LATEST
NEWS

Sean Dudley
/ Categories: News

Kris Spence completes restoration of historic Memphis CC course

Golf course architect Kris Spence has completed a restoration of the historic Memphis Country Club course in Tennessee, US.

Featuring 18 holes originally designed by Donald Ross, the club hired Spence to lead a restoration project back in 2010.

The architect completed work to the course’s tees and bunkers in 2012, before returning to the club earlier this year to restore the Ross greens to their original fill pad dimensions.

Ross's work at Memphis CC was completed back in 1915, making the project one of the architect’s earliest. 

Spence’s recent work saw the architect use detailed 1930 aerials and a full set of ground level photographs of each green site.

More than 35 per cent of lost green space has been reintroduced, helping to enhance the strategic interest Ross originally envisaged for the course.

The greens were rebuilt with amended rootzone and drainage, and upgrades were also made to the irrigation control system.

Significant tree removal has also taken place to help open up the long vistas across the property and to encourage recovery play from understory areas. 

All green sites have been planted to Tifeagle Ultradwarf, and around 15 acres of rough area is also being converted to a lower maintenance fescue turf.

A full reopening of the Memphis CC course is expected to take place in spring 2017.

Previous Article Robert McNeil reworks bunkering at two courses on Cape Cod
Next Article Merry Christmas from all of us at Golf Course Architecture!
Print
7237 Rate this article:
No rating
Slideshow HTML
  • Nemu2

    The approach to the seventeenth green

  • Nemu2

    An aerial shot of the third green at the Memphis Country Club course

  • Nemu2

    The volcano green on the fourth hole

  • Nemu2

    The green on the ninth hole

Sean Dudley

Sean DudleySean Dudley

Other posts by Sean Dudley
Contact author

Contact author

x
The October 2024 issue of Golf Course Architecture is out now!
Magazine, News | Thu 17 Oct, 2024

The October 2024 issue of Golf Course Architecture is out now!

The Keep at McLemore, a Bill Bergin-Rees Jones mountaintop design in northwest Georgia, features on the cover

Fall 2024 issue of ASGCA’s By Design magazine is out now
Magazine, News | Tue 10 Sep, 2024

Fall 2024 issue of ASGCA’s By Design magazine is out now

Cover story focuses on how today’s architects have been inspired by the links courses of Britain and Ireland

FEATURE
ARTICLES

Cedar Rapids: Blown away
Vaughn Halyard
On site | Adam Lawrence

Cedar Rapids: Blown away

After an acclaimed 2015 restoration by Ron Prichard, Iowa club thought it was set fair for the future. But Mother Nature had other ideas, says Adam Lawrence

North Ranch: Time for transformation
North Ranch CC
Report | Richard Humphreys

North Ranch: Time for transformation

Fifty years after it was originally laid out, the Ted Robinson layout has been re-envisioned by Jackson-Kahn Design and rebuilt by Landscapes Unlimited

Team building
Turfgrass
Interview | Richard Humphreys

Team building

Turfgrass has launched its US arm with the appointment of John Lawrence, Adam Moeller and Brad Owen. Richard Humphreys speaks with them, Turfgrass founder John Clarkin and director of agronomy Julian Mooney to find out more

Birdie Act: An end to templates?
Kevin Murray
Feature | Adam Lawrence

Birdie Act: An end to templates?

Legislation before the US Congress would extend the copyright protection that currently exists for buildings architecture to golf course design. But would that preclude the construction of classic hole designs, asks Adam Lawrence?

The art of project management
Leeds Golf Design
Opinion | Giulia Ferroni

The art of project management

Giulia Ferroni of Leeds Golf Design spells out the intricacies of executing a masterplan and the skills required from a golf course architect

Brian Curley: Life of Brian
Brian Curley
Interview | Adam Lawrence

Brian Curley: Life of Brian

The designer has surely clocked up more air miles than anyone else in the business. Adam Lawrence caught up with him in between flights to discuss his career and his new venture with Jim Wagner

Spey Bay: Old and new
CDP
On site | Adam Lawrence

Spey Bay: Old and new

Scottish club is a very old-fashioned links with very modern ownership, an interesting mix, says Adam Lawrence

The Club at Golden Valley: Golden and modern
Peter Wong
Report | Richard Humphreys

The Club at Golden Valley: Golden and modern

Kevin Norby has completed a centennial project at Minnesota course, to modernise infrastructure and restore much of AW Tillinghast’s design philosophy

The Club at Quail Ridge: Turning up the contrast
Fry/Straka
Report | Richard Humphreys

The Club at Quail Ridge: Turning up the contrast

Fry/Straka and NMP Golf Construction embark on a huge rebuild of the North course, five years after the South was renovated

Minchinhampton GC: Striving for sustainability
Minchinhampton Golf Club
| Matthew Mears

Minchinhampton GC: Striving for sustainability

Matthew Mears discusses the benefits a ClearWater washpad recycling system has realised for the Cotswolds club

Native Links: A new era of native-owned courses
Cal Nez Designs
Good Read | Mark Wagner

Native Links: A new era of native-owned courses

Mark Wagner discusses the topic of his new book: the relationship and history between Native Americans and golf

Gopher Watch Competition – October 2024
Gopher Watch, News | Mon 21 Oct, 2024

Gopher Watch Competition – October 2024

Which course has Sandy the gopher visited this month?

MOST
POPULAR

FEATURED
BUSINESSES