At Meadowbrook in Northville, Mich., all 18 greens will be rebuilt as part of a centennial-year project that General Manager Joseph Marini calls “an absolute game-changer.” At Cypress Greens in Lake Alfred, Fla., work is underway to renovate bunkers, level tees and enlarge the teeing areas.
Reflecting the continued surge in major golf course renovations recently reported by the American Society of Golf Course Architects (http://clubandresortbusiness.com/2015/07/28/course-renovation-outlook-stays-strong-asgca-reports/), details about these major projects were recently announced:
- At Meadowbrook Country Club in Northville, Mich. outside of Detroit, Staples Golf Design has been hired for an ambitious renovation project, Golf Course Architecture reported.
Through the project, all 18 greens will be rebuilt and renovations will be made to all bunkers and tee complexes across the course, which was originally built in 1916 as a six-hole layout designed by Willie Park Jr.
Staples helped to develop a Centennial Master Plan for the club back in 2014, Golf Course Architecture reported, working with member focus groups, town-hall meetings and using individual research and analysis.
“The primary goal of the project is to restore the course to its classic 1916 design while providing more consistent, quality conditions on a daily basis for our members,” Joseph Marini, the club’s General Manager, told Golf Course Architecture. “Like most courses in the area, our course was hit hard by the winter of 2013-14. This project allows us to upgrade while getting the most out of the property. This is an absolute game-changer for us.”
Andy Staples, President of Staples Golf Design, said that he feels the key to a good master plan is melding ‘the positives of a particular property with the desires of the club,” Golf Course Architecture reported.
“Meadowbrook is blessed with a great piece of land, but over the years, it was renovated in pieces, creating a fractured and inconsistent layout,” Staples said. “By combining a good assessment of the club needs and by engaging in constructive dialogue with the members, we came out with a plan that is really, really good. Getting the vote to close the course for an entire year is huge, and we couldn’t be happier with the support we’ve received.”
As part of the project, Meadowbrook CC has also engaged course consultant Bradley S. Klein and turf consultant Trey Rogers to work with Staples, Golf Course Architecture reported. Klein and Rogers will help with research, planning and developing solutions for areas of the course that are in need of special attention. These will include the conditions of the greens and fairways, as well as the lack of family-focused forward tees.
The new greens will be constructed in a manner consistent with the existing Park-style greens, while flat sand bottoms and steep grass faces will be introduced to the bunkers, Golf Course Architecture reported.
The fairways will be converted to bentgrass, while the outer roughs will feature a drought-tolerant bluegrass/fescue blend.
Work is set to get underway before the end of 2015, with the course scheduled to reopen in early 2017.
- At the Cypress Greens golf course in Lake Alfred, Fla., IGM has partnered with Sun Communities to take over maintenance responsibilities for the course and direct a restoration of the course’s fairways and greens.
“It’s a great opportunity to restore this course to its former beauty and playing performance,” said IGM Executive Vice-President Greg Plotner.
When Sun Communities purchased the Cypress Greens property, it was apparent the retirement community’s golf course needed restoration. “The greens, tees, and bunkers were in bad shape,” said Michael Machikas, Divisional VP of Operations and Sales for Sun Communities.
Sun Communities had successfully outsourced golf course maintenance services in other communities, so they put a contract out for bid and subsequently hired IGM in May 2015.
IGM has brought in Glenn Esposito as the Superintendent who will work with Plotner on the course renovation, with a focus on fertilization, weed control, and updating the irrigation system and the maintenance facility. Work is already underway to renovate the bunkers, level tees and enlarge the teeing areas.
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