Arnold Palmer Design: Latest News
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APDC Update
April 07, 2008
With 2008 well underway, the Arnold Palmer Design Company (APDC) is as busy as ever designing world-class golf courses for us to enjoy. Looks like we’ll be doing a lot of traveling this year…
Open or Nearly
The home of the PGA of America demands a great golf course on-site, and that’s just what APDC produced with the recently renovated General Course at PGA National. Already a great challenge, the updated course opened in December and the reviews have been fantastic.
“There were several holes that had a significant change for the better,” says golf course architect Brandon Johnson. Number 2 got a makeover, as did No.7, which received some fairway bunkers and a large greenside bunker on the right. Number 8 benefited from some refreshing, and No.12 is now a seriously tempting par-5 with a bit of risk/reward offered. You may think you knew the
course before; it’s worth checking out again.
The Federal Club in Glen Allen, Virginia, is also open and ready for play. “It looks great,” says APDC’s David Couch. “It’s all grown in and starting to look mature; maybe one of the best courses in Virginia.” As Couch explains, the residential lots at the Federal Club are large, so the development and course don’t feel tight or compacted in any way. The 18 holes are “wide open, there’s lots of generous space. It has nice rolling hills, and there’s a creek on three holes.”
Residents of Palm Coast, Florida, recently welcomed a retooled Pine Lakes course. Adjacent to its sibling Mantanzas Woods (set for work as well), the remodeled course received a facelift courtesy of APDC, which rerouted a few holes and improved overall circulation. Also in Florida, Deering Bay in Coral Gables is another refresher, which received new bunkers, new green surfaces, new grass throughout and an overall cleanup that should please players of Coral Gables’ only Palmer course.
Innsbrook Golf & Boating community on North Carolina’s coast in Merry Hill, is benefiting from a Palmer course as well, which should be open soon if it’s not already by the time you read this. It is a stunning setting with five of the holes skirting the Albemarle Sound, two back Salmon creek and several are framed by ponds. Eric Wiltse, who worked on the course, said the course “offers a truly natural golf experience
with its many pristine wooded and wetland areas. Expansive views of the Albemarle Sound can be enjoyed throughout the entire round. Players of all skill levels will enjoy this scenic and challenging championship quality course.” Traditionally styled and quite beautiful, the entire course should be visible from
the clubhouse in this community, which also features 150 slips for boats -- nice!
One of the most exciting courses on the horizon is Newport Dunes in Port Aransas, Texas. Scheduled to be open in May, this one should be a stunner. One of the few links-style courses in Texas, Newport Dunes is part of the Newport Beach and Golf resort community on Mustang Island, and should offer Lone Star golfers a classic course experience. “It’s a special course,” says Wiltse, and not just because it’s designed in classic Scottish fashion. The course is one of the first ocean-side courses APDC has had the chance to design, and water comes into play on numbers 13 through 15, the last being a 476-yard par 4. Wiltse says his favorite hole is No. 14, which is carved through the dunes on the Gulf of Mexico. “It’s a very challenging hole. You play through a trough of dunes, and it all looks very natural… From the tee, you look out over the beach and the Gulf.”
We can’t wait to see it for ourselves.
In the Works
One of the most anticipated projects in the works for APDC is The Reserve at Lake Keowee. In addition to being a great design located on a beautiful site in a lovely community, The Reserve is also set to be one of the first Palmer Premier courses, meaning every aspect of the course -- from the design to the
day-to-day management and operation -- will be overseen by Palmer and held to his extremely high standards.
APDC Executive Vice President Erik Larsen and Couch are working on it, and it’s going to be great.
“It’s a gorgeous spot,” says Couch. “And a severe site, lots of steep slopes and lots of up and down.”
Holes 15 and 16 will have good views of Lake Keowee itself, while the mountains will provide most of the backdrop -- not surprising, as there will be significant elevation changes throughout.
