Thursday, April 13, 2006
Renovating Sedgefield
Robert Bell wrote ain interesting story on Sedgefield Country Club in Sunday's News & Record.
Sedgefield's greens were rebuilt in the late 1980's. The workmanship of that project was so poor that the contractor admitted failure before the project was complete. The substructures for the greens were built improperly, causing moisture not to drain from the greens properly. The contractor offered to rebuild the greens again at no charge, but the board decided the members would not stand for closing the course for another extended period. The problems have not resolved themselves since then, of course.
The drainage problems make it nearly impossible for the greens superintendent to keep the soil under the greens dry. That dryness is important, because the roots grow deep and are healthy when they are searching for water. It is no accident that the greens have been much better during the drought of the last year.
The article creates the impression that the planning for the restoration project originated six months ago with a desire to restore the course to its classic architectural roots. That is misleading, as the project discussions actually started 18 months ago with a desire to improve the greens, the fairway grass, and the irrigation system. In interviewing architects for the project, the plan to restore the course to its original design features while this other work was taking place became part of the plan.
Bell's comment about "Sedgefield's decades-long descent into a ho-hum course" was strange. Just in the last three years, the course has hosted qualifiers for the Carolinas Amateur, US Senior Open, and the US Women's Amateur twice. The Carolinas Golf Association also awarded one of this year's major tournaments to Sedgefield (it was later reassigned because of the pending renovation). The CGA's director of tournament operations told me Sedgefield would be a huge draw across the state.
The rebuilding of Sedgefield CC, scheduled for December 2006 through September 2007, will provide some interesting pictures and perhaps some additional stories, if the N&R chooses to follow up Bell's story.
***UPDATE***
I noticed in the current Triad Golf Today has a listing of NC's top 100 golf courses. The only Greensboro area courses to make the top 40 are Sedgefield and Grandover (East). That feels about right to me.
Sedgefield's greens were rebuilt in the late 1980's. The workmanship of that project was so poor that the contractor admitted failure before the project was complete. The substructures for the greens were built improperly, causing moisture not to drain from the greens properly. The contractor offered to rebuild the greens again at no charge, but the board decided the members would not stand for closing the course for another extended period. The problems have not resolved themselves since then, of course.
The drainage problems make it nearly impossible for the greens superintendent to keep the soil under the greens dry. That dryness is important, because the roots grow deep and are healthy when they are searching for water. It is no accident that the greens have been much better during the drought of the last year.
The article creates the impression that the planning for the restoration project originated six months ago with a desire to restore the course to its classic architectural roots. That is misleading, as the project discussions actually started 18 months ago with a desire to improve the greens, the fairway grass, and the irrigation system. In interviewing architects for the project, the plan to restore the course to its original design features while this other work was taking place became part of the plan.
Bell's comment about "Sedgefield's decades-long descent into a ho-hum course" was strange. Just in the last three years, the course has hosted qualifiers for the Carolinas Amateur, US Senior Open, and the US Women's Amateur twice. The Carolinas Golf Association also awarded one of this year's major tournaments to Sedgefield (it was later reassigned because of the pending renovation). The CGA's director of tournament operations told me Sedgefield would be a huge draw across the state.
The rebuilding of Sedgefield CC, scheduled for December 2006 through September 2007, will provide some interesting pictures and perhaps some additional stories, if the N&R chooses to follow up Bell's story.
***UPDATE***
I noticed in the current Triad Golf Today has a listing of NC's top 100 golf courses. The only Greensboro area courses to make the top 40 are Sedgefield and Grandover (East). That feels about right to me.
