Using Donald Ross’ original routing plans and aerial photography, the 18-hole golf course is undergoing a comprehensive design-reinstatement. A significant tree-removal plan, redesign of the irrigation system, and permitting for bridge relocations are underway, with long-term plans including fairway and approach realignments, surface reclamations, and reinstatement of the bunkers.
Kenosha (Wis.) Country Club, one of only two Donald Ross-designed tracks in the state, is undergoing a comprehensive design-reinstatement that began in 2015 but will take full flight this year.
Kenosha Country Club was founded in 1898, strictly as a golfing club near the shores of Lake Michigan, some 50 miles north of Chicago. The club moved to its current location in 1920, when Ross was commissioned to design 18 holes beside the Pike River.
Architect Drew Rogers and Kenosha course superintendent Paul Bastron secured the original Ross routing plans from the Tufts Archive in Pinehurst, N.C., as well as aerial photography of the course dating from 1937.
“As suspected, when we got hold of the original Ross plans, we confirmed that the strategy for [hole number 3] had been completely lost—along with the defining strategic features—when the tees were moved. What’s more, trees had been planted on both sides of the rough, further negating the strategic intent of the hole. In a nutshell, that’s the story of nearly every hole at Kenosha. It’s also a blueprint for our reclamation efforts: We just have to peel things back, strategically and fit things back together in the spirit of what Ross originally intended.”
The work at Kenosha will follow a popularized 21st century renovation model, whereby projects are handled in phases, year by year. Already under way is a significant tree-removal plan, redesign of the irrigation system layout, and permitting for several bridge relocations. Projects on the long-term docket for Rogers and Bastron, but beginning in earnest this spring, include:
- Multiple fairway and approach realignments and expansions
- Surface reclamations and green collar expansions affecting all 18 putting surfaces
- Reinstatement of the bunkers, various tees and other elements
The putting surfaces are another example of how strategic interest can be lost, over the course of decades, through benign neglect. Unfortunately, like so many 100-year-old greens, Kenosha’s have shrunk over time.
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