By Design - Fall 2015

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DIGEST
Sustainable future for Glenview Park
Environment
The course at Glenview Park Golf
Club has reopened for play following
a renovation project led by Jacobson
Golf Course Design.
Fairways have been regraded, turf
conditions have been improved, tees and
greens have been reseeded and the sand
bunkers have also been renovated at the
club in Glenview, Illinois.
The project had a significant focus on
storm water management, and drainage
areas have been improved in a bid to
help enhance the golfing experience at
the club and to protect nearby residential
neighborhoods.
“The storm water management system
was intricately woven into the site to fit
seamlessly with the surrounding golf
course and elicit an immediate sense of
environmental sustainability,” said Rick
Jacobson, ASGCA, the lead architect for the
project. “A concentrated effort was made
to incorporate native grasses in non-play
areas of the golf course as a thematic design
characteristic to reflect the vernacular
prairie landscape of the upper Midwest.”
Updates have been made to the clubhouse,
with work carried out on the café, golf shop
and washrooms, as well as the changes to
the course.
“This picturesque parkland golf course
is punctuated with golf holes that present
golfers with alternative options on how
to conquer each hole and results in a fun
and rewarding round of golf for golfers of
all levels,” added Jacobson. “Forty-seven
years ago I first stepped foot on Glenview
Park as a young man just learning how to
play the game of golf. What an honor it has
been for me to be a part of the project team
that preserved and enhanced this historic
golf facility.”
07
Stillwater renovation completed
Renovation
A renovation of the course at the
Stillwater Country Club in Stillwater,
Minnesota, has been completed.
Led by Kevin Norby, ASGCA Associate, the
project focused on the course’s bunkering
and reducing maintenance requirements.
Stillwater Country Club was established
in 1924, with nine holes designed by
Tom Vardon. Paul Coates designed an
additional nine at the club in 1957.
Norby worked closely with Tom West of
construction firm Hartman. One of the
most significant elements of the project
was the redesign of the thirteenth, which
will now play as a Redan style hole.
Norby said: “The slope of the green set up
perfectly for a traditional right to left Redan
but the bunkering was all wrong and none
of the historic photographs indicated that
the hole ever played as a Redan.”
A center bunker on the seventh hole
has been repositioned, while new fairway
bunkers have been introduced on the
fourth, fifth and twelfth holes.
Norby added: “Overall, we reduced the
amount of sand, we improved drainage and
we created something that will differentiate
Stillwater Country Club from other private
clubs in the area.”
On designing a golf course:
“I never draw up plans.
I go out and try to make
everything different.”
On how Whistling Straits
now compares to when it was
originally designed:
“It gets shorter all the time
from what the good players
are able to do…if they shoot
64, 65 or 67, I’m not going
to lose sleep.”
On his unique working
relationship with Herb Kohler:
“I never listen to him. When we
first met, he didn’t play much,
just once or twice a year. Now
he can play a little bit.”
On the changes in golf:
“Swing speed is no different,
but now a 410-yard hole is
a 300-yard tee shot and a
wedge to the green. What
was a 460-yard hole, now
needs to be 530 yards, and is
still drive + 5-iron to the green.”
On the reaction of pros to
his courses:
“I don’t listen to them. A
guy that plays real good is
positive, the guy that plays
bad is negative & the next
day it changes.”
A transcript of the full Twitter
conversation with Pete Dye,
ASGCA Fellow, is available
via
Follow on Twitter @ASGCA
and @ILoveDyeGolf.
Pete Dye in
Five Tweets