Golf course excellence: Normandie Renovation and combo tee boxes

[ChipNRun]

This is related to the @kthomas thread,  

 

One thing I'm noticing in renovations, and new construction: Combo tee boxes. Sometime golf holes have tee boxes in a low, marshy area, which makes tee turf difficult to maintain. Some designers now use a combination two-hole elevated tee box. You can always separate the parallel tee areas with a shallow hedge row, or maybe a couple of small trees.

 

Here is an example from the Nicklaus-managed renovation and redesign of Normandie Golf Club in St. Louis. In original design, No. 4 wrapped around the lake in the lower left-hand corner of the central picture, and No. 11 had a parallel hazard creek that protected the driving area. But due to a century-plus or rain and settling out, the No. 11 creek silted over and the fairway is a swamp after a day of rain. Creating the lagoons will allow for improved drainage, plus provide soil to elevate the fairway. (Note: both holes will undergo significant redesign.) Tee box areas for Nos. 6 and 13 likewise will be combined and rebuilt to improve drainage.

 

 

For you architecture buffs, the course was built in 1901 by Robert Foulis. Normandie is the oldest public course west of the Mississippi that is still in its original location. The Foulis brothers, raised in St. Andrew's, Scotland and trained by Old Tom Morris, helped build dozens of courses in the USA Midwest in the early 1900s.

 

To read up on the Normandie restoration project and view design schematics, see Normandie Reimagined.

 

Edited January 4, 2023 by ChipNRun
Recast picture tableau.

[br61]

I haven't played Normandie since a tournament in 1997. The routing looks interesting with old 12 now playing as hole 5. I do remember the brutal 18th hole. I do recall few standing water on 11th fairway.

[kthomas]

I'm about to go on a road trip and can't dive into this right now, but will look into this project soon.

 

Thanks for sharing!