Dunedin Golf Club near Tampa, Florida, has reopened its Donald Ross course following a restoration by golf architect Kris Spence and Stantec, an engineering and architecture firm.
The course first opened in 1927 and was home to the PGA of America from 1945 to 1962.
Renovation work began in March 2024 with the main aim of restoring the course to its original intent but with modifications to accommodate for advances in club and ball technology.
“I visited Dunedin in the spring of 2021,” wrote Spence, in a post on Golf Club Atlas. “The course has been neutered by the removal of 75 original bunkers and a couple attempts to resurface the greens by adding rootzone, etc, meant the greens were about 50 to 60 per cent of their original size. However, the original green surfaces and fill pads were intact, buried under between 12 and 18 inches of added material. Excessive tree planting had also choked down the width and created major issues with shade throughout. I felt the place was tired and worn out, getting about 60,000 rounds a year.”
The upper layers were carefully removed from the greens in order to expose the original surfaces. “We have used historic-like construction methods – such as mini excavators and skid loaders – to reconstruct the original green shapes and slopes to modern modified USGA green standards,” said Lorrie Viola, senior planner at Stantec. “The greens have been restored, and lost pin placements have been reclaimed, which enhances the approach strategy and interest of the holes.”
The recaptured lost hole locations were in the corners and along the sides of greens. Spence and Stantec have also restored Ross features like swales, spines, plateaus, terraces, humps and roll offs. Greens now feature TifEagle ultradwarf bermuda.
The fairways were tilled, levelled and replanted with TifTuf bermuda, which requires 35 per cent less water from the new irrigation system.
In order to restore the original Ross design, any new bunkers that had been added throughout the years were removed. “We renovated 57 greenside bunkers and 24 fairway bunkers, as well as grading out 32 fairway bunker forms, which are where Ross bunkers were in locations that are no longer strategic to play due to the increase in length of players’ shots,” said Viola. “The restored bunkers now reflect those of the original Ross design, directing the preferred line of play and defining the target area, separating holes for protection and adding variety to the players strategy.”
New back tees have been added to lengthen the course, which is still just under 7,000 yards, while new forward tees have been adjusted.
The renovation has also included the removal and relocation of many trees, with the key drivers being to open up playing corridors and sightlines, improve turf health and highlight specimen trees.
Work on the club’s practice facilities included rotating the practice fairway away from the eighteenth and extending onto land occupied by the unused par-three course.
“The restoration provides for a truly enjoyable round of historically designed golf in a public setting, while allowing the maintenance team to spend their effort on traditional golf maintenance tasks rather than fighting with sand and weeds,” said Viola.