What is an appropriate "lifespan" for a renovation??

[Sam Maryland]

I'm sure there's no easy answer to this question but as an example consider Myers Park CC in Charlotte NC.

Between 1921 and 1945 the club went through numerous iterations and transformations from 9 holes, to 27, and back to 18.  In 1945 Donald Ross completed plans for a "new" 18 holes and the club credits him as the designer to this day, work completed in '48.

Skip forward to 1983 (a fair bit happened in the interim), Rees Jones rebuilds all green complexes (with bentgrass) and does some bunker work as well, this after he did a considerable amount of tee/bunker work in 1978.

1993 - common bermuda fairways are replaced with Tifway 419 hybrid bermuda.

2000 -- Bobby Weed is hired to rebuild every green complex again, redesign bunkers and tees, add length and get back to a "unified Donald Ross look".

2007/8 -- the club goes through the whole exercise again with Kris Spence.

The club was closed for extensive periods of time during each of the exercises, especially during the '00 and '07/'08 reno's which seemed a little too closely spaced together for many members.

Thoughts?

[Carl Johnson]

Sam, I'm a long time Charlotte resident, since 1969, and have lived next door to Myers Park in Dilworth since 1976.  I'm a member of Carolina GC.  I played MPCC around 1985, I'd guess, and not since.  As you may know, we just finished a Spence renovation at Carolina last year.  Since I've been a member at Carolina, we're redone a couple of greens, more than once, and resurfaced the old greens once.  My perspective is that the less the disruption for the members, the better, although with our just-completed work I think we've nailed it for the long term.  I hope so.  A renovation should have no lifespan -- it should be "forever."  I have absolutely no idea what has driven the membership at MPCC to undergo all of this work.  If I were a MPCC member, I don't think I'd be happy about going through all of this, unless, of course, each prior re-do was a total foul up.  My thoughts are a question -- why so many re-do's at MPCC?  It's got to be disruptive.  To what end?  I assume you must be a member.  How do you see it?

[John Moore II]

I have to go with Carl here. I should think that a renovation should be viewed to be just as permanent as the original construction. Renovations cost a significant amount of money and time. I should think they are not something to be undertaken every 10 years or so. I would be irritated if my club went through so many renovations in a short period.

[Sam Maryland]

Actually I am not a member but a close friend of mine is.  He is not a native of Charlotte (bank transplant) but has been there long enough to have weathered the Weed and Spence reno's, and witness the falllout from both, expecially the most recent work.  From what he tells me the most recent work has actually been quite well received but the course was out of service for a long time (1yr+) and the project was very divisive.  Many thought that taking the course out of service for an extended period twice within a 9 years was too much (and apparently many thought the course was just fine like it was).  Another member compiled a course 'history' a few years prior to the Spence work from which I was able to gather some of the specifics I mentioned here.

I noticed on here before in a post made by Phil that Tillinghast was credited with the original 9-hole design but the recap that I have seen specifically says that no evidenve can be found that Tillinghast was ever on site.    

[Phil_the_Author]

Sam,

If you IM me your email address I'll be more than happy to send you the documentation on Tilly at Myers Park. Tilly included it in a 1925 advertising brochure, specifically listing Myers Park as one of nine 9-hole courses that he had originally designed. The list on the brochure is QUITE extensive as it breaks down 36, 27, 18 & 9 hole courses he originally designed and then highlights numerous courses where he did reconstructions and/or extensions. There is even a list of courses where he did examinations and provided reports.

With all of the courses and work listed one would think it is a complete one, but it isn't as a number of others weren't listed that he had worked on up to that point.

[Carl Johnson]

Sam, Charlotte CC, home of the USGA Women's Am 2010, has also had a lot of re-do's, seemingly similar to Myers Park, although I don't have the details at my finger tips.  I wonder if any CCC members on this board have a perspective on the question you've posed.