Front Nine Renovation Project Status

In 2014 when Jack Nicklaus designed the new back nine holes for us, he also redesigned the old front nine holes.  The front nine-hole renovation is taking place now.  This renovation is intended to improve playability for disabled golfers, make it compatible with the back nine, ease of maintenance, install drainage in all the new greens, replace the antiquated irrigation system and install asphalt cart paths.  It is expected to be completed by the end of this year and playable at the beginning of 2022.

All the old greens have been demolished by a Frazer which is an interesting machine to watch in action.  All the new greens with drainage and sand traps are now shaped to the specifications of the Nicklaus design.  The greens are currently having 6-inches of pea gravel and 12-inches of a sandy/loam mixture being added on top.  The next phase is to grade the greens surrounds and approaches and cover with 6 inches of topsoil.  Once the irrigation is brought up to the greens and surrounds, they will be seeded with perineal rye grass and hopefully get a good growth start before the cool weather sets in.  The last step before the grow-in period will be the installation of bent grass SOD on the greens.  The grow-in should take about 2 months depending on the weather.

Once holes 1 through 9 are in the grow-in stage, the contractors will move to the practice areas to complete the irrigation and redo the putting and chipping greens.  The good news is that the practice putting green will be about 40% larger.