River Oaks Country Club in Houston, a 1923 design by ASGCA Founding Member Donald Ross, is being renovated by Tom Fazio, ASGCA and Logan Fazio, reports “Golf Course Architecture.” River Oaks is the last reamining Ross-designed course in Texas.
“GCA” reports:
“The project team started grassing the course with Celebration Bermudagrass in January 2015 and will continue to plant all surfaces on the course, including fairways, tees and roughs, until June 2015.
“Other elements of the renovation include the building of three new golf holes, the expansion of the club’s driving range, and the development of a comprehensive short game area.
“Old grass is being removed, with every playing being regrassed and elements of the course layout being reshaped. New cart paths, a new golf shop, and a computerised irrigation system are also being put in place.
“Renovation work began back in August 2014 on the course’s back nine, with the focus shifting to the front nine in December 2014.
“’We determined that we wanted Celebration early on,’ said Morris Johnson, director of Golf Course Operations at River Oaks Country Club. ‘We had it on our driving range and teaching facility tee for three years. We had success with it. It’s a tighter grass with better cold tolerance than other bermudagrasses that we tried.’
“The course’s greens surfaces will be grassed with MiniVerde bermudagrass.”