GOLF COURSE RENOVATION – CASE STUDY

Other reasons for a “full” renovation decision:

• The “new” Classic Course was too severe for nearly all golfers. It was extremely long (7,600+yds), terribly hilly and severely contoured with roller coaster type greens that Members could not play and did not enjoy. Besides making changes to make up for lost holes, he wanted the golf course much more playable for all levels of golfers, beginners to Pro’s. This meant lowering greens, reducing mound sizes, softening contours and enlarging the greens while at the same time providing 6-7 pin positions on each green.
• New grass varieties have been developed over the years that are easier to maintain and allow for lower mowing heights. By re-grassing large portions of the golf course, they now have a much more consistent turf throughout.
• Through a well thought out partial re-routing, 3 brand new holes were created, as well as a complete new Maintenance Compound, to go along with both minor and major changes to the remaining 15 holes. This allowed for the majority of the existing trees on site to be saved, as well as requiring zero changes to any of the existing lakes.
• The Chairman’s desire was to create an amazing new course that his Members would embrace. Prior to the renovation, yearly play was split as follows: Master Course – 75-80,000 rounds/year, Classic Course – 5-10,000 rounds/year. Since the renovation has been completed, rounds per year are nearly an even split between the 2 courses at 40-45,000/year.
• A new, ultra-modern Clubhouse was to be constructed in the same location as the original Clubhouse and tied into the new Dusit Singapore Hotel. The finished product has turned out to be stunning and widely talked about.
• As part of the “toning down of the original course”, this allowed for wider fairway landing zones on many of the holes as well as the removal of “Out of Play” areas, meaning less lost balls, improved scoring, faster rounds, all resulting in more golfers per day and increased revenues.
• The Chairman wanted more variety, puttable yet challenging greens, keeping them relatively large due to the high volume of play expected. Previously, nearly all of the greens smallish, perched up well above fairways and all had severe slopes in or around the putting surfaces.
• We simplified the tee complexes, both by re-aligning tee decks, but also combining tee decks where possible. We also eliminated all of the severely contoured areas between tees that were heavily landscaped that resulted in guaranteed lost balls. This also allowed us to provide a greater variety in distances between the tee decks.
• The Classic Course is now about 400yds shorter than the original, but from the back tees it is still over 7,200yds, which is plenty of length for Members.
• The bunkers shaping and depths didn’t fit terrain of the golf course. Many were too small and deep for such a site, with some bunkers being close to 2-3m below the putting surfaces. This created serious maintenance problems whenever heavy rains occurred (which is nearly daily in Singapore), and most importantly, Members could not get out of these bunkers in a single shot.
• Upgrade and improve the irrigation system, where possible. This included a new pump station, some new, more water efficient sprinkler heads and an updated Weather Station. Mainlines were not altered or changed, but the project would use less water and electricity each year, for substantial cost savings.