From the BraeBurn Country Club in Houston, Texas and TPC Louisiana, in Avondale, La., to Northmoor Country Club in Highland Park, Ill., Riverton Pointe Golf and Country Club in Hardeeville, S.C. and the Atkins Golf Club in Urbana, Ill., clubs are preparing to welcome golfers back to the course after extensive enhancements.
With the popularity of golf still experiencing a COVID bump, clubs across the country have undertaken renovation projects.
Tripp Davis and Associates announced that their redesign work at BraeBurn Country Club in Houston, Texas is nearing completion with a planned reopening of the front nine in December.
While keeping the same basic routing of the course, Davis and his team have rebuilt and reshaped all the greens, rebuilt and shifted tees, rebuilt bunkers in a more classic style while making better use of the elevation. New Northbridge Bermuda grass was installed along with a new irrigation system and upgraded drainage.
“BraeBurn has been an exciting project for us in taking a piece of ground with so much potential, and then realizing that potential,” said Davis. “We rebuilt almost every part of the course to try to give it a feel of being from that early American era – the Golden Age of architecture. Working with the entire club, superintendents Terry Gill and Aaron Engelhard, golf course builder Greenscape Methods, and irrigation contractor Heritage Links has been a great experience and everyone was very focused on long term quality through all the challenges this year has presented.”
The BraeBurn Country Club course was originally designed by John Bredemus in 1931 and was extensively reworked in 1991 to address flooding issues. It was the 1991 project that was able to add some significant elevation changes to the course, which is a unique feature in the Houston area.
TPC Louisiana, in Avondale, La.—host of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans—is now open after damage from Hurricane Ida forced the club to close on August 31. The eye of the hurricane was approximately 15 miles from the club, which forced maximum winds of 120 mph. Shortly after the storm passed, TPC Louisiana staff immediately went onsite to assess damage to the property and begin the recovery process.
“The facility experienced significant tree damage in the wake of Hurricane Ida. We are thankful for the swift actions of our staff to remove all the debris and to get the course back into peak condition for our November 1 reopening,” said Luke Farabaugh, TPC Louisiana General Manager. “Plenty of work remains as we plan to replant hundreds of trees over the next year to restore many of the damaged wooded areas.”
Notable Hurricane Ida damage to TPC Louisiana included:
– Approximately 150 large Bald Cypress trees and hundred and oak, magnolia and other trees were toppled or snapped in half.
– Four buildings onsite had roof and interior damage from wind and wind-driven rain.
– The 105′ Bald Cypress tree in the 11th fairway that was 90 yards in front of the green was uprooted and fell across the fairway.
– Approximately 12+” of rain during the storm.
Duininck Golf and Tyler Rae Golf Design are joining forces to remodel the White Nine at Northmoor Country Club in Highland Park, Ill. Northmoor’s primary project goals are to solve drainage issues and raise the elevations of portions of the White Nine course, especially in the flood-prone areas. Rae’s plan to address these issues require strategic realignments of several playing corridors, leading to a completely revamped routing of the White Nine.
“We really get to highlight some of the [previously hidden] ridges and rolls of the land,” he said. “We’ll shine a new light on the White Nine that will elevate it’s caliber to the level of the Blue and Red courses.”
Rae brings an energy and “hands on” efficiency to his work, something Duininck Project Manager Paul Deis greatly appreciates.
“Tyler is fun to work with and always incorporates a unique artistry in his design that leaves his clients with visually appealing and strategically enhanced golf holes,” Deis said. “We, like Tyler, care about our clients and want to make sure they get what they want on every level.”
To that point, Rae will be personally shaping the greens on the White Course, something Northmoor’s Project Coordinator, Brian Chasensky says was key to his hiring.
“His greens and the new water features will give us a completely new, challenging, fun and fair golf course that lives up to the expectations of the club,” Chasensky said.
“We’ve worked together extensively over the years,” Rae said, “and that relationship paired with Duininck’s expertise and professionalism always produces a final product I am proud of.”
Northmoor’s ownership has been greatly impressed with the collaborative chemistry, something Chasensky felt merited specific mention.
“From day one it seemed like we had all been working together for months,” he said. “Everyone and I at Northmoor are thrilled to have such talented and organized professionals here for this project.”
ClubLife Management announced the Jack Nicklaus-designed championship golf course at Riverton Pointe Golf and Country Club in Hardeeville, S.C. is now officially open for member play.
Riverton Pointe Golf and Country Club is located within the Riverton Pointe residential community under development by Toll Brothers just outside of Hilton Head in Hardeeville, South Carolina. The club recently held a grand opening event for current golf and social Members to commemorate the opening of the golf course. The opportunity to play the course for prospective homeowners in the Toll Brothers Riverton Pointe residential community begins on December 1.
