RECENT PRESS RELEASES
ARMSTRONG NEARING COMPLETION ON MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR
RENOVATIONS
15 December 2000
FRANCESTOWN,
N.H. — With new courses springing up in record numbers, two
Massachusetts facilities recently turned to course architect Mary
Armstrong to help upgrade their layouts and retain their customers.
Armstrong
is overseeing a $3.5-million renovation of Spring Valley Country Club
in Sharon, Mass., a $2-million project at Franconia Golf Course in
Springfield, Mass., and additional renovations in Connecticut and
Maine.
Spring
Valley is a Geoffrey Cornish design that first opened in 1960,
according to head superintendent John Adamonis. Being in a low-lying
valley, the No. 1 problem was drainage. Armstrong enhanced the course
with mounding to improve drainage, added bunkers closer to the greens,
reshaped putting surfaces to give them character, added and moved tee
boxes to accommodate the longer distances hit by today's players,
recontoured fairways and landing areas, removed trees while replanting
others, and relocated cart paths.
Armstrong
developed a master plan for private Spring Valley in 1994. "We're
about two-thirds finished with the master plan," Armstrong said
"We should be completely done within a couple of years."
"This
fall we're renovating the green surrounds on holes 14 and 15 and the
tee complexes on 16," Adamonis said. "Next year work will be
done on the green surrounds on 16 and 17 and renovations to holes 3
and 4."
Plans
for the following year include the 10th green and the entire 11th
hole, the No. 1 handicap hole when the course first opened. "We
want to bring 11 back to Geoff's original intent and make it the
signature hole," Adamonis said. "It's a 555-yard, par-5
dogleg with a couple of ponds and a brook crossing it. It has
features, but they need to be enhanced. Marvin will be even more
helpful when we get into permitting issues in the pond and wetland
areas."
Armstrong
has worked with two contractors at Spring Valley, International Golf
of Arlington and Dahn Tibbett Golf Services of Marshfield.
"Mary
is an excellent architect," Adamonis said. "She has great
ideas and great plans. She's innovative. She's creative. She follows
through and has a great team of associates."
Franconia Golf Course will reopen next spring following a year-long
renovation project at the 18-hole municipal facility. The bunkers on
three-fourths of the holes were redone, many tees rebuilt, a new
state-of-the-art irrigation system installed, drainage improvements
made, a green rebuilt, cart paths improved and trees thinned.
"The job came in under budget," Armstrong said.
The course closed in October 1999 and was scheduled to reopen June 1.
But the project was delayed by bad weather and is nearing completion.
Funding
for the course included a $1-million match from the state. The state
money came from the Urban Self Help Program which was administered by
the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. Joel Lerner, director
of the Division of Conservation Services with the Executive Office of
Environmental Affairs, oversaw the state's financial involvement with
the project. "It will be a tremendous asset to the
community," Lerner said. "The mayor [Michael Albano] grew up
on this course and was very active in its reconstruction. I think he
has a winner there."
Head
pro Dan DiRico said work was done on 13 of the club's 18 holes, with
perhaps the most notable improvements to hole 12. "We've always
felt holes 12 through 15 were our version of Augusta National's Amen
Corner," he said. "The signature hole may be the par-5,
490-yard 12th with the new pond in front of the green and an entire
hill having been knocked down.
"I
like what Mary has done here very much. It's a big, big improvement.
In the long run, the golfers in this city should be very pleased. It's
greatly enhanced the golf course and we should see a significant
increase in play next year. We needed to upgrade our facilities and
give the public a top-notch facility at a reasonable price."
In
addition to the two Massachusetts layouts, Armstrong is also involved
with renovation projects in Connecticut and Maine, including: major
bunker and tee improvements at The Milbrook Club in Greenwich, Conn.;
green surround upgrades at Manchester (Conn.) Country Club; and a
nine-hole expansion that maintained the character of the original nine
along with drainage and maintenance enhancements at Sanford (Maine)
Country Club.
ARMSTRONG OVERSEEING RENOVATIONS TO WORLD FAMOUS
NEW SEABURY
10 January 2001
MASHPEE,
Mass. — A $2.5-million renovation to one of the crown jewels of New
England golf, New Seabury Country Club, has begun under the guidance
of course architect Mary Armstrong.
