Tierra Verde Golf Club in Arlington, Texas is closed for renovations and resurfacing. Its greens will be expanded and restored to their original design when the course opened in 1998. The Lazy Swan Golf and Country Club in Saugerties, N.Y. plans to reopen later this month after its last full season of operation came in 2019. And a full irrigation replacement has been completed at Downriver Golf Course in Spokane, Wash.
A Texas golf course has closed for renovations and resurfacing, a New York course plans to reopen later this month, and a Washington layout has reopened following a full irrigation replacement.
Tierra Verde Golf Club in Arlington, Texas is closed for renovations and resurfacing, The Dallas Morning News reported. Its greens will be expanded and restored to their original design when the course opened in 1998, according to a city news release.
The course will transition putting surfaces to a new grass—champion dwarf bermuda—that is well-suited for warm weather, The Morning News reported. In addition, bunkers will be rebuilt and replaced with new sand.
“We are committed to keeping Tierra Verde Golf Club on the short list of must-play courses in the region, and certainly feel that these improvements are a testament to that,” Golf Services Manager Greg Durante said in the news release.
The driving range is expected to reopen in mid-August, with the entire course scheduled to open October 1, The Morning News reported. The clubhouse’s restaurant, Ventana Grille, will remain open daily for lunch and dinner.
The Lazy Swan Golf and Country Club in Saugerties, N.Y. plans to reopen later this month, the Daily Freeman reported. The semiprivate course’s last full season of operation came in 2019. Lazy Swan briefly reopened at the start of the 2020 season before closing for good in the spring of 2020 at the outset of the pandemic.
Lazy Swan General Manager Oliver Pulver told the Daily Freeman in a phone interview that maintenance crews have been busy since March working on the course so it could open for public play.
“Nothing is set in stone, but we’re hoping to have the course so it’s playable by the end of July,” Pulver said. “No specific date has been set. We have to see what kind of shape we can get the course into first.”
Although the fairways have been mowed regularly since the course closed in 2020, the greens and bunkers have not been maintained during the past several years, the Daily Freeman reported. Pulver admitted restoring the putting surfaces to their previous condition has been the biggest challenge.
“We’re working on getting the grass to grow again on the greens,” said Pulver, who formerly worked as an Assistant Professional at Lazy Swan under former Head Professionals John Kennedy and Steven Simeon from June 2009 through November 2016.
Pulver told the Daily Freeman he is confident the course will return to its previous condition under the leadership of new Golf Course Superintendent Gareth Hardisty, who previously worked at Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, S.C.
All 18 holes will be open for play at Lazy Swan, Pulver told the Daily Freeman. He was less clear on whether the popular Raw Seafood Bistro that served food on the club’s patio overlooking the golf course would be open when Lazy Swan was ready for play.
“We obviously have to have some food and beverages available for the golfers,” Pulver said.
But he said no decision had been made yet on whether to open the restaurant due to staffing issues in the hospitality industry, the Daily Freeman reported. Pulver said the golf pro shop would be manned by a shop manager. “We won’t have a golf pro,” he said.
Town of Saugerties Supervisor Fred Costello Jr. welcomed the news of Lazy Swan’s imminent reopening, the Daily Freeman reported.
“We’re very excited about Lazy Swan reopening since it plays an important part to complement the hospitality opportunities we have here in Saugerties,” Costello said. “Golfers from all over the Hudson Valley come to Saugerties to play Lazy Swan, and I know they’ve missed it while it was closed. It’ll be a great boon to our economy once it’s up and running again.”
Lazy Swan opened as a nine-hole course in 2008, the Daily Freeman reported. It was designed by golf architect Barry Jordan. Another nine holes designed by Jordan was subsequently added in 2011 to extend the course to an 18-hole par-70 layout that measures 6,216 yards.
A full irrigation replacement has been completed at Downriver Golf Course in Spokane, Wash. The new irrigation system is estimated to save approximately 7 million gallons of water per year – over 15% of the water used on the course.
Downriver was able to stay open during the regular golf season with a modified 18-hole course while crews worked from September 2021 through May 2022, and golfers were given a discount on golf rates during construction.
Funding for the irrigation upgrades came from a combination of $2.5 million from the golf Facility Improvement Fee (FIF) fund and $409,000 from Public Works, the city reported. The project coincides with a larger Public Works stormwater project which focuses on improving the health of the Spokane River.
The new irrigation system uses 84,500 feet (16 miles) of pipe and can fully water the golf course overnight during the hottest time of the year in less than 8 hours, the city reported. This makes for a drier, more playable course in the mornings.
These improvements at Downriver, combined with course irrigation upgrades recently completed at Indian Canyon (2019) and Esmeralda (2020), will save 40-45 million gallons of water annually, the city reported.
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