Technology is a wonderful thing.
And that applies doubly to the golf world.
Where would we be without the metal driver, graphite shafts, milled-face putters, titanium inserts?
And technology even enhances our wardrobes – desert-dry shirts, non-glare sunglasses, UV protective clothing, waterproof shoes, secure-grip softspikes.
But nowhere has technology made more of a difference than in golf course architecture. The artists who sculpt the wonderful golf courses that we enjoy so much are now equipped with high-powered chisels.
Those chisels are put to work in the most challenging settings when an owner is bound and determined to construct a golf course in the mountains.
For years, conventional golf course architecture wisdom claims America contains far more “bad” mountain golf courses than “good” ones. That’s because, for years, the architects were forced to do battle with rocky mountain terrain using only pick and shovel … and a lot of sweat.
Courses like the William Flynn-designed Upper Cascades course in Hot Springs, Virginia – acclaimed by many as the finest mountain course in America – are a rare treasure from the era of golf course antiquity.
Fortunately, the construction of mountain golf courses improved greatly … and got a lot easier … around the end of the last century. Modern earth-moving equipment, laser leveling, enhanced aerial photography and the art of selective blasting allowed architects to tame some of the wildest terrain in North America.
Courses with 200 feet, 300 feet, 400 feet of elevation change … and more … started to appear regularly. But golfers no longer felt that golf in the mountains required the assistance of a sure-footed yak and a Sherpa guide.
A shining example of how far mountain golf course architecture has come can be found on the western edge of the Pocono Mountains. The three newest golf courses in the region – Eagle Rock, Blue Ridge Trail and Jack Frost National – all tackled some extremely severe landscapes.
The major difference between these courses and many constructed 50, 75, 90 years previously is simple. They don’t feel like you are playing up and down the sides of the mountains.
“The secret has always been clearing wide enough corridors through the trees and ribboning the fairways so that every shot is not an uphill, downhill or sidehill lie,” says Keith Devos, general manager at Jack Frost National.
Easier said than done. In most cases, clearing all of that acreage requires a lot of money – to purchase sufficient land and to do all of the tree-clearing.
Blue Ridge Trail golf course – the 27-hole facility located in the appropriately-named town of Mountain Top – is a perfect example. It began as a 9-hole golf course in the early 90’s. In the late 90’s, as more money became available, it grew to 18 holes. Just past the turn of the century, the final 9 holes were added.
The design team of Ault and Clark weaved a consistent layout … then management took over from there.
“Fortunately, Ault and Clark gave us a design that we were able to maintain with a reasonable amount of labor and funds,” explains Tony Barletta, the longtime general manager who is easing into semi-retirement.
The golf world refers to that quality in course design as “sustainability.” Too often ego-driven architects design a course that is a superintendent’s nightmare. Not at Blue Ridge Trail.
Barletta wouldn’t let that happen. His background came from the superintendent world. When combined with current superintendent Duane Schell, the end result is a one-two punch on the side of sustainability.
“Growing grass in a mountain environment is not easy,” adds Schell. “You have a short season, violent weather swings and, especially in the last two years, a lot of water. We were a bit fortunate in that we were able to adapt to the climate one step at a time over a number of years.”
At Eagle Rock, the huge resort near Hazleton, there also was a stutter step in the construction process. Arnold Palmer designed the original 9 holes … then economic difficulties caused a change in ownership. The new management team finished the remaining nine holes. Only the keenest of architectural analysts can detect the differences.
Years later, the golf course has proven to be one of the most important amenities at this multi-faceted resort.
The most important result of the construction of these three courses – beginning 25 years ago and ending 12 years ago – is the product that stands before us now.
The trio often is lauded as containing the three finest-conditioned courses in the Poconos. The superintendents are not fighting the architectural design. They are living in harmony with it.
That is the ultimate testimonial to sustainability.
By TONY LEODORA