Armstrong
is overseeing renovations to several holes on the Seaside (Blue)
Course, which has received a 4-star rating from Golf
Digest. She also developed a complete makeover of the Green Course,
long considered the weaker of the two layouts but expected to stand
shoulder to shoulder with the Seaside layout once the renovations are
complete next June.
The
main objective is to take playing pressure off the Seaside Course by
improving the Green Course.
"To
do that, the Green has to compete with the ocean," said
Armstrong, referring to the Seaside layout, which has several holes
running hard along the beautiful blue waters of Nantucket Sound.
Among
the changes to the Green Course will be 18 totally rebuilt and
recontoured greens; a new putting green; two additional ponds
averaging an acre apiece in size; more than 800 feet of bulkheaded
pond edge, including two greens; reconstructed tees and bunkers; the
addition of extensive waste and natural areas to increase strategy
while decreasing water and pesticide use; and an upgraded irrigation
system. Top-of-the-line L-93 bentgrass will replace the older
bentgrass on the greens. The fairways will be a creeping bentgrass
blend with bluegrass in the roughs. Niebur Golf Inc. of Colorado
Springs, Colo., is the course builder.
"The
course will be almost entirely sodded rather than seeded, so we can be
ready for a June 1 re-opening," Armstrong said. "We're also
adding about 300 yards in length, bringing the Green Course closer to
6,300 yards."
Added
superintendent Scott Nickerson: "If the design comes out like it
looks on paper, it's going to be a fantastic golf course. It will
really compliment the Seaside course. This way we can give everyone a
shot at the ocean and then provide them a second excellent
course."
On
the more famous Seaside Course, the 9th green is being replicated at a
new location and the tees and landing areas on the 10th and 18th holes
re-sculptured. The front and back nines on Seaside will be switched so
the new clubhouse and a vast hillside will overlook the finishing
holes on both courses.
"We're
excited about the plans Mary has come up with," said Richard
Vetter, general manager for developer New Seabury Properties LLC. "The
Seaside course is world renowned and has always been the big play
here. What we want to do is give ourselves two quality golf courses.
Mary's plan not only lengthens the Green Course, it makes
it a fun, challenging, shot-making course. She's added some interesting
elements with the waste bunkers, water and green redesigns. It will be
a real risk-reward layout."
The
renovations should spread play more evenly between the two courses,
Vetter said. While New Seabury is known as a resort, members play most
of the rounds. Members and resort guests will have access to both
courses, although the goal is to encourage resort guests to play the
renovated Green Course, leaving the Seaside Course primarily to
members, particularly on weekends.
"We
wanted to have a quality golf course that would support that
transition," Vetter said. "This is an exciting time to bring
both courses up to today's market and develop what the golfer, resort
guest and member expect in their communities."
The
traditional names of the two courses — which were designed by
William Mitchell in the mid-1960s — will be changed. The Blue Course
is already being called Seaside. Several new names are under
consideration for the Green, with the front runner being the Emerald
Course.
New
Seabury is New England's largest seaside resort, residential community
and conference center. Located within the town of Mashpee, it covers
more than 2,000 acres with 14 residential villages, two 18-hole
courses, 16 all-weather tennis courts, 3 1/2 miles of private beach,
two swimming pools, 1,200 homes, several restaurants and three
conference centers. It is 70 miles from Boston, Mass., and Providence,
R.I. In addition to the course renovations, clubhouse and a new
12,000-square-foot maintenance facility, New Seabury Properties LLC is
also considering renovations to the driving range and tennis courts
and has plans for another 500 home sites.
ARMSTRONG MOVING AHEAD ON WESTERN MASS. PROJECT
- New Course will be living laboratory for turf research
18 January 2001
BELCHERTOWN, Mass. —
Golf course architect Mary Armstrong has overcome numerous environmental
obstacles in designing The Golf Course at Cold Spring, a semi-private
Western Massachusetts layout that is expected to provide a much-needed
boost to the area golf supply and provide University of Massachusetts turfgrass experts with a location to conduct environmental research.
