Golfdom, November 2018

Its a brand new golf course Owen excitedly says in his English accent Its visually dramatic Theres an intimidation factor But once you play it you really enjoy it connect them No cuts hollows or swails just even from tree line to tree line Hanse told the assembled media at Course 4 s national media day event that this was inspired by Course 2 Hanse encouraged his team to visit No 2 every day and appreciate the subtleties of the course how fairways bleed into wire grass and wire grass then bleeds into trees With that template to restore the landscape we set about one of the biggest earthmoving projects weve ever had Hanse says Hopefully golfers wont notice We did it to put the ridges back where they should go to put the valleys back where they should go and to tie into the tree lines We wanted to make it feel seamless as it transitions from No 2 to No 4 Washed away There were some challenges along the way of course Material movement was the biggest headache Back in England we get 40 to 50 inches of rain annually but it is soft and steady a little at a time all year long Owen says We get the same amount of rain here in Pinehurst but its a different kind of rain a quick 2 inch afternoon frog choker It can be heartbreaking when youre on top of things theres a big storm and then youre back to square one After these frog chokers the crew would return and do a little choking themselves theyd see their hard work washed downhill No 2 is a unique piece of property theres nothing like it the sand there and its ability to drain naturally Owen says Since 1920 Course 4 has been tweaked many times and its lost that natural ability to drain With the elevation changes and the slopes it would not be an exaggeration to say the sand would move and wed have 18 inches to 2 feet of sand in low areas Thats not the look you want Hanse who Owen calls superintendent friendly didnt want to leave the crew with a monster to maintain So they did some recontouring and incorporated Centipedegrass into the layout Centipedegrass is lazy and slow growing and it wont outcompete other natural grasses that we desire Owen says It was never mentioned it just evolved Course 8 has Centipede on a little area so Im familiar with it It doesnt need to be managed it just needs to stabilize we ended up using almost 15 acres NO 2 GETS A COMPANION Honored and impressed The result is a spectacular course that looks daunting but plays fair The fairways are generous like No 2 There are some spectacular vistas From the 6th green golfers probably can see 70 to 80 percent of the golf course Owens parents came stateside from Southampton England for a visit But despite their sons hard work on No 4 they elected Continued on page 24 TOP DRESSERS STARTING AT 2984 Grow your business not your crew www ecolawnapplicator com 1 866 ECO LAWN 326 5296 Th Original and Most Pow rful Turbin Blow r CYCLONE SQUARED 716 592 2700 VISIT OUR WEBSITE BuffaloTurbin com EST 1945 CYCLONE EFI DONT SETTLE FOR KNOCKOFFS November 2018 Golfdom 23 Golfdom com