20
much smaller green (5,700 square feet vs.
7,400) features more subtle undulations
than previously. Sod from the old green was
lifted and used to resurface the new green
that has been shifted left by a few yards
toward the clubhouse.
There’s a new tee that adds 10-15 yards
to the length (around 520 yards). The large
fairway bunker down the left side in the tee
shot landing area is now two bunkers. Two
more bunkers guard the right side of the
fairway about 40 yards from the green, and
left and right bunkers protect the entrance
to the green.
The 15th green also underwent some
tweaking. The back, left portion of the green
was unusable for a hole location because its
severe slope. That area has been flattened to
allow for more hole locations.
Director of Golf Course Operations
Christian Sain was keeping a watchful eye
on the course during the summer knowing
that “the weather that time of year [November] is going to be the real dictator of how
the golf course plays.
“The thing we’re really focusing on right
now is making sure our Bermuda grass—our
fairways, roughs, tees, the in-play areas—is
fully grown in. The Bermuda grass, you
V I R G I N I A G O L F E R | S E P T E M B E R /O C T O B E R 2 0 16
Billy Andrade, right, congratulates Scott McCarron
after McCarron won the Principal Charity Classic
in June.
have got to get it right,” he added. “We’re
probably managing [the greens] the same
way we do every year with the weather…a
lot of caution; a lot of defensiveness because
of the heat.”
Andrade is convinced the future of the
Champions Tour is bright.
“I don’t have a crystal ball, and I don’t
know what other players’ motivations are,
but I look at this tour getting younger. The
players that are coming out now are in
better shape, they care more about their
health