The University of Mississippi and Watermark Golf/Nathan Crace Design announced today that the recent renovation of the University’s Ole Miss Golf Course has received national recognition from Golf Inc. Magazine. Earlier in January, the California-based worldwide publication that targets course developers, owners, and management company executives selected Ole Miss GC as one of its top five finalists for “Best Renovation in America for a Public/Semi-Private Facility” for the 2008 calendar year. On Jan. 26, the final results were released and Ole Miss GC finished in third place, just a few points from surpassing the runner-up.
“Naturally, like everyone else, we wanted to win,” explains Nathan Crace, the golf course architect for the project and the principal at Watermark Golf/Nathan Crace Design. “But when you go back and look at the other courses in the top five and consider the caliber of competition we have no reason to hang our heads.”
The caliber of the competition was indeed impressive. Among the other top five finalists were two PGA Tour stops: the TPC at Los Colinas in Dallas and the Dubsdread Course at historic Cog Hill Golf & CC in Lemont, Illinois. Those two courses finished number one and two, respectively, leaving Ole Miss GC ahead of The Links at Bodego Harbour overlooking California’s Pacific Coast and Brackenridge Golf Course in San Antonio. Though Crace says he is not privy to the construction budgets of the other courses, industry insiders suggest that at least the two PGA Tour venues had a considerable amount invested in their renovation projects.
“The very fact that a University-funded golf course tucked away in north Mississippi finished third out of that group is exciting,” continues Crace. “It sounds cliché to say it was an honor to be nominated, but everyone involved with this project was thrilled to be named in the top five, not to mention finishing third in the final vote.”
Also impressive is the fact that the TPC at Los Colinas (owned by the PGA Tour and home to the EDS Byron Nelson Classic) and Cog Hill’s Dubsdread course (site of this year’s BMW Championship) are both semi-private while Ole Miss GC is completely public and its highest-priced weekend fee for 18 holes with cart of $43 is considerably less than the other two courses’ fees, priced at $195 and $150, respectively. And while the PGA Tour may not be coming to Oxford anytime soon, the first test of the new layout will be a ladies collegiate tournament hosted by the Ole Miss women’s golf team in early April of this year and the Ole Miss men’s team is nationally-ranked among Division I colleges.
Architects for the other projects in Golf Inc. Magazine’s top five included world-renown names such as Rees Jones and Robert Trent Jones, Jr., as well as PGA Tour player-turned-designer D.A. Weibring. Crace says that while he is honored to have his work recognized in such elite company as the two sons of the late Robert Trent Jones, Sr. (the father of modern golf course architecture), he is quick to point out that the success of the project was a direct result of the combined efforts of the entire project team.
“The University was extremely supportive of the project from day one,” explains Crace. “From Chancellor Khayat to the University staff to everyone at the golf course both in the clubhouse and on the course maintenance staff, there are simply too many people to name without forgetting someone. Of course, any golf course project is only as good as the golf course contractor and I think we had one of the best in Eagle Golf and Athletics.”
Though Crace is quick to share the success with other members of the project team, he says he does remember one particularly prophetic moment early on in the project.
“Shortly after construction began,” Crace recalls. “We were standing on the 13th tee looking toward the new green complex and new fairway bunkers and I turned to [golf course superintendent] David Jumper and [men’s golf coach] Ernest Ross and said I thought that when it was all said and done, Ole Miss would be one of the—if not the—best public courses in Mississippi. They both looked at me like they thought I was just talking up the project, but I had a feeling even during the design phase that—given the beautiful rolling property the course is situated on—if we were allowed to do what needed to be done, it could be one of the best in the state.”
While the recognition from Golf Inc. may be vindication of Crace’s earlier declaration, for the University and the Oxford community it is one more reason for people to come to visit or live in Oxford. The city is a regular at or near the top of annual lists of America’s “Best Places to Live” and “Best Small Cities,” and now they can add one of the country’s best public courses to that list of amenities. Crace and representatives from the University will attend the Golf Inc. annual conference in St. Augustine in late March to be recognized for their efforts during a ceremony at the World Golf Village’s Hall of Fame.
For more information about the renovations of Ole Miss Golf Course or Watermark Golf/Nathan Crace Design, you can visit the Watermark Golf web site at www.watermarkgolf.com/olemiss
