One of the first orders of business for the Phase 1 project was to move the cart staging area. For old country clubs, cart staging was always an after thought to club design. The early days of Denver golf consisted of mostly walkers and caddies.
As golf carts became popular, clubs would fit them in wherever they could. At Pinehurst, cart staging was sandwiched in between the putting green and the golf shop. Logistically it made sense as the pro shop staff could keep an eye on the carts from the shop.
The issue with that location is that it blocks the view of the golf course. The first impression of the course for perspective members was a wall of golf carts.
In this phase we wanted to change that and the location of the putting green would force our hand to do so. The new location is a win for everyone.
First we had to make the small putting green smaller. This was not much of an issue since the large putting green would more than double in size.
The east portion of the green was always in rough condition considering everything that was going on in that location. It had to deal with a tremendous amount of traffic being so close to the bag drop area. The turf constantly competed with the large ash tree that loomed under and over the green. The building would cast shade, especially in the winter, not allowing the plants to build up carbohydrates properly in the fall and was always weak in the spring. So saying goodbye to this portion of the green was easy.
As golf carts became popular, clubs would fit them in wherever they could. At Pinehurst, cart staging was sandwiched in between the putting green and the golf shop. Logistically it made sense as the pro shop staff could keep an eye on the carts from the shop.
The issue with that location is that it blocks the view of the golf course. The first impression of the course for perspective members was a wall of golf carts.
In this phase we wanted to change that and the location of the putting green would force our hand to do so. The new location is a win for everyone.
First we had to make the small putting green smaller. This was not much of an issue since the large putting green would more than double in size.
The east portion of the green was always in rough condition considering everything that was going on in that location. It had to deal with a tremendous amount of traffic being so close to the bag drop area. The turf constantly competed with the large ash tree that loomed under and over the green. The building would cast shade, especially in the winter, not allowing the plants to build up carbohydrates properly in the fall and was always weak in the spring. So saying goodbye to this portion of the green was easy.
For the cart pad we wanted a simple way to indicate cart parking. A stamped border with a slightly different accent can do exactly that. We sampled a few designs and came up with this one.
I tried a few samples of sealants to preserve the ash stain on the concrete. You can see it does a nice job keeping the water out.
This photo is one of my favorites from the project. We had to pour the pad in a few phases to match up with the building and a separate pour just for the stamped border.
The concrete crew hand formed all of the curbing as well. The curbs are another different feature than you might not see elsewhere. Curbs can be quite dangerous with feet hanging out of a golf cart. We wanted to put a slope on the curb to ease that abruptness, but they also do a great job of letting you know you have reached the end of the path.
We all know that trees do not live forever and ash trees are soon to be threatened by the Emerald Ash borer. However, we would never be able to find a tree of this size and maturity to replace it.
So I called in an arborist to give us some insight on how we might be able to go about saving it. We had to be quite careful through the demolition process. We had to trim the roots and keep it watered frequently through the project.
Light pruning in the canopy was required to clean up dead or broken limbs and it was time for some extra care. Our tree company came in and did a great job cleaning it up.
The tree well needed to be large enough for the existing roots to prosper. A tree this size will not likely grow roots strong enough to break the new concrete so that is not a concern.
The circle has some other advantages. It allows for better cart traffic management. Traffic will move clockwise around the tree. Similar to the old pattern, except now there is more space to move carts through.
Another advantage to the tree well is that it gives us an opportunity to break up all of the concrete with some new landscaping.
We have placed some decorative rock, perennial plants, bulbs and we will plant some annuals in the spring.
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