New visions for seasoned facilities, renovations to classic courses and new layouts to meet the needs of today's golfers display the innovative, thoughtful work of ASGCA members

BROOKFIELD, Wis. -- The seventh annual American Society of Golf Course Architects Design Excellence Recognition Program honorees have been named. Projects from 11 courses have been cited for their work with ASGCA members in addressing unique design challenges.

Since its creation, the Design Excellence Recognition Program has highlighted the innovation and problem-solving skills required of today's golf course designs, from new 18-hole layouts to renovations to new and updated practice facilities.

The 2018 nominations were reviewed by a panel of golf industry leaders, including representatives of the Club Managers Association of America, Golf Course Builders Association of America and Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.

The recognized courses are:

• Banyan Cay Resort & Golf, West Palm Beach, Florida/Jack Nicklaus, ASGCA Fellow, Chris Cochran, ASGCA, and John Sanford, ASGCA
• Baylands Golf Links, Palo Alto, California/Forrest Richardson, ASGCA
• Boca Lago Country Club, Boca Raton, Florida/Jan Bel Jan, ASGCA
• Braemar Golf Course, Edina, Minnesota/Richard Mandell, ASGCA
• City Park Golf Course, Denver/Todd Schoeder, ASGCA Associate
• Golf Learning Facility at Harris Park, Kansas City, Missouri/Todd Clark, ASGCA
• The Preserve at Oak Meadows, Addison, Illinois/Greg Martin, ASGCA
• Sunset Valley Golf Club, Highland Park, Illinois/Rick Jacobson, ASGCA
• The Nest at Friday Harbour Resort, Innisfil, Ontario, Canada/Doug Carrick, ASGCA
• The South Course at Arcadia Bluffs, Arcadia, Michigan/Dana Fry, ASGCA, and Jason Straka, ASGCA
• Waters Edge Golf Course, Fremont, Michigan/Raymond Hearn, ASGCA

This is an impressive group of golf facilities, and I congratulate them and the architects they worked with on these projects," ASGCA President Jeff Blume said. "Each year, the Design Excellence Recognition Program illustrates the art and science of golf course architecture that leads to facilities better-serving their communities and golfers. I have so much respect for what is shown in these projects."

Banyan Cay Resort & Golf, West Palm Beach, Florida/Jack Nicklaus, ASGCA Fellow, Chris Cochran, ASGCA, and John Sanford, ASGCA
The design team transformed a former 36-hole private club into a successful 18-hole resort course, with extensive practice facilities, resort hotel and resort residences. The 100-acre development was full of highly organic soils not suitable for building and development. Over 250,000 cubic yards of unsuitable material was removed. Some unusable soil was used to build the practice range. The final quantity of poor soil was utilized by helping raise the practice range to accommodate the additional material and provide better definition on the range.

Baylands Golf Links, Palo Alto, California/Forrest Richardson, ASGCA
Project goals included reconfiguring the course to resolve community flooding, replacing all irrigation and improving drainage, transforming the landscape with more native plants and less managed turf, and providing economic sustainability for the city's municipal golf asset. Following permitting by eight agencies and boards the course was reconstructed, including 450,000 cubic yards of soil imported to raise turf area elevations, and mitigating 12 acres of wetlands. Loops of holes within the routing allow playing formats of 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 holes.

Boca Lago Country Club, Boca Raton, Florida/Jan Bel Jan, ASGCA
Established in 1975 as 36 holes, Boca Lago Country Club was prime for modernization. The facility was reconfigured as 27 holes with expanded practice range and Golf Academy, two short game areas, two putting greens and two practice holes.

Improvements included:

• Re-configured 36 holes to three nines, plus two short game areas, two putting greens and two practice holes
• Re-designed/re-built greens to accommodate more rounds and established stimpmeter readings of 10-11.
• Repurposed excavated greensmix to create 27 additional tees (75,000 sf) and raise
  elevations of fairways too close to water table.

Braemar Golf Course, Edina, Minnesota/Richard Mandell, ASGCA
How can you to revitalize an under-performing and outdated 27-hole course on environmentally-sensitive property golfers dismissed and citizens saw draining tax dollars? The solution was a new 18 holes that preserved floodplain, increased wetlands, restored Oak Savanna, and provided a great strategic and playable challenge for all golfers. The new course re-captured the golfing constituency with a layout that brought out the topographic features of the property to provide strategic challenge. The environmentally sensitive features of the site enhanced that challenge and also gained support of non-playing residents.

