The Oceans Golf Club par 3 course in Daytona Beach, Fla. has begun a four-month project to overhaul every tee box on the 13-hole layout. The Canyon Course at TPC San Antonio (Texas) is getting a bunker restoration. “Restoring the bunkers on the Canyons course will restore strategy, playability and maintainability and elevate the course even more,” says General Manager Matt Flory.
Oceans Golf Club in Daytona Beach, Fla. and the Canyons Course at TPC San Antonio are each readying for enhancements.
Oceans Golf Club, a not-for-profit, par 3 that is one of Daytona Beach’s most popular facilities, is undergoing a summer renovation project. Every tee box on the 13-hole, Bill Amick design is being overhauled—a four-month project that is another step forward for a property ranked among the nation’s most “exceptional hybrid courses.”
Oceans Golf Club, which plays 1,142 yards, remains open throughout the effort, which began on May 9. The overhauled tees are scheduled to open in mid-September.
“It’s going to be beautiful,” said Steve Madden, president of the Oceans West Homeowners Association, a group made up of 989 property owners who also own the course. “We had grass growing 36 hours after sprigging and we are ahead of pace right now. We take all levels of golfers and we are happy to do so. We are seeing a lot of younger people playing and that is the future of the game.”
Every tee box has been scraped, laser-leveled and sprigged with platinum paspalum, a sodium tolerant grass that is perfect for a layout located near the Atlantic Ocean. When possible, existing tee boxes are being expanded and alternate tees built, providing Oceans Golf Club setup options and ensuring they are able to maintain the health of the course’s tees.
Oceans Golf Club is a walking-only layout that delivers an enjoyable experience for newcomers and skilled players alike. Holes range from 36 to 116 yards, so distance isn’t an issue for high handicappers, but the greens include plenty of undulation, allowing better golfers to sharpen their short game and experiment with different shots.
The course is owned by the Oceans West Homeowners Association, and it was built 40 years ago with the mission of promoting and growing the game of golf. Oceans Golf Club is a public course and tee times aren’t required.
In Texas, Duininck Golf and the TPC Network pick up where they left off at TPC San Antonio, continuing a relationship on a spectacular project site.
As host to five PGA Tour Champions events in the past, as well as a 2020 Korn Ferry event, TPC Network’s Canyons Course is a proven test for the game’s best players. Like its sister course, the Oaks Course, which underwent a complete bunker renovation in 2021, the bunkers on the Canyon’s course were in need of an upgrade to maintain playing conditions to TPC Network standards.
“Restoring the bunkers on the Canyons course will restore strategy, playability and maintainability and elevate the course even more, as we look to provide optimal playing conditions for Tour players, our club members, and resort guests,” said General Manager Matt Flory.
Duininck’s Project Manager for the Oaks renovation and now the Canyons renovation, Chris Kleinsmith, welcomes the opportunity to return to San Antonio to work with Rich Brogan and the TPC Network.
“Communication and continuity are key on these projects, and familiar faces create quick and open lines between the team, builder, superintendents, and various managers,” said Kleinsmith. “Rich is always easy to work with and our collective cohesion makes progress easier and outcomes more predictable.”
While the Oaks project was more focused on overall infrastructure, the work on the Canyons is solely a bunker restoration project. The existing sand, drainage and surrounding turf will be removed with the faces and floors of the bunkers reshaped to match the original course design.
“Most of the work on The Oaks was not visible,” Kleinsmith explained. “The overall functionality of the course was improved, but artistically our revisions were not nearly as visible as the enhancements on the Canyons will be.”
“Projects like this are all about creating consistently high-quality conditions across all areas of the golf course. Golfers appreciate that consistency, and project managers like Chris are laser focused on the details that matter,” said Judd Duininck, General Manager of Duininck Golf. “Players notice and care about the subtleties. Whether it’s the speed of the greens, the lies in the fairway or the firmness of sand, we want all facets of the experience to be equally and noticeably great. The current conditions of the bunkers do not afford the maintenance staff the opportunity to provide that critical consistency, and that’s the change we need to make here.”
Duininck Golf’s expectations are to leave every property better off than it was, whether visible or not, said Sam Duininck, Director of Business Development.
“This restoration project will provide the maintenance team with bunkers that are much easier to maintain, while also yielding more visually pleasing shapes and definitions to the sand features,” he said.
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.