“We’re delighted to open up the golf course to the membership here at Riverton Pointe Golf and Country Club,” said Gary Otto, Club General Manager. “What the Nicklaus Design team has brought to life with the golf course here at Riverton Pointe is truly extraordinary, and we’re confident the course will very quickly take its place among the premier private golf facilities in the Hilton Head market.”
Riverton Pointe Golf and Country Club is currently in the midst of a comprehensive build-out of its amenity package. In addition to the Nicklaus-designed golf course, ground was recently broken on a new fitness complex, scheduled to open to members by year-end. The Waterview Grill, a casual elegant dining outlet adjacent to the new fitness complex is anticipated to open to the membership in fall 2022. The social hub of the community, a sprawling new clubhouse facility offering multiple dining and social venues, is scheduled to break ground in 2022. The pool, tennis and pickleball amenities, and a new children’s playground were opened to the membership in late 2020.
“Toll Brothers prides itself in delivering exceptional customer experiences, and partnering with Nicklaus Design on the golf course has been complementary to this incredible community that we are bringing to the Hilton Head marketplace,” said John J. DePaul, Division President for Toll Golf.
When complete, the Toll Brothers Riverton Pointe community will include over 950 luxury single-story homes built on oversized wooded, lake, and golf course home sites. New homes will range in size from 1,680 to 3,500 square feet, with pricing starting from the high $300,000s.
The newly-renovated Atkins Golf Club at the University of Illinois in Urbana, Ill. is almost set to open, but it’s now up to the weather, The News-Gazette reported.
“We are hoping it’s June 1,” Director of Golf Jim Buyze said. “We hope to have the U of I teams on it early next season, like in April or May. If all goes well, we will open it up to the public after that and if Mother Nature is cooperative, we will push for an earlier date, but you can’t predict what will happen and so all we can do is hope for the best.”
Atkins Golf Club, formerly the Stone Creek Golf Club, is located in southeast Urbana and has served as the home course of the Illini men’s and women’s golf programs for several years. In June 2020, the university announced the donation of more than 300 acres by The Atkins Group, which included the course and a $5 million renovation to follow. The total amount of the gift was estimated at $15 million.
C+RB reported on an anonymous donation of $5 million in September 2020.
“It is a premium product and will be back to a championship golf course, which will be maintained at a championship level,” Buyze said. “Not only will it be the best-conditioned public golf course in the area, I would put it up against any public golf course in the Midwest.”
The course will remain closed this year, The News-Gazette reported. Earlier this month, the university hosted an opening day event to open the pro golf shop, the practice greens and the practice range.
“It went well and the good thing is that a lot of residents within the Stone Creek community were able to see what we had accomplished,” UI Assistant Athletics Director Jackie Szymoniak said. “They were eager to come and check it out. It was great to see some faces again and show off what we have accomplished.”
A new restaurant, Homegrown, will open in December, the DIA announced November 3. Homegrown will be managed and run by St. Joseph’s Wheelhouse owners Abbie and Ryan Rogiers, The News-Gazette reported. The Homegrown grand opening for full dinner service is set for early December, with the exact date to be announced later.
The course’s renovation added yardage, renovated tee boxes, bunkers and greens and improved bridges and lakes, The News-Gazette reported.
“We have the only product that can play as long as 7,500 yards which with today’s student-athletes, is the norm,” Buyze said. “I am a product of the ‘80s and Craig Stadler, who didn’t look like much of an athlete, was on the PGA Tour. But you can’t find someone who looks like that today, even in the collegiate ranks. They train and eat well and they can do things with a golf ball that we couldn’t imagine 30 years ago. It used to be that a 6,800 or 6,900-yard course was plenty for anyone, but even with the old configuration of 7,100 yards, it wasn’t enough.”
Buyze said the “latest and greatest” technology was used on every green and bunker on the course, The News-Gazette reported. The greens were resurfaced, which will lead to better playability, disease resistance and heat and cold tolerance
“There are still some things to work on during the winter months,” Szymoniak added. “We still have our maintenance team that will continue to work on getting the course ready during the winter. We have some tree stumps that need to be removed and some general drainage work to finish. Some cart paths and bridges need to be finished before we can become fully operational, but we are proud of the work that we have done and can’t wait to get it open next year.”
Buyze told The News-Gazette some greens are almost ready to go.
“We still have some grow-in to happen and we need time to do that. We need at least 100 days of growth on a green for it to be ready.”
The renovation was all done with private monies, Buyze said. “There was no state money and no tax dollars used. Money was donated to the university for this purpose, but it was all from private donations.”
The DIA will own and operate the golf club and will remain the home of the Illini golf teams, The News-Gazette reported. Troon Golf Course Management, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., has been hired to manage the club.
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