Golf Course Construction Planning

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Golf Course ConstructionPlanning

• TRF 250
• Golf/Sports Field Construction

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Introduction

• Tremendous under taking time and capital
• Requires dedication and attention to detail
• Pay me now or pay me later

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Over all objective

• Construct greens, tees, bunkers, fairways, and
  roughs
• Construction of these areas must be in a fashion
  that will allow the area to be properly
  maintained
• These areas must also distinguish the golf course
  from outer courses

4
Good Golf Courses are the result of

• Careful, detailed, and organized design and
  planning
• Good communication among all parties
• Attention to construction details and management
• Must have detailed contracts and specications

5
Golf course construction timeline

• 5 months 2 years
• Construction should be finished before or at
  optimum time for establishing turfgrass

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Property Selection

• Influences all areas of construction
• Unproductive land sites strip mines, quarries,
  and land fills
• Residential or resort development

7
Principal considerations in Property selection

• Economics
• Acreage
• Topography
• Soil
• Vegetation
• Environmental restrictions
• Water
• Utilities

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EconomicsSupply and Demand

• Demographics (who are your customers going to
  be?)
• Potential demand
• Existing golf courses
• Cost associated for land purchases
• Return on ivestment

9
Acreage

• More the better 18 holes approximately 150 acres
• More acreage may be needed if wetlands and
  topography are and issue
• Additional acreage will be needed for roads,
  maintenance facility, club house and routing of
  golf holes
• Housing considerations

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Topography

• Gives GC character
• Determines traffic flow and layout of holes
• Cost concerns if large scale earth movement is
  required
• Elevation changes of 150 feet or more can make GC
  difficult to walk also can effect landing zone
  visibility
• Flat areas may need substantial earth movement to
  add character

11
Soil

• Drainage
• Coarse textured soils preferred over finer
  textured soils
• Drainage issues carts, play, course conditions
• Sandy loam soil ideal ( good drainage and
  moisture retention)

12
Vegetation

• Natural vegetation adds to beauty of course
• Vegetation will have to be cleared and cost could
  be considerable
• Environmental impact studies may have to be
  conducted
• Trees can be sold to offset some construction
  cost
• Vegetation can be cleared and burned if allowed
  by law

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Environmental restrictions

• Wetlands
• Floodplains
• Endangered plants or animals
• Areas with Archaeological or historical
  significance may also have some restrictions
  placed upon them

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Environmental restrictions cont.

• Wetlands may not be able to identify just by
  looking at them
• A wetland is any area where the water table rises
  to with in 6 inches of the surface for more than
  two weeks per year

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Environmental restrictions cont.

• Wetlands
• Natural bodies of water
• Marshes
• Bogs
• Seasonally flooded lands
• Wet lands can not be filled (some states allow
  wetlands to be filled if new ones are created)

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Water

• 4000-10,000 gallons of water per acre per day in
  the summer
• Sources
• Streams, creeks and rivers
• Lakes and ponds
• Drainage canals, wells
• Municipalities and utility companies
• Effluent
• Clean salt free water is desirable

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Utilities

• Electricity
• Fuel
• Availability or distances from these services
  should be determined before construction begins

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Golf Course Design

• Golf course architect there job is to rout golf
  holes to take advantage of property and to blend
  holes into the natural surroundings

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Golf Course Design

• Architect uses natural topography to design
  interesting holes
• Uses topo maps to select areas for greens and
  fairways
• Slopes in excess of 5 for greens and 10 for
  fairways are considers too sever and make tying
  in those areas with the natural topography
  difficult
• Architect also must connect holes into suitable
  loops of 9 to 18 holes

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Clubhouse selection

• Access to GC
• Room for expansion
• Two starting and finishing holes
• Parking lot
• Entrance road
• Fuel and electricity access
• Maintenance building

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Irrigation design

• Critical to success of golf course
• Hire a qualified irrigation system designer

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Permitting and engineering

• Time consuming and expensive
• Acquire permits as soon as possible prior to
  detailed design
• Wetlands and flood plains must be identified and
  approval sought to utilize in course design
• Other possible permits water flow obstruction of
  rivers and streams, land clearing, vegetation
  burning, proposed water use source, electricity
  and or other power sources

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Meeting with local groups

• Before or after permitting phase planning group
  should meet with
• All regulatory agencies
• Environmental groups
• Interested citizens
• To review and modify design using their inputs
  when ever possible