Dear Member,

The following blog posts for the next few weeks will consist of the most commonly asked questions from the membership in regards to the Master Plan and Renovation process. These answers are from Billy Fuller (Golf Course Consultant and Architect), as well as additional input from Josh Dunaway (Golf Course Superintendent). 

2.  Question:  Will the golf course be more difficult or easier when the plan is implemented?

Answer:  Before offering an opinion let’s consider the existing conditions.  See below.

Ø  The current grass type on greens is TifDwarf Bermudagrass, a 65-year old turf that has practically disappeared from production.  It has been replaced with the Ultra Dwarf Bermudagrass varieties that offer finer texture, tolerance for much lower cutting height, and offers firmer surfaces than TifDwarf.

Ø  Because TifDwarf has limitations on green speed, slopes for pin locations can be steeper than with the faster more competitive Ultra Dwarf varieties.  Even with TifDwarf a number of your greens today are limited to three to four sections for pin placement.  This greatly limits pin placement strategy and shot making options.  Examples are holes 2, 5, 8, 11, 12 and 16.  If we were to install an Ultra Dwarf variety on these greens today pin locations would be further limited, with more putting surface becoming unplayable.

Ø  Many of the greens at CCO have shrunk due to (1) encroachment from surrounding turf, a normal occurrence over time, and (2) shade issues that have forced maintenance to sod fairway turf over what was intended to be putting surface.  The amount of loss of actual putting surface varies from 500 square feet to 1,500 square feet on various greens.

Ø  Bunkers at CCO have taken on a very harsh shape that is unfair to 95 plus percent of players if (a) your ball lands on a downhill slope to an uphill green surface, or (b) your balls comes to rest against a high lip in a fairway bunker.  The current shape evolved over time from maintenance practices and weathering.  The design intent is to shape the bunkers in Donald Ross motif, which means a more fair lie in both above-mentioned cases.  In my opinion fair has nothing to do with hard or easy.  The easiest thing in golf design for any architect is to make a golf hole or feature really difficult. That does not mean it is a good hole.  The objective is to create challenging and fair strategy.  I have played with numerous single digit players who have hit very poor shots from both fairway and greenside bunkers because they had nearly impossible lies that required exceptional luck.  Yes, luck is part of the game, but should not be required in majority of bunker shots!

It is my recommendation that we expand the greens back to their original size to recapture lost pin locations, all very strategic as they reside along green perimeters.  These pins are some of the most challenging on any green.  Another significant issue is the amount of steep slope on front of numerous greens.  I have no issue with five to ten feet being used to reach the first pin location, but many greens have twenty to twenty-five feet before slopes are proper for pin location.  Front pins are always very challenging to reach and putt back to when overshot.  Note that everything I have said about recapturing pins adds challenge to the round of golf.  It does not make the course play easier!  However, the plan includes new forward tees that would enhance options for ladies and seniors, offering increased enjoyment in their games.