Russell Lands announced last week its new Coore & Crenshaw-designed golf course in Lake Martin, Ala. has reached the final stages of course construction. In April 2021, Russell Lands announced plans for The Heritage project, a 1,500-acre neighborhood on 12 miles of shoreline adjacent to Russell Forest on the Wicker Point peninsula. The golf course, which was started before the first home construction phase opened, is now nearing completion.
The Wicker Point Golf Club in Lake Martin, Ala. is expected to open this fall, the Victoria Advocate reported.
Russell Lands announced last week its new Coore & Crenshaw-designed golf course on Lake Martin has reached the final stages of course construction. The contractor team returned to work with the arrival of spring in anticipation of having the course ready for play in the fall, the Victoria Advocate reported.
In April 2021, Russell Lands announced plans for The Heritage project, a 1,500-acre neighborhood on 12 miles of shoreline adjacent to Russell Forest on the Wicker Point peninsula, the Victoria Advocate reported. The golf course, which was started before the first home construction phase opened, is now nearing completion, and Russell Lands Vice President Roger Holliday said its economic impact potential is significant.
C+RB also reported on the plans for the course in October 2021.
“We already have had people from all over the country contacting us wanting to know more about Lake Martin, and some of them are interested in buying property at The Heritage,” Holliday said.Spring through fall is the best period in Alabama to build a golf course, the Victoria Advocate reported. At the end of last October, the course construction team had just one fairway, No. 14, and a couple of tees that required any significant grading. Most of the rest of the course, which winds its way through rolling forest and along Lake Martin’s shoreline, was already shaped and sodded.
The driving range is scheduled for sodding this month, the Victoria Advocate reported. This comparatively small amount of grading will allow the final sections of Zeon Zoysia sod to be placed on the course in March.
Sixteen greens, which feature TifEagle Bermudagrass, were sprigged last summer, the Victoria Advocate reported. The two remaining greens are scheduled to be sprigged late spring with the arrival of warmer summertime temperatures. The practice green will be sprigged at that same time. These final touches will allow the course to experience the summer growing season to prepare for playable conditions this fall. The course will be the heart of a private golf club, Wicker Point Golf Club, that is located within The Heritage community.
The golf club will include a new clubhouse and adjacent pro shop, designed by Hank Long of Birmingham’s Henry Sprott Long & Associates, a brand-new practice facility, and a collection of golf cottages available for members’ guests, the Victoria Advocate reported.
The overall community, The Heritage, will also include The Benjamin Lake Club—a lakefront amenity center that will include a clubhouse with fitness center, resort-style pool, community docks, beach, tennis and pickleball complex, event lawns, and parks—and a proposed marina adjacent to the property, the Victoria Advocate reported.
Home ownership at The Heritage is the catalyst for membership at the Wicker Point course for the time being, the Victoria Advocate reported. Except for an early bird membership offering for Willow Point members, there are no other membership opportunities currently available, Holliday said.
“We do anticipate some sort of national membership opportunity at some point,” he added.
As is the case at other Coore & Crenshaw courses around the world, significant traffic is expected, the Victoria Advocate reported.
“There are a lot of folks who will fly in and bring guests, host a big golf group. In addition to what they spend, that is a lot of exposure to a whole lot of folks,” Holliday said. “And it’s all because the course has that Coore & Crenshaw stamp on it. These guys don’t build golf courses in ordinary places.”
Two-time Masters champion “Gentle Ben” Crenshaw joined professional designer Bill Coore, who began his career with Pete Dye and Associates, in 1985, the Victoria Advocate reported. The pair share an appreciation for the Golden Era of golf architecture – courses built between 1916 and 1930. Earthmovers and other large excavating equipment had not yet been developed, so the 5,000-plus golf courses built around the U.S. during this 15-year period showcased the topography and natural features of the land.
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