Golf Course Architecture - Issue 58 October 2019

40 Palmer team completes second course at Lakewood National Arnold Palmer Design Company has completed the second course at Lakewood National Golf Club near Sarasota, Florida. APDC completed the first course at the development, by homebuilders Lennar, in 2017. The second course is expected to open towards the end of the year. “In contrast to the bold slopes on the first course, the client wanted a more subtle golf experience that was still creative and fun to play,” said Brandon Johnson, vice president and senior golf course architect at APDC. “Playability and enjoyment for the membership were phrases we talked about frequently with Lennar. The client also stressed the importance of reduced maintenance inputs on the second course.” Clearing started in September 2018 with construction in full swing by January 2019, allowing APDC to work primarily in the dry season and complete most of the grassing prior to the wet summer season. The Palmer team were assisted by shapers Danny Peacock and Jody Mosley, who also helped Angel Garcia on bunkers, with Ryan Golf as the golf course contractor. The finishing stretch plays along the Little Braden River wetland preserve. “The contours and shape of the fourteenth green will make shots from the array of tee complexes, wrapped around the fronting lake, play completely different from one day to the next,” said Johnson. “At the fifteenth, a dividing spine meanders down the length of this long, wide hole, terminating at a bunkerless square green whose inspiration was drawn from the ‘double plateau’ template hole. Holes sixteen and seventeen run through the lowest TEE BOX