The Carolinas are getting another Premier course -- this time in North Carolina. Seven Falls, near Hendersonville, is going to be an exceptional property, featuring not only a Palmer Premier golf course operation but also a full River Lodge, as it’s set along the banks of the French Broad River. Johnson,
who’s working on the course with APDC course architect Thad Layton, says the course at Seven Falls should be a true golfing challenge. “Hopefully, the idea is to have a lot of strategy, a lot of
options, not only off the tee but around the greens too,” Johnson says. “You’ll have the ability to run the ball, utilize slope and roll to get the ball where you want it to go.”
Johnson also says the course will be a little rough, “definitely taking cues from its natural environment.” As the course is being built on a former pasture, look for rolling land, tall fescue, wildflowers and -- true to the name -- plenty of water.
Also in the state: For the first time ever, North Carolina State University Golf Team will have its own home course, and how great is it that two NCSU alums are in on the design: Erik Larsen and Brandon Johnson.
“We’re moving right along,” says Johnson, (Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, minor in Music Performance and History). “It’s a rolling course, with a big North Carolina roll to it.”
NCSU grad Larsen (Bachelor in Landscape Architecture/Horticulture) and Johnson are creating a native Carolina experience with the new course, located on the Centennial Campus. Johnson explains APDC is taking advantage of the native vegetation and topography. Unfortunately for those with nasty hooks and slices, this includes large stands of native hardwoods lining the fairways and deep native grass for the rough.
“The golf team has never had a home course; they’ve kind of been a band of gypsies,” Johnson says. “Now they’ll have a place to play and to call home… It’s a great amenity for the university.”
Down in Florida again, Owl’s Head is going to be one of the most interesting and natural courses to open in some time. Located in Freeport, near Destin in the state’s Panhandle region, Owl’s Head will be a core golf experience featuring rugged native terrain, including wetland areas, full dunes and bunkers with native grasses.
On the other side of the country, California is getting a couple of new Palmer courses: Los Valles, just north of Los Angeles, and Rolling Hills, near Palos Verdes.
APDC Vice President Victoria Martz and Couch are working on Los Valles, which should provide its resident players with a true LA backdrop: “Magic Mountain is in the background, so there are fireworks shows every night,” Couch says. Hopefully the surroundings won’t distract too much; the course should be a lot of fun, but will have a few tight sections. Look for it spring of 2009. Rolling Hills has a bit more to
go yet, but will eventually provide locals with a nice design. APDC will be completely renovating an existing 18 hole course. The new back 9 specifically will be more of a core golf experience with ups and downs, waterfalls and lake features.
Across the Pond
The United Arab Emirates will soon be getting a Palmer course, with one scheduled for Abu Dhabi. Johnson says the site is a bit of a clean slate that will require a complete overhaul for the eventual core golf experience they’ve planned. We’ll keep our eye on this exciting development.
Palmer continues his work in China with a course scheduled for Kunming. Johnson says it’s going to have a more rugged, links-style feel to it. Interestingly, one of the challenges Palmer’s team is facing is the issue of Feng shui -- a Chinese system of design principles based around the belief that better energy
can be created in a place by properly aligning geography and astronomy. Miss your drive wide left? Blame the stars.
Two of the more significant international developments in progress are Milverton, near Dublin, Ireland, and Vignoly, near Crecy-la-Chapelle, France. Milverton is a beautiful piece of property that features a traditional manor house and old-growth trees. Couch says there’s a lot of character to the property, including historical considerations like old stone walls, which can’t be touched. “The routing was delicate,” he says. Bonus: Views of the ocean and the fishing village of Skerries. Look for it late ’09 or in 2010.
Vignoly, just outside of Paris, is nearly done; they’re just waiting for the grass to grow in. This beautiful former pastureland features waterfalls and lovely shaping. It should prove to be one of the best courses in the country.
A course at the Imperial Golf & Country Club in Cebu, Philippines, is coming along with work set to begin in spring. At least three or four holes will be on the ocean. West End, in the Bahamas, is another ocean-side course with at least two holes near the waves. This course also borders the airstrip at this fly-in/fly-out Ginn development, which will feature lots of natural rock outcroppings in play.
Look for more great courses from APDC in the near future.
Posted: April 7, 2008 03:17 PM