City Park Golf Course, Denver/Todd Schoeder, ASGCA
Associate How do you utilize an existing, 1913 historic golf course in the heart of an urban environment to address major neighborhood flooding issues without changing the character of the golf course? The remodeled par 70, 18-hole course retains the original course character and includes a new First Tee course, driving range, ultigenerational forward tees and three short courses within the course. The design utilized 20 acres of the course to hold and slow 227-acre feet of floodwater during storms, providing much need floodwater protection and also includes an integrated natural water treatment channel that enhances course strategy.

Golf Learning Facility at Harris Park, Kansas City, Missouri/Todd Clark, ASGCA
Harris Park offers basketball courts, sand volleyball, miniature golf, and a football practice field. With limited space, the challenge was to create a golf learning center that would expose the community to the game. First phase construction included six synthetic tees playing to two synthetic putting greens, zoysiagrass fairways and fescue roughs. There are two synthetic turf-lined greenside bunkers. The Master Plan calls for another hole along with a large practice green. The course will ultimately consist of three holes with three tees each allowing for a nine-hole loop. The planned putting green will be built to function as a nine-hole putting course.

The Preserve at Oak Meadows, Addison, Illinois/Greg Martin, ASGCA
The Preserve regularly suffered flood damage losing revenue and customers while pressuring operations and maintenance staff. Goals included: improve golf conditions, relieve downstream and on-course flooding, provide environmental benefit, improve water and habitat quality and provide connectivity to other Preserve properties. To meet the objectives of flood resistant golf and environmental benefit, the planning, design and permitting was coordinated with 19 separate agencies. Ultimately, 27 holes was converted to 18 holes, moving four holes from flood-prone areas to more upland positions while other holes in close proximity of the creek floodway were raised above specified flood elevations.

Sunset Valley Golf Club, Highland Park, Illinois/Rick Jacobson, ASGCA
Long term deferred maintenance negatively impacted this 1920's era golf course that was constructed in a lowland area of floodplain and floodway. Significant public engagement resulted in a comprehensive Master Plan to improve drainage infrastructure and enhance the golf experience for all golfers. Raised tee shot landing areas, swales and strategic landforms have transformed a flat site into a course with sweeping elevation changes that provide dramatic panoramic views. This combination of the art and science of golf course architecture has resulted in the enhanced functionality of a recreational amenity.

The Nest at Friday Harbour Resort, Innisfil, Ontario, Canada/Doug Carrick, ASGCA
A 600-acre "urban style" resort included design of a 200-acre championship golf course. Course design required the disposal of 2 million cubic meters of earth excavated from the marina basin to be utilized and sculpted on 15 golf holes located on flat, open agricultural land with limited natural character. The new course features dramatic elevation changes -- up to 50 feet tall -- and landforms that mimic a natural rolling moraine landscape. The course was also designed to encourage walking with gentle climbs going uphill and more dramatic elevation changes on downhill holes.

The South Course at Arcadia Bluffs, Arcadia, Michigan/Dana Fry, ASGCA, and Jason Straka, ASGCA
The project is a unique design inspired by the Chicago Golf Club design from early American golf course architects CB Macdonald and Seth Raynor.

Prominent features of the South Course common to both it and the Chicago Golf Club include:

• Large greens, averaging over 9,400 square feet, often squared off in one or more corners and separated into different sections using swales, ridges, slopes and isolated bumps.
• Bunkering style defined by strong grass faces and ribbons of flat sand which jut far into the fairways.
• Wide, straight-edged fairways and approaches running directly into bunkers, offering strategic lines of play.

Waters Edge Golf Course, Fremont, Michigan/Raymond Hearn, ASGCA
The lack of a driving range was not appealing to existing members and potential new members. The golf course needed something to trigger a renaissance. A master plan and construction drawings were developed for two new golf holes and an upscale driving range with a new putting and a chipping green. The range features are designed to look like actual golf holes which can be played as such when the main range tee is closed. The new range will help attract more juniors, women and super seniors to the club.

ASGCA Background

Founded in 1946 by Donald Ross, Robert Trent Jones and 12 other leading architects, the American Society of Golf Course Architects is a non-profit organization comprised of experienced golf course designers located throughout the United States and Canada. Members have completed a rigorous two-year long application process that includes the peer review of four representative golf courses. ASGCA members are experienced golf course architects, able to counsel in all aspects of golf course design and remodeling and comprise many of the great talents throughout the golf industry.

For more information about ASGCA, including a current list of members, log on to the ASGCA website at http://www.asgca.org or call (262) 786-5960.