Improvements made over the summer to the Winston-Salem, N.C. club’s Donald Ross-designed course included new Champion ultradwarf Bermuda putting surfaces, whiter sand in bunkers with improved drainage, and a new short-game area with a long, undulating practice green, two bunkers and two generous chipping areas. Tree removal was also done throughout the course.
The significant changes made over the summer on the historic Donald Ross design at Forsyth Country Club in Winston-Salem, N.C., would probably be met with the approval of the late Scotsman/North Carolina transplant himself, the Triad Business Journal reported.
The project involved installation of new Champion ultradwarf Bermuda putting surfaces, as well as whiter sand in bunkers with improved drainage, the Business Journal reported.
Champion, now the surface of choice of many of North Carolina’s top courses, including PGA Tour sites such as Pinehurst No. 2, Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro and Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, replaced the former A1-A4 bent surfaces, which were not as heat-tolerant and more susceptible to viruses, the Business Journal reported.
“The greens will be much easier to sustain,” John Faidley, the club’s golf professional for the past 18 years, told the Business Journal. “A lot of clubs in the area have had success with Champion.”
The most notable change at Forsyth CC might be the new layout of the short-game area, which is now located in a valley below the clubhouse and putting green, the Business Journal reported. The club’s members can now hone their short-game skills on a long, undulating practice green, along with two bunkers and two generous chipping areas.
“It’s now like what we would have wanted it to be if we had started with a clean slate,” Faidley said.
Former Forsyth guests will also notice the removal of several trees between the third green and the right side of the fairway off the tee at No. 5, Faidley said. Tree removal throughout the course was done to provide additional sunlight for greens, to improve playability and for aesthetic reasons, he told the Business Journal.
Architect Kris Spence of Greensboro, N.C.-based Spence Golf Inc., which specializes in renovations of Donald Ross courses, consulted on the project, the Business Journal reported, working with Forsyth Superintendent Matt Jones and his staff.
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