Andy Staples, owner and principal architect of Staples Golf Design, is set to begin work on an ambitious plan to completely upgrade Meadowbrook Country Club in Northville, Mich., site of the 1955 PGA Championship won by Doug Ford.
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Meadowbrook, originally built as a six-hole course in 1916 by Willie Park Jr., will close in 2016 to rebuild all 18 greens, renovate all the bunkers and tee complexes and convert over 20 acres of maintained turf to native vegetation.
“The primary goal of the project is to restore the course to its classic 1916 design while providing more consistent, quality conditions on a daily basis for our members,” general manager Joseph Marini said. “Like most courses in the area, our course was hit hard by the winter of 2013-14. This project allows us to upgrade while getting the most out of the property. This is an absolute game-changer for us.”
Staples spent most of 2014 working with the club to develop its centennial master plan, engaging in member focus groups, town hall meetings and individual research and analysis. As a result, the plan was overwhelmingly approved this past May.
“A key to a good master plan is to meld the positives of a particular property with the desires of the Club,” Staples said. “Meadowbrook is blessed with a great piece of land, but over the years, it was renovated in pieces, creating a fractured and inconsistent layout. By combining a good assessment of the club needs and by engaging in constructive dialogue with the members, we came out with a plan that is really, really good. Getting the vote to close the course for an entire year is huge, and we couldn’t be happier with the support we’ve received.”
To see the plan through, the club has engaged course consultant Dr. Bradley S. Klein and turf consultant Dr. Trey Rogers to assist Staples in researching, planning, and proposing solutions and methods for some of the significant areas in need of attention; most notably, the current conditions of the greens and fairways as well as the lack of family-focused forward tees. In the end, the team’s plan improves conditions, increases strategy, accommodates a forward set of tees to allow a more friendly entry to the game for kids and beginners, and focuses on long-term sustainability.
“I’m so excited to get this project underway,” superintendent Mike Edgerton said. “It’s been a long time coming and I’m certain our members are going to be blown away with what is going to happen here.”
Set to begin construction by the end of 2015, with a planned opening in early spring of 2017, Staples will use the original Park design as inspiration for the rest of the course. The greens will be constructed in a manner consistent with the current Park-style greens, and the bunkers will be converted to a flat sand bottom with steep grass faces. All fairways are planned to be converted to bentgrass and the outer roughs to a drought tolerant bluegrass-fescue blend. A native grass palette will also be integrated throughout the course in order to provide a contrast of textures while reducing the amount of maintained turf.
“It’s been an absolute joy to work with Meadowbrook,” Staples said. “We have an outstanding team; from an educated, forward-thinking committee, to a very business savvy general manager, to an incredibly knowledgeable superintendent that has been here for 40 years. We have all the pieces to not only make this a great project, but to also create a legacy for their next 100 years of existence. I’m honored to be a part of it.”