The Reserve Club at Woodside in Aiken, S.C. celebrated the grand opening of its Hollow Creek Golf Course, designed by Clyde Johnston, which accompanies the club’s Nicklaus-designed Reserve Course. Tripp Davis and Associates completed the renovation of Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club in Nichols Hills, Okla., where the original Perry Maxwell- and Alister MacKenzie-designed course opened in 1929.
The golf industry is continuing its resurgence with a pair of unveilings—a new renovation in Oklahoma and a new course in South Carolina.
The Reserve Club at Woodside in Aiken, S.C. recently celebrated the grand opening of its Hollow Creek Golf Course. The par-71, 6,943-yard golf course completes a full 36 holes at Woodside and is now available for play.
From July 1 through 5, members enjoyed a full calendar of celebratory events to accompany the opening of the golf course, including an appearance by Hollow Creek Golf Course architect Clyde Johnston.
Hollow Creek Golf Course gets its name from the 110-acre nature preserve that is adjacent to the course. Hollow Creek Nature Preserve, with its rolling hills, mature hardwoods and miles of trails, is part of South Carolina’s first designated bluebird habitat. The Reserve Club at Woodside now features the Hollow Creek Golf Course and the Reserve Course, a Nicklaus Design that opened for play in 2002.
“The completion of the Hollow Creek Golf Course is exciting for our entire membership,” said Saul Schwartz, General Manager of The Reserve Club. “I’m proud to be part of a team that honors its longstanding commitment to add value to its memberships. The addition of the Hollow Creek Golf Course is an example of how we deliver on that promise.”
The Reserve Club at Woodside is home to 36 holes of golf, six har-tru tennis courts, three regulation-size pickleball courts, a resort-style pool and cabana, a croquet court and game lawn, two outdoor patios and a 27,500-sq.-ft. clubhouse. The clubhouse offers members and guests a variety of amenities, including more than 60 member-led clubs and social groups, a variety of dining venues, grand ballroom for live music and other popular events, library, locker rooms, golf shop, conference room and an art studio.
In the Sooner State, Tripp Davis and Associates (TDA) has completed its renovation of Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club in Nichols Hills, Okla. The original Perry Maxwell and Alister MacKenzie designed course opened in 1929.
Davis and his team renovated drainage, cart paths, the structure of tees, greens and bunkers, and re-grassed most of the course, using Latitude 36 Bermuda for tees and fairways, and 007 Bent Grass for the greens. Work also included restoring the original rounded/irregular shape of the tees, returning strategic widths in fairways and removing many introduced trees, plus restoring the strategic intent and style of the bunkers and the size of the original greens.
The work to the greens helped to preserve the existing contours, mostly original, while making minor changes to enhance them for modern play. All greens had the existing contours scanned and each layer of the rebuilding of the greens was carefully monitored with GPS equipment to make sure the important contours were artfully preserved. TDA worked with EC Design of West Des Moines, Iowa, to plan the new irrigation and pumping system.
“Being given the responsibility to renovate and restore the Maxwell/MacKenzie course at Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club was uniquely exciting for me given my history there and the many friends I have there,” said Tripp Davis, lead golf course architect. “I first played the course in 1985 as a freshman on the University of Oklahoma golf team, and it has since been one of my favorite courses in the world. Being able to bring the golf course back to what it was intended to be by Mr. Maxwell and Dr. MacKenzie has been one the greatest thrills of my professional career.”
The Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club was one of only a few courses that Maxwell and MacKenzie collaborated on, with Crystal Downs in Michigan, and the Ohio State University Scarlett Course being two of the more high-profile courses they did together.
Shaper Jason Gold, who has been a TDA staff member for over 10 years, was onsite for more than a year to shape the course, while Davis oversaw the shaping of the surfaces of the greens to preserve the existing character.
“Jason and I made sure every detail was right and that every strategic element was pure to how Mr. Maxwell and Dr. MacKenzie wanted the course to play,” Davis said. “They were extraordinary at making everything they did look like a natural part of the land, and using that to create beautiful strategic variety and interest, highlighted by the angles they created and the importance of precision when playing into the greens.”
Tripp Davis appeared on the Club + Resort Talks podcast in October 2019. Listen to his thoughts on architecture HERE.
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.