[Anthony_Nysse]

Just a few videos of the work done at Old Marsh after 2 weeks. A complete rebuild-raising the fairways, new greens, bunkers, irrigation, bulkheads and grass.

Week #1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpuNCK1uIho

Week #2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB9zbS54KDc

[Tom_Doak]

Just curious:  why did they need to do all that?


The golf course is thirty years old, built in 1986.  [I was there when they started it.]  I would expect it to need some work.

[Anthony_Nysse]

Do what, in particular?

[Tom_Doak]

Do what, in particular?

Raise the fairways, mostly.  I can see how if you're going to do that, a lot of the other stuff follows.  I just can't think of another course of that vintage [aside from the TPC at Sawgrass] that has undergone such a complete rebuild.

[Anthony_Nysse]

County raised the water level a few years back, causing the drains, in many cases, to be underwater. Also, when we have a lot of rain, several marshes crest into the fairways. We also had many greens outfalls where the water level was just a few inches below the surface. 30 years of organic material is being removed and many fairways reshaped for several reasons. 50,000yds of fill to re-contour many.

[Joey Chase]

Are you working with Mr. Dye or Dye Designs on this project?

[Matt Kardash]

It looks like it was Pete Dye walking around on the green in the second video. Was it?

[Anthony_Nysse]

It looks like it was Pete Dye walking around on the green in the second video. Was it?

That was Pete in the 2nd video and he has been here frequently throughout the planning and will continue to be. He was here most of the day on Thursday. We are working with some of his "right hand" men, several of which were here for the original build.

[Kris Shreiner]

Hi Anthony,
Thanks for posting that. Seems as though the reasons you give for raising the fairways make sense.
From my understanding, rising tidal conditions on the entire East coast will subject many more courses, in low-lying coastal areas,  to do the same thing in the future.
I've been on property omce, and it looked like a solid facility.
Hope the changes go well...keep us posted. It is always interesting to see a transformation that is well done.
Thanks,
Kris 

[Bill_McBride]

Curious how the county raised the water level?  How did they do that?   Seems like that action cost the owners of Old Marsh a lot of money.  Another example of the law of unintended consequences?

[Anthony_Nysse]

We are surrounded by water on 3 sides and we do not control the water levels. Once they reach a certain height, there is a series of pumps that remove water from the property.
  Regardless, the raising of the course needed to be done. Too many flat areas that took a long time to drain. We are hopeful to remove some of the 700 fairway drains in the process, also.

[Carl Nichols]

Tony--
I wish I had realized you were the superintendent at Old Marsh; we played there in early March, prior to commencement of the work.  I don't know if it was my rusty game but I found OM super hard.

[Anthony_Nysse]

Tony--
I wish I had realized you were the superintendent at Old Marsh; we played there in early March, prior to commencement of the work.  I don't know if it was my rusty game but I found OM super hard.

OM is super hard and even tougher on a windy day. We are addressing some of these issues with tee extensions and fairway adjustments and fairway widths.

[Josh Tarble]

I haven't heard much about Old Marsh.  My club used to have an agreement with them for our members to utilize the facilities while they were down south in the winter, wish I would have taken advantage of that.

Is it similar to any other Dye courses? - in my mind it sounds similar to Secession (know that isn't Dye exactly)

[Anthony_Nysse]

I haven't heard much about Old Marsh.  My club used to have an agreement with them for our members to utilize the facilities while they were down south in the winter, wish I would have taken advantage of that.

Is it similar to any other Dye courses? - in my mind it sounds similar to Secession (know that isn't Dye exactly)

 This video shows the course and it's story off, very well. Its not a typical Florida golf course, if you will. It was a Top 100 in it's earlier years and maintains a Top 25 standing with Golf Digest, and a Golfweek Next 100 Residential standing. It's also a Platinum Clubs of America, Top 50.
  Pete designed the course in the 1986-1987 when he was doing, what many regarding as some of his best work. Old Marsh was built on the heals of PGA West Stadium and before Blackwolf Run and Kiawah Island.

https://vimeo.com/131690191

[Carl Nichols]

I'm not a Pete Dye expert by any means, but I saw a lot of things that I would associate with Pete Dye designs I've played, or that at least looked Pete-Dye-like to me. 

