The global journal of golf design and development ISSUE 62 OCTOBER 2020 PROFILED A return to glory COLUMBINE COUNTRY CLUB, DENVER, USA A course renovation at Columbine Country Club has delivered a layout that is worthy of the club’s major past. Toby Ingleton reports 2 Photos: Scott Dressel-Martin Scott Photos: The eighteenth (left) and ninth holes at Columbine finish in front of the new clubhouse replica of the the construction of its new $24 Wanamaker Trophy now million clubhouse – to replace Asits proudly on display at an original that, according to Columbine Country Club. The committee chair Frank Trainer, Denver club may have hosted the “looked like a grade school”. PGA Championship more than The club was anxious to bring 50 years ago, but it only recently the facilities into the 21st century. acquired its own version of the “We put together a group to glittering prize. re-energise the membership and It is a symbol of a new era for return the club to something we Columbine, which began with are proud of,” says Trainer. 3 Once the new “world class” clubhouse the bunkers,” says Trainer. “They Jones and Muirhead went back to the was complete, and with the club’s typically washed out after every heavy drawing board and evaluated every status on the rise, attention turned to storm. We had mud in the bottom one of the club’s 80 bunkers. They the course. “We said ‘we’ve gone this and ragged edges around the tops. If returned with a plan that saw locations far, let’s not stop’,” explains Trainer. you went into a bunker, oftentimes it changed to provide a strategic test and On the promise of returning the was a penalty stroke.” a more balanced challenge. The club layout to a standard worthy of its past “They were overly penal,” adds appointed contractor Duininck Golf, glories, Columbine hired Rees Jones Muirhead. “Very large, and very deep.” and work began in September 2019. and his associate Greg Muirhead to And to make matters worse, their “We’ve introduced cross bunkers and develop a new master plan. Their goal location meant shorter hitters and carry bunkers again to give people was to provide a course that would test higher handicap players were more options on how they want to play the the best in the game – Columbine has likely to find the hazards than the hole,” says Muirhead. “And with most over 200 single digit golfers, of which club’s better players. of these bunkers if you go in them you nearly 20 have plus handicaps – while also appealing to everyone else. “ We’ve introduced cross bunkers and carry “Our initial question to the designers was ‘can you make this a championship bunkers again to give people options on facility?’,” says Bryan Heim, the club’s how they want to play the hole” director of golf. “Make it a little harder for those who have a low index – that’s Right from the opening hole, and can still have a legitimate recovery shot. an important part of the club. But at in many other instances throughout “They’re all in the right spots now. the same time, we want to be a family the course, bunkers were positioned And it’s interesting that the players who club, so it must be fun and enjoyable for on each side of the fairway at the end up in them don’t complain. They everybody else playing the game.” same distance from the tee, creating feel it’s fair – they had plenty of fairway, The primary focus was to address a pinch point. This removed much of but just didn’t hit the right shot.” issues with the course’s bunkers. “We the strategy, forcing most players to “We challenge the everyday player as had widespread dissatisfaction with simply lay up with an iron. well as the better player,” adds Jones. 4 Photos: Scott Dressel-Martin Scott Photos: The green on the par-three tenth hole has been recontoured, providing more pinnable areas. Left, new bunkering on the par-three sixteenth “Bunker relocation and elimination introduction of more short grass areas longer approach from a more difficult has made the course more playable and around greens. “Around the greens, angle into the new green, whereas a given us more shot options.” before you were either in a bunker or longer, more accurate tee shot will open The overall sand area has been rough grass,” says Muirhead. “Now up a shorter approach from a better reduced by more than 40,000 square they have more short game work, angle. Big hitters also have the option of feet. The club has been able to take which is seen as a new dimension for driving directly at the green. The club advantage of new liner technology their low handicap players, while high is also considering a proposed pond, too, installing the Better Billy Bunker handicap players are not just hitting which would add greater jeopardy for system, and a high-quality white sand out of bunkers all the time.” those attempting to drive the green. that gives a more consistent surface. Some holes saw a more substantial The new green location leads “It’s helped immensely with transformation. golfers onto the tees of the club’s maintenance,” says Hugh Lynch, the The short par-four sixth, a dog leg original par-three seventh, which is golf course superintendent and project left, had been introduced during a now back in play. It had remained manager for the renovation. “When previous renovation in the early 2000s. as an alternative hole following the we’re in a monsoon, we can get one With tees ranging from 250 to 350 introduction of a new seventh in the inch of rain three times a week. The yards, it was reachable for long hitters. previous renovation, which never really bunkers could have been out of play But the green and approach were captured the imagination of members. for six or seven days, because it would heavily defended. “The size, depth and At the par-three tenth, a steep take 200 to 300 hours of manpower placement of the bunkers meant that green surface from back to front was to get them back into play.” Now, the most players would just lay up with impacting playability. “The slopes were club expects to be able to resume play a five iron off the tee, taking them probably six or seven per cent and speeds almost immediately. all out of play,” says Muirhead. “The were overly quick when prepped for a The renovation also included some rewards were not worth the risk.” tournament,” says Muirhead. “It was removal of trees that were in poor The hole has been returned to its forcing the club to focus hole locations health or added a lot of shade, which original dog leg right configuration, on the front half of the green, leading to has restored width and improved but now offers players multiple tee shot excessive wear. And putts from the back agronomic conditions, plus the options to consider. Laying up leaves a could easily roll off the green.” 5 COLUMBINE COUNTRY CLUB Photo: Scott Dressel-Martin Scott Photo: The green has been recontoured, and a back bunker replaced with a chipping area. “It still has some pretty good slope to it, but not nearly what it was before,” says Muirhead. But perhaps the biggest change was saved for the last, with the club wanting a grandstand finish in front of the new clubhouse. The par-four eighteenth at Columbine was previously known for a large cottonwood tree directly in the line of play. “When the course was built, someone had an idea of planting this tree right in the middle of the fairway,” says Trainer. “Fast forward Offset bunkering on the eighth hole gives players more choices to consider. 60 years and the tree got to be about The left portion of the image shows the new eighteenth tee shot 70 feet tall. Cottonwoods don’t live much past 60 years and the tree had to response has been overwhelmingly Hills, as one of the top three golf be taken down because it was rotten. positive. “Golfers come up to me and courses in the area. For anyone who’s Then the hole was defenceless.” say we love everything that Rees and got game and wants to be challenged, Jones and Muirhead provided options Greg did,” says Trainer. “They come we’re probably the best golf course to for the club to consider. They first back and say, boy, this course is more join. And for anyone who has a family toyed with the idea of a split fairway, fun to play now.” and wants to get their kids in at a making full use of the wide hole “The visual experience that people young age, we’re probably the best golf corridor, but it felt out of character get when they play here is so much course to join.” with the rest of the course. They settled on a design that would bring “ The visual experience that people get Dutch Creek, which runs through the course and along the left side of the when they play here is so much better… eighteenth, into play. everything just flows better” The fairway was previously some distance away, with rough grass better,” says Heim. “It’s because the “Columbine has a phenomenal covering a steep slope down to the corridors are a little more open from history,” says Jones. “This was really creek.