Vestavia CC Reopens Renovated Course

The $6.5 million, 17-month project at the Birmingham, Ala. club has added new elements of fun for golfers at all levels, with one proclaiming “[it’s] like being at Disney World.” The club also built three tennis courts, repainted three hard courts, refurbished its ballroom and built a new outdoor patio area.

After 17 months and about $6.5 million of construction, Vestavia Country Club (VCC) in Birmingham, Ala. considers the return of its golf course to be a huge success, the Vestavia Voice, a neighborhood publication, reported.

 

One of the main goals for the renovations was to increase overall fun, and members’ responses since the reopening on June 1 have been overwhelmingly positive, VCC’s Superintendent, Owen Coulson, told the Voice.

“Every time someone stops me, it’s, ‘Man, this is so much fun,’ and that’s from the worst of the worst golfers and the best of the best,” said Coulson, who added that one of the club’s regular golfers described it as “like being at Disney World.”

In addition to the golf course, the club also rebuilt three tennis courts, repainted three hard courts, refurbished its ballroom and built a new outdoor patio area.

The plans to renovate began as the course became outdated, VCC’s General Manager, Robert Carr, told the Voice. The course had a failing irrigation system and older grass, both over 20 years old.

That started an eight-year process of meticulous planning for the renovations, the Voice reported, with Coulson visiting courses throughout the Southeast to look at various irrigation systems and different grass types.

VCC’s previous irrigation system was inefficient, as sprinkler heads came out of the ground in groups rather than individually. So when one area of grass needed water, Coulson told the Voice, the whole sprinkler group would water an extended area, sometimes causing overwatering. In addition, the pipes would break or leak on a weekly basis, costing VCC thousands of dollars.

The new irrigation system that has been installed at VCC features a type of fused pipes to prevent leaking, and the sprinklers are individually connected rather than grouped, preventing overwatering, the Voice reported. The sprinklers are also connected to an electronic system that allows the club to control them from a smartphone. And an automatic fail-safe feature is in place, to shut down the entire system in the event of pipe leakage.

The club also decided to use a new species of grass on the fairways and tees that requires less water and is better suited to summer heat, Coulson said.

The new course is designed to have a clear path for lower-level players while also having more difficult paths that high-level golfers can take to challenge themselves, the Voice reported. Each hole has six tees at different angles and distances, to keep each round fresh. The course, designed by Lester George, earned design excellence recognition from the American Society of Golf Course Architects last November.

“Those that are less skillful are going to have more fun because the fairways are wider and the angles are easier,” Carr told the Voice. “And the better golfers, the more skilled golfers, are going to find it more challenging. It is kind of a conundrum.”

The new course has already been an economic boon for the club, Carr said, with VCC seeing an increased interest in membership and having to hire more employees to help with increased activity at the club. The club’s junior programs have also grown dramatically since the reopening, Carr added.

Pro golfer Michael Johnson told the Voice that he had played at the old course more than 50 times, and that what really stands out about the renovations is the new scenery.

“The new course is great,” Johnson said. “They cut down a bunch of trees so you can see off the mountain from everywhere. It’s beautiful up there.”