Palm Beach Gardens Municipal Golf Course will reopen for play on 9 December following a six-month renovation project.

The project has been jointly led by Tad Burnett and Matt Dusenberry, both former senior designers at Greg Norman’s firm.

New greens and fairways have been put in place at the course in the city of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. 

Stahlman-England was contracted to carry out the construction and design of the new irrigation system, and Quality Grassing was hired as the golf course contractor. The contractors started work on 15 June and both reached substantial completion on 15 September. Greens complexes were all grassed and completed by 15 July.

Matt Dusenberry spoke to GCA regarding the project. “This was a very fast timetable for construction, considering the extensive scope of work. As a result, either Tad or myself were on-site four or five days a week. We felt this was the only way to meet the schedule and deliver the design concept in 90 days. Dusenberry Design emphasises project delivery and field work during design development and construction, and we relied heavily on field sketches and field design since the construction timetable was so quick.”

TifEagle bermudagrass has been planted on the greens, and the fairways and tees have been replanted with Celebration bermudagrass. New native trees and shrubs have also been introduced.

Significant work has also been carried out to improve drainage on the course, which has historically been problematic due to the heavy summer rains. “We improved drainage and year-round playability in ‘down the middle’ and ‘in-play’ areas,” explained Dusenberry. “The golf course has traditionally been prone to regular flooding in the summer months and this was an operations issue that led to few rounds and a diminished course reputation. Part of our direction from the client was to improve drainage where possible for year round play, even during the very wet summer months.”

Originally designed by Roy Case and opened in 1992, Palm Beach Gardens Muni is a par-72, eighteen-hole course. Over US$2 million has been invested in the renovation work.