The following article appeared in the August 14 edition of the Canton Repository. Perhaps Dan Belden can give us an update and more insight on how the renovation has worked out. In my younger and less enlightened days, I grew up in the Canton area. I never had any understanding of the significance of Brookside (or, for that matter, Congress Lake-another Ross design in nearby Hartville). While I have never played Brookside, I have driven by it hundreds of times and the portion of the course that is visible from Perry Drive looks quite good.
REVAMPED BROOKSIDE IS HOMAGE TO ROSS' VISION by Bill Snier
It is recognized as one of Golf Week magazine's top 100 classic courses, a true tribute to the genius and artistic abilities of famed architect Donald Ross.
But a majority of Brookside Country Club's 435 members still felt the course was in need of cosmetic surgery.
"We did a survey asking members where they felt the problem areas were," said Steven Cress, former club president and current greens committee member. "The biggest complaint was about the condition of our golf course bunkers. They were inconsistent."
Club officials took action, and Friday was the dedication of the "new" Brookside Country Club course. But, in this case, the new actually was a return to the course's roots.
"We call it a historical renovation, " Cress said of the course, built in 1922. "The routing of the greens has not been touched. But we have new bunkers, new tees, renovated and trimmed trees and expanded our greens."
The result of a $1.8 million renovation includes:
-about 22 trees being removed, still leaving between 7,000 and 8,000;
-adding 16 bunkers, bringing it close to the original 94 that Ross had in his original design;
-increasing the irrigation system from 600 to 1,300 sprinkler heads;
-increasing yardage for championship play from 6,786 to 7,150;
-increasing tee space from 65,000 square feet to 115,000 while adding 15 tees, up from 65;
-recapturing nine acres of fairway and 1 1/2 acres of green space;
-and putting down 800,000 square feet of new sod, including 120,000 of bent grass on the tees and the remainder Kentucky blue grass in the areas surrounding greens, bunkers and tees.
It marks the course's first major renovation, although several changes were made in the 1960s, including the removal of 20 bunkers.
"They took out a lot of bunkers in the 1960s as a perceived maintenance issue that kind of took the teeth out of the course," Cress said. "When the course was built, there were no irrigation systems, so Ross used bunkering to take you around the course. Everything was either green or brown, depending on the season.
"We wanted to bring back the classic feel of the course, including larger, squared off tees and shaping the fairways back and forth and left to right.
"We turned to the past for the feel of the course, but at the same time, we had to allow for technology. Golf balls, shafts and club heads have changed."
Brookside committee members interviewed 18 architects and eight contractors.
They narrowed the list to six before hiring Brian Silva of Cornish, Silva and Mangeam, Golf World magazine's 1999 Architect of the Year. The contractor chosen was MacCurrach Golf Construction of Jacksonville, Fla., which was featured in a special Sports Illustrated series several years ago entitled "This Old Course," which dealt with the renovation of an older course.
Ross always preached a "firm and fast" course in his designs. The club's former irrigation system had obscured that.
"When you're asking sprinkler heads to throw water 90 feet, it's going to be wet," said Cress, president-CEO of Fincom Corp. "Now, we only throw water 30 feet so it doesn't get as wet. So the course is playing firmer and faster again."
Work began around Labor Day 2003. The front nine was reopened May 1, with the remainder of the course opening Memorial Day weekend.
Bud Rosetti is chairman of the greens committee. Cress also paid tribute to course superintendent Bob Figurella.
"He had to work with the contractors and architect and, at the same time, keep members happy. There was a lot of interest from his peers," Cress said.
Officials hope this will preserve the course for the next 100 years.
"We brought the course back to about 90 percent of what it was. It really was a lengthy process...one we originally started in 2000," Cress said. "We were looking to tear apart a golf course that really didn't appear to be broken.
"It had aged, and we had new needs...like a cosmetic surgery. It's healing pretty well."