[JC Urbina]

Anthony,


I remember Pete telling me to go and  see this golf course while we were working on the A.S.U. course in Arizona.  He wanted me to see the way he lifted everything up in the air vs digging down into the ground.  We ran into some hard rock at ASU and he was thinking about building some of the bunkers up above grade, he felt that Old Marsh was the model for some of his ideas.  He also explained to me how they drained the fairways and that the mainline drainage pipes or trunk lines were actually storage for some of the water, classic Pete thinking.  My playing and touring guide at Old Marsh , Angelo, Jacks long time caddie, priceless.


I really enjoyed seeing Pete pace of his slope line, a few big steps and some small ones mixed in, just right.  He still uses the smart and dumb end surveying strategy.  Nothing more comforting then walking a newly built green with a ten foot rod and laying out putting surfaces.


Nice to see Old Marsh in the news, I almost stopped in there last January when I was touring south Florida, ran out of time. 

Anthony, I did have time to stop and play Pine Tree, I understand you worked there for some time?

[Terry Lavin]

Pine Tree is one of my favorite clubs in Florida.  Great course, great membership, great location.

[Anthony_Nysse]

Anthony,


I remember Pete telling me to go and  see this golf course while we were working on the A.S.U. course in Arizona.  He wanted me to see the way he lifted everything up in the air vs digging down into the ground.  We ran into some hard rock at ASU and he was thinking about building some of the bunkers up above grade, he felt that Old Marsh was the model for some of his ideas.  He also explained to me how they drained the fairways and that the mainline drainage pipes or trunk lines were actually storage for some of the water, classic Pete thinking.  My playing and touring guide at Old Marsh , Angelo, Jacks long time caddie, priceless.


I really enjoyed seeing Pete pace of his slope line, a few big steps and some small ones mixed in, just right.  He still uses the smart and dumb end surveying strategy.  Nothing more comforting then walking a newly built green with a ten foot rod and laying out putting surfaces.


Nice to see Old Marsh in the news, I almost stopped in there last January when I was touring south Florida, ran out of time. 

Anthony, I did have time to stop and play Pine Tree, I understand you worked there for some time?

Jim-
  As I understand it, Angelo was our first Caddiemaster here when the club open and was here for the first couple years prior to going to Medalist. The vision for this property is hard to imagine. Those that control the waterways around the property say it would be impossible to build no because of the restrictions. Very rarely is there a time where the mainline drains are not holding some bit of water. It's just a very low profile site and that makes sense they they were to hold some water. We only have 75 acres of turf.
  I was at Pine Tree for 6 years, 2009-2015. Pure Golf and a step back into "old Florida golf."

[Josh Tarble]

Tony,
Thanks for posting that.  It looks like a really cool place.

[Tom ORourke]

I played there when it was opening. No clubhouse then, it was just being framed out. A good friend of mine worked for the bank that did the loan and he had kind of a standing offer to come out and play as there were so few people out there. There was a trailer in the middle of nowhere for the staff and the course was in great shape even then. What I remember hearing was that there were miles of tunnels under the fairways to prevent the course chemicals from getting into the marsh. True? And were they impacted by the flooding / lack of drainage?

[Anthony_Nysse]

I played there when it was opening. No clubhouse then, it was just being framed out. A good friend of mine worked for the bank that did the loan and he had kind of a standing offer to come out and play as there were so few people out there. There was a trailer in the middle of nowhere for the staff and the course was in great shape even then. What I remember hearing was that there were miles of tunnels under the fairways to prevent the course chemicals from getting into the marsh. True? And were they impacted by the flooding / lack of drainage?

We have "moats" that line numerous holes that catch any irrigation water and can pump it back to our irrigation pond. The "moats" create a buffer between the course and the preserves and also keeps golfers from entering the preserves.  No water leaves site without the control of the county.

[Anthony_Nysse]

Week #3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAx5kZKf3nw

[Anthony_Nysse]

Week #4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaFXkCw3Fa0

[Joe Hancock]

Tony,

Nice job of documenting and sharing the process/ progress of your project.

Well done!

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