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problems,” explains Mandell, who is
now working on municipal golf projects
at Braemar GC for the City of Edina,
Minnesota and Hyannais Golf Course for
the Town of Barnstable, Massachusetts.
High specification
While city-owned golf courses can go
long periods without investments in
their infrastructure, when renovation
work does go ahead, the work required
is often of a high specification. Garrett
Gill, ASGCA, who is currently working
on projects for the cites of Fargo,
North Dakota and Virginia, Minnesota,
explains: “The one thing we have
noticed is that while the money for
investment does not come round every
year, or even every ten or twenty years,
when it does, governments ‘build to
last’. There are no shortcuts, and work
on tees, greens and irrigation tends to
be done to a very high specification.”
Gill also observes that while the
volume of privately-owned golf
projects under way at any given time
is closely linked to the underlying
performance of the economy,
municipal projects seem less affected.
This may be due to projects being
borne out of the necessity to fix
‘broken’ course elements. Also,
the extensive bid process and
consultation period —including
various government departments and
the public—means the time it takes
for municipal projects to get off the
ground is often longer, and more tied
to due process.
“Consideration of aspects like
bonding, insurance, and the entire
public bid process—which might see
you having 70 questions to answer
from various contractors—means that
municipal projects involve a high degree
of coordination work,” adds Norby.
Legislation relating to wages for
public work, such as the Davis-Bacon
Act, also has an impact. “This can add
25 percent to the cost of the work,”
says Mark Mungeam, ASGCA. “So any
way we can design features that are less
time-consuming to build is a benefit.”
Mungeam works with the City of
Boston on their two courses: the
George Wright Golf Course and the
William J. Devine Golf Course in
Franklin Park, part of Frederik Law
Olmsted’s chain of Boston parks
known as the ‘Emerald Necklace’.
“By 2000, the George Wright course
was really run down,” says Mungeam.
A Donald Ross design from the 1930’s,
it had been through tough times under
various management companies.
The City resumed control of course
operations just over a decade ago
and Mungeam participated in the
development of a Master Plan to restore
and upgrade the course. “Over the past
eight years we have overseen numerous
projects to restore and upgrade both
City courses. George Wright was always
considered a good and challenging
course. Now it is recognized as a real
gem and with William Devine GC
(also a Ross design), will be the first
public courses to host the prestigious
Massachusetts Amateur in 2018.”
Broad appeal
In order to both serve the widest
possible cross-section of the community,
and maximize revenue generation,
a common objective for municipal
projects is to ensure the design does not
exclude any segment of golfer.
“One of the primary differentiators
with municipal golf is the need to
appeal to a much wider target market,”
says Greg Martin, ASGCA. “But this
doesn’t mean dumbing-down the golf
course. The design actually needs to
be very sophisticated to work for this
broader range of players.”
At the Phillips Park municipal
course in Aurora, Illinois,
Martin’s long-term Master Plan for
the course includes changes that
make it more challenging for better
players, but with wider fairways and
large greens to make it more playable
for those with lesser ability. “We
reduced the yardage slightly but in
tournament play scores haven’t been
lower than four-under-par.”
“In this day and age the pendulum
has swung away from difficult,
narrow setups and it’s going back to
fun and enjoyment,” says Mandell.
“It can be harder to sell that to the
better, low handicap golfers, but
it really doesn’t affect them that
much—widening fairways from 25 to
40 yards isn’t going to dramatically
reduce the course record. But a lot of
golfers that would have taken eight
or nine shots on a hole are then
taking six, which really enhances
their enjoyment.
“My whole philosophy is ‘less is
more.’ Hazards should challenge, not
penalize, golfers, and we should have
strategic options. That translates into
width and angles. This works well for
municipalities because it promotes all-
inclusiveness. Golfers of all levels can
play these golf courses.”
“At private clubs the average golfer
maybe plays more, and is looking
for challenge,” says Norby. “Whereas
municipal golfers are often shopping
for price or value, and may not carry a
handicap card. They might often shoot
more than 100, or not even keep score,
and perhaps not play more than two or
three times a year.”
Mark Mungeam, ASGCA, works with the
City of Boston on their two municipal courses