Golf Inc - March/April 2009 - (Page 34) R EN O VA T I ON R U N N ER -U P : P R I VATE C L UBS F THE YEA R The Water’s Edge Country Club OWNER Scope of renovation: 18 holes, putting green, short game area, range tee Line items: 2,620,800 sq. ft. of sod laid “Great work, big bold look. I’m sure the equity of the membership value improved greatly” —Joe Niebur 34 Golf Inc. March/April 2009 PHOTO (BOTTOM) © WALT YOUNG O PENHOOK, VA. Willard Construction of Roanoke Valley, Inc. ARCHITECT Richard Mandell Golf Architecture CONTRACTOR: BE FOR E A FT E R • Aspen Golf Construction BY THE NUMBERS This nearly 20-year old course, wellreceived at its opening, had gradually declined due to Mother Nature (tree growth), outdated bunker and irrigation technology, equipment advances that outmoded some of the course routing and impractical greens surfaces. A number of the tee boxes were also poorly aligned, leading to off-line shots and slow play. The renovation by architect Richard Mandell and Aspen Golf Construction addressed all those issues and more, and managed to stay within budget by eliminating some less critical tweaks to compensate for any work that required additional expense during the project. The renovation has already begun paying for itself – 2008 was one of the club’s best revenue-producing years in its history, despite the economy and the course not re-opening until May. The club’s owner reported receiving over 100 letters from the club’s far-flung members saying the revived course would be their top choice if they could only play one course for the rest of their life. Renovation timeline: August 2006-May 2008 Budget: $5 million What the judges said: “The course aesthetics seem much improved, as does playability” —Rick Robbins
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