43 INWOOD COUNTRY CLUB and majestic personality – classic, charming, genuine and natural would be additional descriptors. These guiding principles translated into the following concrete action points: remove trees around tees and greens, remove obstruction to views along the perimeter, re-establish fairway lines and green sizes, replace asphalt cart paths with a sandy material, reshape teeing areas, embrace the light green and tan colours rather than the artificial dark green and reorient towards a more natural look and firmer playing conditions. Once a vision and plan were established, the next step was to achieve buy-in at board level and from the membership. This process always takes time, as it is usually necessary for the interested parties to see the results in order to fully understand the magnitude and direction of the change, and then some additional time to embrace it. This process for transforming the golf course has taken place over the past 20 years under the guidance of our consulting architect, Brian Slawnik of Renaissance Golf Design. There have been benefits from taking our time in that we have been able to tease out subtleties that might have been missed if we had proceeded at a faster pace. Details matter; it takes time to get them right. Today, the work continues with Tim Falvey as golf course superintendent. The membership is inspired by what we have achieved to date and in sync with the plans for the future. They are thrilled with what they get to experience day in and day out. The general feeling now is: “I can’t wait to play that again.” Daniel Friedman is the greens chairman of Inwood Country Club. Photo: Evan Schiller The club has sought to emphasise the links-like nature of the original design, which is captured in an aerial photo from 1926 Photo: Inwood Country Club
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzQ1NTk=