Gorge Vale Golf Course has been transformed -- stitched and tucked into a makeover of ageless beauty.
Two years of renovations were completed in 2002, and golfers in the Times Colonist Open will be greeted by major, but scarless, modifications since the Open was last held at Gorge Vale in 2001.
"Every hole is very vivid. It has its own artistic eye appeal," said golf course architect Les Furber, who redesigned the course, now in its 75th year. Furber, from Canmore, Alta., has built a worldwide reputation swirling fairways and greens naturally into the landscape. In and around the rolling topography at Gorge Vale, he created seven postcard-perfect water features, and enlarged and rebuilt 16 greens.
"It's a unique piece of property," said Furber, who was pleased to avoid the use of dynamite for the renos.
"It's very favourable to a memorable golf experience."
The process of change began back in 1992, when a plan to sell land adjoining the course was initiated. The deal was finally completed in '99, and the club received $2 million for 3.24 acres near the new fifth hole. The space is filling with the Ironwood at Gorge Vale, a 12-townhouse and 98-condominium residential development.
Housing bordering the fairway doesn't have the most desirable effect, but the trade-off was worth it, said Brooke Phemister, Gorge Vale general manager.
"The course had not had any update for many, many years, and we needed to improve our drainage and irrigation systems," Phemister said of the practical reasons for the attractive ponds and streams. The club added a couple of temporary par-3s so members weren't too inconvenienced during the long construction phase.
"The course is definitely more interesting than it was before."
Each hole has a tee box to accommodate every level of play -- four tee boxes rather than the previous two -- and the overall length has stretched 500 yards to 6,820 yards off the black tees.
Par, enhanced by the extra yardage, water, and several esthetic new bunkers, has increased by one stroke to 72. Furber also made certain there are no brothers and sisters among the diverse group of holes, of which the most spectacular is No. 8.
The pictorial hole is snuggled in among the trees, set off by rock walls and flowers, and overlooks the city from the highest point of the course. It's a hole for the superheroes, Furber said.
"You think you've launched the ball off the face of the earth. You feel like Superman."
While Superman might soar off the eighth, the real heroes of the Open will probably materialize closer to the pins. Gorge Vale's old greens were just too small for aggression, but that's all in the past. Making use of state-of-the-art grass management, the expanded, multi-tiered greens provide every opportunity for longer, stronger putting.
"Technology outgrew our old greens," said Gorge Vale's head pro Jim Cook. "We had to stop cutting the grass, because the balls were rolling off the greens."
Overall, thanks to Furber's determination to make mistakes on the drawing board, rather than hear about them later, the result has been a layout that plays fair for members and pros alike.
"The challenges are always in front of golfers as they play the game," he said. "We want people to be rewarded for well-executed golf shots."
And the reward, such as $150,000 in prize money, is there for the taking, according to Gorge Vale pro Mike Pearce. He holds the course record of 68, after shooting the blistering round last year in a pro-am tournament with pro-type distances. Although the 18 holes play about four shots tougher than in the past, Pearce said the Open pros will always find a way to shoot low. He doesn't expect they will have anything but appreciation for the challenges of the rejuvenated setting.
"It feels like all the changes have been there forever," Pearce said. "That's the beauty of it."
Source: Times Colonist (Victoria, British Columbia)
