Glenmoor Country Club members voted in December to fund the renovation of the 35-year-old golf course in the Cherry Hills Village. (Courtesy of Krystal Paramo/Glenmoor Country Club)
After 35 years, Glenmoor Country Club is going back to its grassroots.
Members of the country club in Cherry Hills Village voted in December to fund an $8 million renovation to replenish the soil under its greens and tee boxes and to install a better irrigation system to help nourish the fairways.
Head professional C.J. Parry said distributing water resources to help the soil has been the biggest problem.
“If you played this golf course this summer, you’d be saying, ‘Why are you rebuilding these greens?’” Parry said. “Well, because it’s a 35-year-old product, and the new technology is better. The golf course was in fabulous shape this year, and it’ll be even better when it comes out of this.”
The course is expected close Aug. 1 and will reopen in June 2023, Parry said.
Of the 73 percent of members who voted on a special assessment to fund the improvements, 75 percent were in favor, according to an email sent to members obtained by BusinessDen. The assessment is a one-time payment of $5,000 for members 69 and younger, $3,750 for members aged 70 to 74, and $2,000 for members 75 and older.
Parry said building a green to the standards of the U.S. Golf Association means, eventually, it will wear out.
“Just like you have to replace the roof on a house, you’ve got to take care of it,” he said.
According to the email to members, high levels of sodium concentrations in the top inch of a soil sample from hole No. 12 showed turf roots have difficulty absorbing water, causing the plants to decay even when there is no drought.
Glenmoor recently signed a new agreement with Denver Water to install a tap to dilute certain concentrates from pond water, which can be affected by runoff from the Denver Tech Center, Parry said.
The layout of the nearly 6,800-yard, par 71 golf course will not change, but there may be some differences in the greens once the project is finished, Parry said. The tees and greens are the major focus, he said, but they are also looking to rebuild 89 bunkers.
Love Golf Design, a company owned by PGA Championship winner and World Golf Hall of Fame inductee Davis Love III, was hired for the project. Love himself pushed members to vote “yes” on the course improvements in an 11-second YouTube video posted in December.
“With the irrigation system and the water improvements, we are expecting to continue and improve on first-class turf conditions and playability,” Parry said. “The whole idea is aeration, soil amendments and new irrigation will help dissipate that challenge.”
If Glenmoor members did not vote to make the improvements, Parry said, there would be a strain on the golf course’s turf, particularly during severe droughts.
“The golf course would be fine and keep thriving the way it was, it’s just going to be a much better product by having it rebuilt,” Parry said. “The new green concept is called a ‘California Green,’ which has a better percolation and better drainage rate through the soils.”
Sometimes golf courses phase their projects by renovating either the front nine or the back nine one at a time to allow reduced rounds to continue, but Parry said it was estimated doing the project that way would cost about 20 percent more.
“Our membership is very excited because golf has had such a resurgence during the pandemic,” Parry said.
Glenmoor Country Club members voted in December to fund the renovation of the 35-year-old golf course in the Cherry Hills Village. (Courtesy of Krystal Paramo/Glenmoor Country Club)
After 35 years, Glenmoor Country Club is going back to its grassroots.
Members of the country club in Cherry Hills Village voted in December to fund an $8 million renovation to replenish the soil under its greens and tee boxes and to install a better irrigation system to help nourish the fairways.
Head professional C.J. Parry said distributing water resources to help the soil has been the biggest problem.
“If you played this golf course this summer, you’d be saying, ‘Why are you rebuilding these greens?’” Parry said. “Well, because it’s a 35-year-old product, and the new technology is better. The golf course was in fabulous shape this year, and it’ll be even better when it comes out of this.”
The course is expected close Aug. 1 and will reopen in June 2023, Parry said.
Of the 73 percent of members who voted on a special assessment to fund the improvements, 75 percent were in favor, according to an email sent to members obtained by BusinessDen. The assessment is a one-time payment of $5,000 for members 69 and younger, $3,750 for members aged 70 to 74, and $2,000 for members 75 and older.
Parry said building a green to the standards of the U.S. Golf Association means, eventually, it will wear out.
“Just like you have to replace the roof on a house, you’ve got to take care of it,” he said.
According to the email to members, high levels of sodium concentrations in the top inch of a soil sample from hole No. 12 showed turf roots have difficulty absorbing water, causing the plants to decay even when there is no drought.
Glenmoor recently signed a new agreement with Denver Water to install a tap to dilute certain concentrates from pond water, which can be affected by runoff from the Denver Tech Center, Parry said.
The layout of the nearly 6,800-yard, par 71 golf course will not change, but there may be some differences in the greens once the project is finished, Parry said. The tees and greens are the major focus, he said, but they are also looking to rebuild 89 bunkers.
Love Golf Design, a company owned by PGA Championship winner and World Golf Hall of Fame inductee Davis Love III, was hired for the project. Love himself pushed members to vote “yes” on the course improvements in an 11-second YouTube video posted in December.
“With the irrigation system and the water improvements, we are expecting to continue and improve on first-class turf conditions and playability,” Parry said. “The whole idea is aeration, soil amendments and new irrigation will help dissipate that challenge.”
If Glenmoor members did not vote to make the improvements, Parry said, there would be a strain on the golf course’s turf, particularly during severe droughts.
“The golf course would be fine and keep thriving the way it was, it’s just going to be a much better product by having it rebuilt,” Parry said. “The new green concept is called a ‘California Green,’ which has a better percolation and better drainage rate through the soils.”
Sometimes golf courses phase their projects by renovating either the front nine or the back nine one at a time to allow reduced rounds to continue, but Parry said it was estimated doing the project that way would cost about 20 percent more.
“Our membership is very excited because golf has had such a resurgence during the pandemic,” Parry said.
