Army Navy Country Club Phase II complete

[Richard_Mandell]

We just finished work on phase II at the Arlington site for Army Navy Country Club in Washington D. C. and I wanted to share a few before/after photos.  We just grassed last month, so the photos are still in the grow-in stage.  We have now finished eighteen of the twenty-seven holes out there with the final nine to be completed next summer.  We still have all twenty-seven holes to do at Fairfax as well.  This first set of photos is of Blue #3 hole.  Originally, it was a narrow dogleg left with two sand bunkers protecting the outside of the dogleg.  A creek crossed in front of the tees, paralleled the left side of the landing area and then cut back across the fairway between the landing area and the green.  Other than the tee shot, the creek never came into play because trees separated the creek from the fairway the entire length of the landing area and the club piped the creek from the point it crossed back between the landing area and green.

We moved the tees to the left, removed the stand of trees on the left and brought the fairway right up against the creek.  We then opened up the creek where it crossed back.  Now when one stands on the tee, a perfect heroic strategy is presented and the golfer has a view of the exposed creek the whole way down the hole.  To further shift the strategy from a narrow runway to its new challenge, I took out the fairway bunkers on the right.  The hole is very playable for those who choose to avoid the water on the left.  Of course, that is the longer route to the green. 

This project is a great example of how there is still hope of introducing strategy and central hazards to an established golf course with very little room to expand the corridors.  What do you guys think?

Arlington Blue #3 from the tees before renovation.


Arlington Blue #3 from the tees after renovation


Arlington Blue #3 from the landing area after renovation

[Richard_Mandell]

I now have the actual pictures up instead of just the reference to the pictures.  Thank God for techies in the office! 

[Richard_Mandell]

Here are some more photos of Army Navy Country Club in Arlington, VA.

Arlington Blue #5 from the landing area before the renovation.


Blue #5 from the landing area after the renovation.


Blue #5 green complex after the renovation


White #8 from the tees before the renovation


White #8 from the tees after the renovation

[BVince]

Richard,
Thanks for the updates.  I am eager to get over there to see the finished product.  Are these changes consistent throught the whole course or only on specific holes?  What is your overall goal of the project?  Is it to add strategy in places of need, a general facelift of the properties, or both?  The photographed holes look quite nice.

Bryon

[RJ_Daley]

It looks like nice and well considered renovation.  Did you do anything with greens in terms of recapturing back to original edges or recontouring, etc?

Is this course membership only for West Point and Annapolis grads, or all military active and retired?  Sorry, I'm not familiar with it as such.

[Richard_Mandell]

Byron:

To answer your questions, the changes we are undertaking will be consistent throughout all 54 holes (27 at each site).  The overall goal of our project is to provide a general facelift of the properties and to improve the overall infrastructure of the sites.  Two primary components of the project are drainage and irrigation upgrades, but we are also adding new tee boxes (as well as enlarging the overall square footage). 

As part of this process, we have the opportunity to improve the strategy of the layouts as well, which has been a challenge due to the tight corridors.  Because the club wants to keep 18 holes at each site open throughout renovations, there was very little opportunity for re-routing holes.

The final goal of this project was to create a distinct look at each site.  At Arlington, I chose to undertake a golden age appearance with cape and bay bunkering and shaved surrounds, but at the Fairfax site (which we will begin next summer provided all of our permits are in place) I am creating a Robert Trent Jones look with flashed-sand serpentine bunkering yet without the shaved surrounds.  In keeping with the original RTJ golf course, the bunkers will be surrounded in rough and there won't be as many grass hollows and swales.  We did undertake a stream restoration at Fairfax two summers ago in conjunction with the US Fish & Wildlife Service.

RJ:

We were not afforded the opportunity to change the greens very much with the exception of a few spots here and there to re-capture putting surface.  Where possible on the greens, we will be softening (very slightly) high points to accommodate the new grasses we are planting.

By the way, Army Navy Country Club has members who are part of the private sector as well as in the armed services.  The club is not limited to just grads of the academies.  I don't believe it ever was, although originally one did have to be a member of the armed services.