The multi-million dollar project to restore Pine Lakes Country Club to architect Robert White’s original 1927 specifications is on schedule for its March 2009 unveiling.
The Pine Lakes Country Club restoration project is directed by golf restoration architect Craig Schreiner, who in addition to collaborating with 1994 British Open champion Nick Price on The Members Club at Grande Dunes in Myrtle Beach, S.C., has also directed the construction of 21 new courses in 13 states, managed the renovation and restoration of 28 courses in 11 states and served as a consultant to major tournaments including the 1995 Ryder Cup at Oak Hill Country Club.
Seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum) was sodded and sprigged on the fairways, roughs, tees and greens during the months of May and June and is now receiving fertigation (fertilization through the irrigation system) to help the warm perennial grass get established before the fall.
In addition to new paspalum grass, golfers will find four sets of enlarged tee boxes in the classical rectangular shape. More than three times larger than White’s original tees, Schreiner constructed the tee areas with more depth from the back to front of each tee box so Pine Lakes professionals can set the golf course up differently for events, depending on golfers’ abilities.
In addition to the modern irrigation system installed during the project, Schreiner added more than 100 drain basins to the perimeters of the fairway roughs and the greens to control the water run-off, and the drainage has exceeded expectations to minimize washouts after heavy rains.
Over time, the Pine Lakes’ greens and bunkers had shrunk by as much as one-third of their original size. Schreiner has restored both to the original sizes using schematic drawings by White. Using 1937 aerial photography of the course from discovered in the Pine Lakes clubhouse, Schreiner also added native waste areas on several holes to match the feel of White’s Pine Lakes design. All golf cart paths have been reconstructed as natural trails and were relocated to service the new tee locations and green complexes.
“This has been one of the best projects that I’ve ever worked on,” Schreiner said. “Typically, we’re putting in the grass at the last hour but the Pine Lakes project has been ahead of schedule this entire time. After waiting out the cool nights in May, we planted the Seashore Paspalum and the grass has responded remarkably well.
"The greens are the most important part of a golf course and we took great care to make sure that Pine Lakes’ greens were done correctly. In late June, I’ll go back and paint the fairways so the grounds crew can identify the fairway from the rough when they mow. At this point, we are moving from the growing stage to the grooming the course period.”
In July, Pine Lakes superintendent Alan Jarvis and his staff will top dress the fairways and greens using indigenous sand from the former Pine Lakes course spread out over the grass to continue leveling the surface and protect the new tissue of the grass.
Later in the fall, Jarvis and crew will begin work on grooming the bunkers, which are also filled with indigenous sand. Shaped earlier in the year by Schreiner, Jarvis’s staff will edge and contour the bunkers on the back nine to give them a clean, separate line from the grass. Later in the year, indigenous sand from the old 12th hole and the old practice range tee will be used to fill in the bunkers on the front nine holes. The front bunkers will then be groomed by edging and contouring.
“Pine Lakes has exceeded our expectations and obviously much of that credit goes to Craig Schreiner,” said Tom Fous, vice president/senior project manager of Pine Lakes. “I always enter a project with a perceived conception of what it’s going to look like at completion and this is already better than I had envisioned. Schreiner has quarterbacked a team of A.O. Hardee, the general contractors, longtime Grand Strand area golf superintendent Randy Allen and current Pine Lakes superintendent Alan Travis, and the team has worked together like a well-tuned orchestra. What they have done to work with the topography, the shot-making and hole memorability will make Pine Lakes one of the top golf courses in the area.”
For more information, visit PineLakes.com.
