NEWS - Current Headlines
China Maple near Opening Date for 18 Holes
Wuhan Yishan International Sports Club Golf Course Construction Completed
Planning Work Moves Ahead at Compass Pointe
Renovation of the Creek Nine at Echo Valley set to begin
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China Maple near Opening Date for 18 Holes
View of Holes #2 & #8 of the Lake Nine at China Maple
All 27 holes of the golf course at China Maple have now been completed and the grow-in of the holes on the Maple and Lake Nines is coming along well. Except for some damage to 3-4 holes from a heavy rain in July, the course grow-in has gone well. A full program of intensive maintenance work to create first class playing conditions has been undertaken by the owner and contractor to make sure the playing surfaces of the golf course are ready for the opening.
An official opening date has not been set but it is expected to occur around the end of August. This will of course depend on the weather conditions in the next few weeks but this is the ideal time for growing the cool season grasses that have been selected. Course designer, Rick Robbins says, “I truly believe that China Maple will be one of the most scenic and most challenging golf courses in all of China.”
Because of the 250 meter total change in elevation between the lowest holes along the lake edge and the holes on the tops of the ridges, there will be significant opportunity for views that will be inspiring. There will also be challenges from these elevation changes with some shots that will play over 50 meters downhill. Despite the mountainous nature of the site, few holes will require steep shots uphill but from the back tees, this course will be as difficult as any course in the entire region. Architect Rick Robbins warns new players to the course to not let their ego get in the way of selecting the proper tees for this terrain and not to let scorecard distance determine which tees are best for this course.
Wuhan Yishan International Sports Club Golf Course Construction Completed
New Grass Planting on Hole #1 at Wuhan Yishan International
All of the holes at Wuhan Yishan International have now been constructed and grass has been planted on all holes. The course is now being maintained to get the new Bermuda grasses on fairways, tees and greens into true golf playing surface condition. The heat and rainfall of summer in Wuhan is ideal for growing the varieties of warm season grasses selected for this course. By the scheduled soft opening date of September 27th, the course should be in very playable condition.
Meanwhile, the construction of the main golf clubhouse, the community center club, streets and real estate sections are proceeding at a good rate. This will not only be the best located golf community in the entire Wuhan region but will also offer members and residents great amenities and choices of housing. Almost every home will have a view of golf or mountains.
Yishan golf course will be a different style course from any others in the region. The bunkers will be much larger than normal and have been shaped to resemble those of the famous architect, Dr. Alastair McKenzie. Fairways will generally be wide and full use of the driver will be encouraged off the tee on most holes. The challenge will be hitting the correct ball position for the best approach to greens that feature more than the usual undulations. Accurate iron play and short game ability will be the main requirements for a good score.
Rick Robbins to Address the Golf Course Builders Association of America (GCBAA) & the United States Golf Association – Water Use Seminar
In August, Rick Robbins will join with fellow ASGCA member Lester George to address the relationship between the golf course builders and the golf architects. This event will take place as part of the Golf Course Builders annual meeting which is being held this year at the World Golf Village in historic St. Augustine, Florida.
“I have always felt that there is a special relationship between the guys who build the courses and those who design them” says Rick. “Sometimes it is an adversarial relationship just because of the nature of the business but most of the time we all know we depend on each other to create great golf courses and neither can do it without the other”.
In November, Rick Robbins, ASGCA Vice President will be a co-presenter with Bill Love, ASGCA at a seminar entitled “Golf’s Use of Water – Its Challenges and Opportunities” which is being conducted by the United States Golf Association. This symposium will bring together experts from government, business, science, academia and golf to identify and discuss the most challenging issues regarding golf’s use of water.
Rick Robbins and Bill Love have both been active in the discussion and promotion of environmentally sustainable golf over their almost 40 year careers and they realize that water is fast becoming the most critical issue with golf around the world.
Planning Work Moves Ahead at Compass Pointe
This 27-hole golf course within a 2,000 acre master planned community has been working through several issues related to wetlands definitions because rules for what defines wetland areas have changed since the project started development 6 years ago. The project has been reviewed and wetland boundaries set by the EPA. This has allowed us to work with the owner recently to make all necessary revisions to the golf course that will set the final routing. Rick Robbins visited the site in June with Bert Exum, the developer, and together they walked the centerlines for all the holes that remained to be set.
The golf course will be designed in the style of those in Pinehurst because of the very similar features of the land. The existing terrain features elevation changes that total almost 70’ from high to low in any area very near the coast. The soils are sandy with pine trees, scrub oak and wax myrtle. Much of the area within the course will be left in its natural state and planted in native grass to reduce water usage and retain wildlife habitat. Both the golf course and community will be certified as an Audubon Gold level facility.
Real estate sales and community development activities have been going at a good pace with several different neighborhoods offering a variety of styles and price range homes having already been developed. The community amenity center has been completed and offers a wide range of activities for residents. Now it looks as if the main amenity of golf should be a reality in the near future.
Renovation of the Creek Nine at Echo Valley set to begin
Existing Hole #4 of the Creek Nine at Echo Valley
After very positive reviews by the membership of Echo Valley of the renovation last fall of The Vale Nine, an evaluation of the construction bid is currently under way to decide the final scope of work to be performed and the best date to start. The Creek Nine will represent a larger project in scope than was needed for the Vale as there are more holes that are subject to flooding on this nine. Earthworks to change some lake shapes, deepen others and to create wetland/marsh flood control areas will be more extensive than were required on the Vale.
As proposed, all bunkers will be rebuilt with shaping, liner, drainage and new sand. A major revision to hole #4 will be made that will create a two-level fairway that will provide very different strategic options for play. A new stream channel will be constructed along the right side of hole #6 that will alter the strategy here, especially the tee shot. Other parts of holes will be reshaped so that flood water will drain away as soon as the water returns to within the stream banks instead of forming pools on the fairways.