The
course, which could open nine holes by late summer, is being built in
a Class A watershed that provides drinking water to the nearby city of
Springfield — a first in Massachusetts and testament to the
environmental foresight of Armstrong's proposal. “The biggest
challenge was the myriad of environmental issues that have arisen from
the local conservation commission to the Springfield Office of the
Masachusetts Department of Environmental Protection,” Armstrong
said.
Cold
Spring Golf Course Inc. partners Jim Casagrande and Ed Waszkelewicz
initially proposed building the facility in 1995. It was January 2000
before they had all their permits. Builder 4Bs Development of Spencer,
Mass., started construction last February. An unusually wet summer
slowed the building process.
"There
was a series of highs and lows,” Casagrande said. “There were
times when we seemed certain to get our final permits and others when
we thought we'd never get them. They just kept throwing more and more
hurdles up. Mary was instrumental in coming up with a layout that
met all the restrictions of the various agencies."
The
par-71 course measures 6,500 yards with four sets of tees. The greens
will be planted in Velvet bentgrass, with a new strain of Kentucky
bluegrass in the fairways and roughs.
"It's
a terrific layout," said Casagrande, the head professional for
the past 14 years at Westover Golf Course in Ludlow. "No matter
what your ability, you'll be able to find a set of tees to match it.
It's a little deceiving because the length doesn't seem to be there.
But to come up with a par-71, we added an extra par-3. That makes many
of the par 4s and 5s
quite long. We have a 465-yard par 4 and another par 4 that is 454
yards long.
"Hole
No. 2 will be beautiful. It's a true three-shot par 5 with a dogleg
right. The green is protected by an intricate bunker complex and a
6-million-gallon manmade pond. It's going to be stunning."
Casagrande
also thinks the 180-degree view from the 10th tee toward Wilbraham and
on into Connecticut will be one of the most beautiful vistas in
Western Massachusetts.
“Six
will be an interesting hole,” Armstrong added. “There is a natural
green site tucked in a little valley. You cross a wetland area to get
to the hole. It has kind of a rugged look to it. The green is settled
right in against the hillside and is well bunkered.”
The
property sits over an aquifer that feeds the Ludlow Reservoir. Local
and state agencies were concerned about pesticides and the risk of
contamination to the water supply. The developers contacted the
University of Massachusetts and turfgrass professor Dr. Bill Torello,
who wrote the integrated pest management plan for one of the permits.
Seizing an opportunity for in-depth monitoring of what actually gets
into the water system from a golf course, Torello and Armstrong set up
a five-year study that will begin in the near future. They hope their
findings will make it easier for others to get golf course projects
approved in potentially environmentally sensitive areas.
UMass
helped prepare specifications for the root-zone mixes. “We’ll
monitor what goes into the course and what comes out, testing organic
versus integrated pest management approaches and standard
approaches,” Torello said. “A number of UMass turfgrass
professors, entomologists and pathologists will be involved.”
The
name Cold Spring derives from the original name of
the city of Belchertown, located 15 miles northeast of
Springfield. The semi-private course will have roughly 300 members and
charge daily-fee players $25 to $30 per round. In addition to a
putting green and clubhouse, 150 condominiums are being built on the
property. Casagrande projects the course will do roughly 40,000 rounds
annually, with a 50-50 mix between member and daily-fee play.
Who we are . . .
Armstrong Golf Architects LLC is a
full-service golf architecture firm located in Francestown, N.H. Manager
Mary Armstrong has been designing and renovating golf courses since
the early 1970s and leading his own firm since 1990. She is a former
landscape/refuge planner with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service,
associate city planner and a landscape architect with the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, giving her special insights into the governmental
permitting process. Some of her best-known projects include a new course
at Citrus Hills in Hernando, Fla., and cold Spring Golf Course in
Belchertown, Mass. She has also renovated Ardsley (N.Y.) Country Club and
Tory Pines Resort in Francestown, N.H. For more information, contact
Armstrong Golf Architects LLC at
76 South New Boston Road, Francestown, NH 03043; telephone 603-547-3132;
fax 603-547-3043; e-mail marmstrong@golfarchitect.com. To learn more
about Armstrong Golf Architects LLC, visit the firm's web site at
www.golfarchitect.com.
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