Nation beefing up golf course for pros
June 8, 2007
VERNON — With just a bit more than three months until PGA Tour players arrive for the Turning Stone Resort Championship, Atunyote Golf Club is going through a minor makeover.
Some of the changes are aesthetic, but the majority of the alterations are to make sure the course plays tougher than it did when John Rollins posted a 19-under-par 269 in his victory at The B.C. Open Presented by Turning Stone last July.
The changes include:
* Lengthening the course by 160 yards. Seven holes (5, 9, 12, 13, 14, 17 and 18) have been lengthened. The course will now play at 7,490 yards.
* Adding rough around the greens.
* Narrowing fairways on eight holes (1, 4, 7, 9, 10, 14, 17, 18).
* Adding six 50-foot trees to frame the fairways and tee boxes.
* Addition of small blue spruces to line numerousfairways.
* Enhancing water features on the 11th, 13th and 14th holes.
Atunyote superintendent Matt Falvo says the changes should help protect against the longer hitters and will force a more strategic approach in attacking the course.
"The changes were made to toughen up the course for the pros," Falvo said. "When the course was designed, some PGA players could carry the ball around 285 (yards). Now many players are hitting it 300 or more. So, we tried to bring the bunkers more in play by moving certain tees back ... so it would play the way it was designed.
Falvo also believes the time of the season will make the course even longer.
"It's going to play a lot more difficult in September than in July. The ball won't carry as far because it will be cooler and they are not going to get 40 yards of roll because it will play much softer."
Widened streams along the 11th, 13th and 14th holes and the addition of 5-foot-high, and 30-foot-wide waterfalls near the greens on the 13th and 14th add to the beauty and difficulty of Atunyote. More than 2,000 sandstone rocks were brought in to accentuate and line the streams.
The course will also sport a new 11,000 square-foot practice green that should be ready in the next month. The green will feature a 16-foot-high, four-faced clock rising out of the middle.