Source: Bradenton Herald
Golf course architect Ron Garland his design team spent more than two years evaluating the site before undertaking a $2 million renovation of the nine-hole Harbourside Blue Course at Longboat Key Club.
Judging by the response from members and guests who have played the course - officially renamed the Blue Heron during Monday's ribbon-cutting ceremony - Garl's diligence has been rewarded.
"I feel like I'm on vacation here at my own golf course," said 27-time women's club champion Arlene McKitrick.
"The Blue was always a pretty course, but it was a diamond in the rough. (Garl) took the character of it, polished it and made it sparkle."
Changes to the Blue Heron included a rebuilding of the putting surfaces to U.S. Golf Association specifications; the addition of bunkers and chipping areas; an introduction of massive sand dunes on several holes and a revamping of the 580-yard, par-5 fifth to incorporate a peninsula green.
"It gives you a wonderful target golf perspective," McKitrick said. "The sand dunes frame the holes and give you a vision of whether to fade the ball or draw it away from trouble. And I found the greens very receptive and player-friendly."
Garl, who traveled from his home in Lakeland to play the course Monday, said his goals for the Blue Heron included giving golfers a feel for playing in a tropical paradise.
"The original design was characteristic of what was done 40 and 50 years ago - lots of green, standard bunkers and a few palm trees," Garl said. "That was the standard at that time, but the bar has been raised a great deal in aesthetics and playability.
"People want to play a course that is challenging but enjoyable, they want it to be memorable, and they want it to be something they can bring their friends to and be proud of. These are the kinds of things we tried to put in the design."
Maybe it was coincidence, but on the drive into the 27-hole Harbourside, four giant swans greeted Monday-morning visitors. The abundant wildlife includes blue herons (naturally), eagles, hawks and egrets living amid oaks, sabal palm fig, palmetto, palms and pine trees.
Because of the island's environmental delights, one of the biggest barriers the Garl team faced was preserving the site's ecological balance.
"This is one of the most complicated sites in the United States," said Garl, who has designed or remodeled more than 100 courses during the past three decades.
"The real challenge here is managing the salts. As far as I know, this course has the highest salt (content) in the water wells of any course in the country. We spent a lot of time out here trying to figure how you manage the salt and the maintenance conditions and deciding what we should do with the wells and the drainage.
"We are stewards of the land," added Garl, whose philosophy is that a golf course should "sit softly on the land."
"We worked hard to do the right thing and make this a place everybody in the area can look at it and say 'They did it the right way and were environmentally sensitive.' "
The Longboat Key Club and Resort also features an 18-hole Islandside complex. Based on the result at the Blue Heron, Longboat Key Club general manager MichaelWellysaid Garl is likely to be used for further renovations. "We think we're going to try to do the (Harbourside) Red Course this summer," Welly said.
"Every year we'll try to do nine or 18 holes until it's completed, and the quality of the Blue Heron is what we're going to strive for."
