Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2011 - 29

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Since May 2010, members at Edina CC have
watched from the practice range as their
course fell under the siege of bulldozers
and other earth movers. They've seen architects
Tom Lehman and Chris Brands walk
the grassless dirt mounds with blueprints
in their hands. They witnessed the fi nal
seeding in September and are eager to see
the complete grow-in in mid- to late-June.
dressing the safety features of the golf
course, " Lass says. " We had some areas that
might have been in range of people being
hit, so we addressed those issues as well. "
Overgrown areas were thinned of trees;
some of the trees threatened by the emerald
ash borer were replaced by mature oaks.
The number of bunkers on the course nearly
doubled, but because they shrunk in size,
the total square footage of sand remained
the same. Lehman and Brands placed them
" Now we have 10. Suddenly you have seven
more holes where you have to think about
the tee shot. You just can't step up and blast
away. "
Superintendent Brandon Shindele is happy
with the switch to bentgrass. " The course
will be a little easier to maintain because you
can push bentgrass a little more, " he says.
" Bent is just a stronger plant than Poa. "
That will result in better winter recovery
and more consistent conditions throughout
the year. The yardage of the course
remains approximately the same,
but the course will be tougher-
all of which renders it even more
appropriate for tournament play.
" In September, we're hosting
the fi nals of Seniors and Super
Seniors of the MGA, " Lass says.
" We're hosting the PGA Assistant
Match Play fi nals here and then
next year the State Senior Open.
In 2013, we host the MGA Mixed
Amateur Team Championship, so
people will have a chance to come
Soon, members will play what is essentially
a new course.
" They will know the fl ow of the holes, but
the look is going to be totally different than
before, " says Edina CC head pro Marty Lass.
" We have gone back to a more traditional
look with fl atter playing surfaces, but using
newer grasses. "
Edina was having trouble with surface
drainage on the greens and with the maintenance
of Poa annua grasses coming through
harsh winters, so they brought in Lehman
and Brands to redesign the greens.
That was only the beginning.
" It started with the greens, but if you close
the golf course to do the greens, you might
as well do everything else, " Lass explains.
" You don't like to interrupt play, but it just
made more sense to do it all at once. "
In addition to reseeding the greens with
bentgrass, the club installed a new irrigation
system, turned 48 bunkers into 78, removed
the Poa annua/bentgrass mix in the fairways
and seeded it with bentgrass, built six new
tee boxes, shortened some holes, lengthened
some and rerouted others for playability as
well as safety. There wasn't a hole that escaped
untouched.
" We wanted to make sure we were adMembers
will notice something different about every hole at Edina CC.
more strategically, which will affect the way
the course is played.
" We used to have three holes where fairway
bunkers might come into play, " Lass says.
out here to see the changes. "
It's safe to say that Edina CC members
will be seeing them long before that.
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