May of 2016 brought severe flooding to southeast Texas. In Montgomery and Harris County, areas of Spring Creek rose to record levels, causing massive damage to surrounding homes and businesses. At The Club at Carlton Woods’ Tom Fazio Championship Course, which sits adjacent to Spring Creek, the story was no different. After days of heavy rain, over half of the course was underwater with heavy structural damage.
As a golf-centric club, Carlton Woods understands the need to reinvest in maintaining their world-class courses, though these needs were accelerated after May’s flooding. Superintendent Tim Huber met with the board of directors in June to assess the damage and explain that the time to invest in the course had arrived. Work on the bunker renovation began in August of 2016.
The club worked with Fazio Design Group and Heritage Links to complete the project, which included an overall bunker size reduction from 135,000 square feet to 95,000 square feet. Bryan Bowers of Fazio Design said that their group focused on three key areas during the renovation: improved playability (with new liners and California White sand), improved accessibility (including slope reduction at entry points) and overall reduction of size, which will increase the efficiency of maintenance and provide long-term cost reduction for the club.
“The amount of work we are doing today is going to cut future expenses exponentially,” Huber said. “By reducing the overall square footage, we’ve increased the long-term sustainability of the course for our members.” Members are already expressing their satisfaction with the project, which has provided a much more aesthetically-pleasing look to the course while staying true to Fazio’s original design.
As a golf-centric club, Carlton Woods understands the need to reinvest in maintaining their world-class courses, though these needs were accelerated after May’s flooding. Superintendent Tim Huber met with the board of directors in June to assess the damage and explain that the time to invest in the course had arrived. Work on the bunker renovation began in August of 2016.
The club worked with Fazio Design Group and Heritage Links to complete the project, which included an overall bunker size reduction from 135,000 square feet to 95,000 square feet. Bryan Bowers of Fazio Design said that their group focused on three key areas during the renovation: improved playability (with new liners and California White sand), improved accessibility (including slope reduction at entry points) and overall reduction of size, which will increase the efficiency of maintenance and provide long-term cost reduction for the club.
“The amount of work we are doing today is going to cut future expenses exponentially,” Huber said. “By reducing the overall square footage, we’ve increased the long-term sustainability of the course for our members.” Members are already expressing their satisfaction with the project, which has provided a much more aesthetically-pleasing look to the course while staying true to Fazio’s original design.
