports First Tee as well, and City Park’s assistant golf pro, Chris Hamilton, is one of the First Tee coaches.
‘Golf for All’
In addition to all of the stormwater benefits that the renovated golf course brings to the city, it offers vital recreational opportunities to visitors and residents.
“We strive to provide golf for the masses. We’re very affordable,” says Murphy. “But at the same time, we produce high-end, quality playing conditions that compete with other golf courses. We are golf for all.”
Helmerich believes the renovated course will help to grow the game and reach a wider audience. “We really try to make it inviting and welcoming to the city as a whole,” she says. “I always take people through the clubhouse and tell them, ‘You have access to all of this.’”
Although it has a modern, sleek design with its floor-to-ceiling windows, the clubhouse also features wood, stone and metal materials.
“The new clubhouse has been open for almost a year,” says Helmerich. “It has been fun to have people come back who used to play the old golf course.”
The facility also preserves City Park’s past with a history wall and mural in the foyer. “It has sliding panels of the old golf course, the old clubhouse, and former guests,” says Helmerich. “There are a lot of transplants in Denver, and they don’t know the history of the course.”
The views bring a variety of people to the golf course as well, she adds. “A lot of people who aren’t golfers like to stand on No. 1 tee and take pictures,” she says.
And Helmerich believes City Park is starting to make a lasting impression on golfers.
“When people think of Colorado, they think of hiking, mountain biking, or skiing,” she notes. “But golf is becoming part of the conversation, and that includes the affordable golf courses in Denver.”
Golf Scorecard
CITY PARK GOLF COURSE
Location: Denver, Colo.
Website: www.cityofdenvergolf.com
Year Opened: 1913
Type: Public
No. of Golf Holes: 18
Course Designer: Original design – Tom Bendelow; renovation – Todd Schoeder
Fairways: Mix of bluegrass and ryegrass
Greens: Bentgrass
Golf Course Superintendent: Colin Murphy
Head Professional: Susie Helmerich, LPGA
Honors and Awards: The renovation received the 2019 American Society of Golf Course Architects Environmental Excellence Award and the 2018 American Society of Golf Course Architects Design Excellence Award.
C+RB
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