Doug:
Cabin Bluff is a hunting/fishing retreat that is part of the Sea Island Resort. Information about Cabin Bluff can be found at
www.cabinbluff.com. It is a great place for corporate meetings or a group getaway.
The idea about adding golf there was driven by the need to provide year-round activities and also to give guests who don't hunt or fish something to do. The original "short course" was a three hole loop consisting of three large greens (approximately 10-12,000 square feet), five fairways, and nine tees. It could be played three times around for nine different holes totalling 3,200 yards with a par of 36. Each green was shaped as three greens within one green and pinned with three flagsticks (red, white, blue). The tee markers were also color-coded red, white, and blue. The color of the tee marker determines which flag you play for on the green.
The original course was shaped on about 20 acres with no subsurface drainage, push-up greens and no bunkers. Two water features were created to generate the dirt, one of which is out of play. The course was so popular with the guests that we came back three years later and added three more holes so that now a six hole loop can be played three times for 18 different holes. The second set of holes also included a few bunkers and a "creek" for strategy and challenge. Love Enterprises designs very much as team, but special credit for Cabin Bluff should go to Paul Cowley from our staff for his unique design input on this project.
Tom Paul:
Glad to hear you enjoyed Laurel Island Links near St. Mary's. This was our company's second course and was designed as a municipal course for the city of Kingsland, Ga. Constructed for less than $2.5 million, it is truly one of the most playable courses in the region, yet hosted first stage of the PGA Tour's qualifying school last year where 1-under moved on. It is located one exit south of Cabin Bluff.
Turboe:
I hope the above description of Cabin Bluff helps out, it is certainly a lot easier to decribe verbally than trying to write it out.
Your comments regarding Windermere are exactly what we were hoping to hear from knowledeable people. The first time we rode the property, our Vice President Bob Spence said that twenty years ago he wouldn't have believed a golf course could be built on that site. But with today's technology, we were able to move the dirt necessary to build a fun, playable golf course, not just tees, fairways, and greens between a bunch of houses. I know from reading posts on this site that many here may not find the course to their liking, but we did work hard to incorporate as much design strategy and as many traditional elements as possible on a very untraditional site. I understand the course turned close to 40,000 rounds in its first year, so we must have done something right. By the way, Windermere is the only course we have done where the cart path has switch-backs going up hill.
Joyce:
We are under contract at Callaway Gardens to completely re-design the Gardens View Course for a new private club being developed called The Southern Pine Club.
Keith and Scott:
Thanks for the kind words.
John