As pure a golf experience as I have ever seen. There are no visual intrusions, no cart paths, ball washers, trash cans, no irrigation satelites, we even went as far as moving the pump station away from the lake to hide the small building. The views from the clubhouse are expansive. The 13 acre lake allows for a setting unlike most. The wind is ever present and poses a substantial challenge.
NCD has been contracted to design an 18 hole private golf course. The routing takes the golfer on a journey that takes great advantage of the Gulf Coasts significant winds. Unique holes, varying directions and hole lengths are highlights that can be viewed in detail by clicking the adjacent image. The client has been most helpful in allowing the team the time and support required to design and build as good a course as possible.
Development
The projects development has been challenging and most rewarding. NCD has significantly supported the development and construction. Finding and hiring an outstanding superintendent was one of my early tasks. Fortunately I found a great superintendent who was excited for the opportunity and has taken on the roles of Project Manager, Construction Superintendent and eventually Maintenance Superintendent. We have also been responsible for utilities, water and electric, roads and fencing, the building architect and infrastructure.
We were tasked by the client to build the course as cost effectively as possible. With his encouragement we decided to build Wolf Point with our available resources. This past fall we found an outstanding independent shaper who has been a tremendous boon to the project. We also have access to heavy equipment and some additional seasoned earth movers. Balancing our resources with sub-contracts and supervising has been an educational experience.
Responsibility for the irrigation design has been an integral process for the course. Maintainence processes will be unique due to the size of the membership, and the goal of fast and firm conditions. The superintendent was integral to the efficient design for maintenance system. Our preference is to get the native grasses as fast and firm as possible. We chose a decoder system to eliminate the visual distraction of standard satellites.
Working without a general contractor was a client request that while challenging has proved to be most efficient for our client. We hired a group of local farmers for the pond excavation between thier harvests. We diligently provided accurate GPS staking to facilitate thier efforts. The irrigation and drainage components have been installed by a specialty contractor.
Support and communication with the client has been constant. Having one individual to make all the approvals has been quick. A dialog that includes meetings, phone calls and electronic communications has kept the project on track. Visual depictions of the course and details to clearly communicate the playability of the golf course have been integral to the process.
We have effectively utilized support from where it would usually not be found. Our first shaper had never set foot on a golf course. He made some incredibly interesting land forms and shapes through a delicate balance of teaching and allowing for the freedom to create. Studying the existing natual features has been a everyday habit and has greatly helped integrating the new features into the existing features.
The team has garnered some hours on our earth moving equipment. I had been spending more time on the dozers, shaping greens, approaches and tie ins. Our super has been more focused on drainage and bunkers utilizing the back hoe and dozer. Because I have spent a considerable amount of time on site, I have been able to adapt and tweek small areas and allow them to evolve or ripen into outstanding playing features.
Our client gave us the luxury of time to operate most efficiently, which translates to minimizing our construction costs. This has been a delicate balance as the site conditions are often unpredictable, usually the weather. We have modified our operational plans when there were opportunities, and continue to work diligently when opportunity arises.
