The Sarasota, Fla. property has completed a $1.2 million project designed to help adapt the course to the specific needs of the community’s membership, while also addressing several operational and environmental concerns.
Stoneybrook Golf & Country Club, Sarasota, Fla., reopened its renovated golf course on October 1. The course at the 20-year-old club was closed in April for an extensive, $1.2 million renovation directed by Chris Wilczynski of C.W. Golf Architecture.
“The anticipation has been building, no question,” said Frank Leahy, Stoneybrook’s General Manager. “We have a large contingent of members who head north for the summer, and they’re eager to see the changes. We’ve also been leaving carts out for our year-round members, so they can tour the property. They’re very enthusiastic about what they’ve seen.”
The renovation involved having Wilczynski—who was involved with devising Stoneybrook’s master plan in 1994 as a design associate with golf course architect Arthur Hills—pursue several objectives:
- With Stoneybrook’s membership composed largely of golfers in their late 50s or older, and with a home course that has water hazards or wetlands that come into play on nearly every hole, the renovation sought to help make the game more fun and less penal, without diminishing the challenge.
“As a majority of club members continue to age, the course simply needed to be softened, so it would be more enjoyable for long-standing members,” Wilczynski said. “And since the course had not been significantly renovated since it was opened in 1994, its aesthetics had to be enhanced, to ensure the club would continue to attract members on a long-term basis.”
- Complete reconstruction of every green was a primary objective of the Stoneybrook renovation project, which also included changes to every tee and bunker on the course. Original green contours were replicated, and the process also provided the opportunity to soften slopes on a half-dozen greens that had been problematic to golfers. In addition, the run-off area between a lake and the 15th green was eliminated in favor of a bulkhead.
- Wilczynski made significant design changes to two holes. At No. 6, a par-3 that plays from 190 to 120 yards and features water on the left side, he relocated a cart path that had long raised the ire of players who watched tee shots bounce off the pavement into the lake. He also created mounding that keeps slightly errant shots from trickling into the water.
At No. 9, a 350- to 410-yard par-4 dogleg left—and Stoneybrook’s No. 1 handicap hole—Wilczynski doubled the width of what had been a narrow approach corridor by removing roughly a half-acre of trees and re-grading the fairway.
- As a 940-home, gated and “bundled” community, where each resident and homeowner is a member of the club and non-resident members are not accepted, Stoneybrook’s revenue is fixed, and every penny spent on course maintenance must count. So even subtle design changes to a golf course can reduce maintenance manhours, and therefore cost.
“With the membership policy in mind, and to increase profitability, the course’s entire maintenance process was examined with the goal of eliminating any waste of dollars, natural resources and the course superintendent’s time,” Wilczynski said.
“Now that each of these goals has been achieved, club members will be able to enjoy an entirely different golf course than they had experienced in the past – an enhanced recreational experience along with the club’s swimming pools, tennis courts and fitness center.”
- Stoneybrook had been vexed in recent years by a proliferation of parasitic nematodes, the microscopic worms that attack turf root systems. To eradicate them, every green was stripped down to the original sub-grade and rebuilt to U.S. Golf Association specifications with new soil and TifEagle bermudagrass. Additionally, the new soil and the area surrounding each green were fumigated, to ensure that the pests would not damage the new greens. ”We’re very excited about the greens,” Leahy said. “They had been at risk, and this gives us a fresh new start.”
- Another mission was to restore Stoneybrook’s 40-some bunkers, which had lost their original grass faces and become too deep, making them difficult for less-skilled golfers to escape.
- The “softening” of Stoneybrook also included the addition of a handful of new tees, to accommodate players of varying skill levels. Every tee on the course was realigned, leveled and re-grassed.
- The renovation also involved the extensive removal of pepper trees, an invasive species that had encroached on areas designed to be unobstructed. ”The sight lines and aesthetics of the native wetland areas are much improved with the removal of the pepper trees,” Wilczynski said.
“There was a lot to accomplish, but we got it done because of a wonderful partnership with Stoneybrook’s members, management, maintenance staff, and the golf course contractor,” Wilczynski added in assessing the overall success of the project. “That’s the key to a successful renovation or restoration project. When everyone participates, they better understand the objectives and the long-term benefits. The folks at Stoneybrook were terrific to work with, and I’m confident they’ll be pleased with the result.”
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