Maryland Club Moves Ahead With Multimillion-Dollar Project

Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md. is overhauling the course’s agronomy, installing PrecisionAire subsurface systems below all 18 greens, and replacing almost all of the grass on the course with new and technologically advanced grass that will be more durable and grow better in the mid-Atlantic climate. The day after the course closed on Aug. 1, the club got to work on the largest renovation project the club has ever taken on. The improvements will be finished before the BMW Championship comes back to the club in 2025.

Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md. is pumping millions of dollars into the largest course renovation in the club’s 30-year history as it prepares for the return of the PGA Tour, the Baltimore Business Journal reported.

The Baltimore County club is spending millions over a 12-week period to replace the greens, fairways and tee boxes with new cutting-edge grass and grass technology, the Baltimore Business Journal reported. There will also be some architectural changes which Steve Fader, chairman of Caves Valley, said will make the course “modestly more difficult” once the renovations are complete. The upgrades come roughly two years after Caves Valley hosted the first PGA tournament in Greater Baltimore in 60 years and will be done in plenty of time before the BMW Championship comes back to the club in 2025.

Most of the renovations being done by the 150 workers involve aspects of the course golfers won’t see, but will surely notice, the Baltimore Business Journal reported. That includes overhauling the course’s agronomy, which Fader said is just a fancy name for dirt.

“Most of the money we are spending you won’t see. It is in the dirt,” he said. “This is a significant commitment from the club to do it, both its financial resources and personnel.”

Caves Valley closed down its golf season on Aug. 1 this year, three months before the club usually ends its season on the first of November, the Baltimore Business Journal reported. The day after the course closed, the club got to work on the largest renovation project the club has ever taken on.

Fader said the large scope of renovations was driven by the club wanting to install PrecisionAire subsurface systems below all 18 greens, the Baltimore Business Journal reported. Fader described the systems, which cost around $150,000 each, as large HVAC units built underneath the greens that can heat, cool and suck moisture out of the grass. The cost of the systems though, Fader said, is just the tip of the iceberg.

“Each one of those units itself is a six-figure amount for just the unit, but the money really comes in because you can’t install them in existing greens, so each green needs to be rebuilt. There is where the money is,” Fader said to the Baltimore Business Journal. “The ability to heat and cool them is very significant. This is the latest technology and will help with the uniformity of the greens. Our greens are in different environments, some are higher, some lower, some get more sun, and some have more shade.”

Fader said the club took the opportunity to do a complete overhaul of the course since Caves Valley had to completely tear up the greens to install the PrecisionAire systems anyway, the Baltimore Business Journal reported. Caves Valley is replacing almost all of the grass on the course with new and technologically advanced grass that will be more durable and grow better in the mid-Atlantic climate.

Fader said the club has brought out Paul Vermillion, the PGA Tour’s head agronomist, multiple times to help make sure Caves got everything exactly right, the Baltimore Business Journal reported.

Golfers will notice when the course opens up that Caves Valley also made changes to the holes, allowing for more hazards like water and out-of-bounds areas to be in play for more shots, the Baltimore Business Journal reported. Fader said golfers can expect more hazards on holes 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7 on the front half of the course. Holes 11 and 17 on the backside will also see changes that bring the water more into play. The renovations will also allow for more pin locations, meaning the course can change the holes up to allow for more variety.

“A lot of what we did was bring the greens closer to the hazard areas. They will now call for different shots,” Fader said.

More consistent greens and more hazard prevalence are two complaints that professional golfers had when the PGA tour’s BMW Championship came to Caves Valley in 2021, the Baltimore Business Journal reported. Sergio Garcia, who won the 2017 Masters, said some greens were fast while others were slow when he played the course. He did note that “with this heat and stuff, it’s not easy to control that.” Patrick Cantlay, who won the BMW Championship in 2021, said “there’s basically no hazards.”

Fader said when it came to making the changes, Caves Valley thought about its members first and the professionals second, the Baltimore Business Journal reported. Even though the club is set to host the 2025 BMW Championship, Fader said the course wouldn’t make dramatic changes just for one event. He said Caves Valley is not considering hosting an annual PGA event, and that while the events shine a spotlight on Baltimore, it is all about the members.

“I don’t see us considering a tournament before the end of the decade, the PGA will not be coming back in 2026 or 2027,” Fader said to the Baltimore Business Journal. “Our constituency, Caves Valley’s members and their guests come first. The PGA is not our constituency, however, the economic impact of bringing these events to Baltimore cannot be understated.”

The 2021 tournament had a $53 million economic impact on Greater Baltimore.