Peridia golf course receives makeover

EAST COUNTY — As Robert Brown zipped around the Peridia Golf and Country Club’s 18-hole golf course in his golf cart last week, he observed more than the golfers who eyed the distance to their next hole.

The general manager’s eyes combed over the green on which the golfers stood.

His view of discolored and inconsistent turf, which others may not notice, will soon be rectified.

The golf course, which hosts more than 40,000 rounds of play each year, will have its first makeover in 12 years. The $300,000 renovation project will run from May to September, with the full course closure effective May 5.

“We want to maintain the course at a higher level (aesthetically) to please a range of golfers,” Brown said.

The clubhouse and the community’s restaurant will remain open for dining and other activities.

The course opened in 1986, and has only received renovations once, in 2002, prior to this year.

Brown has made arrangements with seven other courses in the area to accommodate patrons with discounted rates during the construction period.

Although the course generates dollars for the community through golf fees, the more than four-month closure won’t have much of an effect on revenue, Brown said. The project’s summer timetable will prove the best time of year for construction because many Peridia residents will have returned to their out-of-state homes.

Nearly a decade of savings from quarterly community dues from Peridia residents will fund the project.

Renovations start April 28 with the replacement of the 27-year-old pump house, which waters the grass and serves as the course’s irrigation system.

Once the course closes next month, maintenance crews will start resurfacing, or refurbishing, the greens — a task completed on an as-needed basis, Brown said.

Currently, the grass on the fairway, the green and the collar — a ring of grass around the putting green that sits in between the height of the green and fairway grasses — have been encroaching on each other.

The overlap can cause inaccurate results, due to the way the ball rolls when it lands.

In June, maintenance crews will treat any stubborn overlapping grass blades with chemicals and let the grass rest under a tarp until the end of the month, at which time new grass will be planted.

The new grass will grow from July to September. Playing on it before it’s ready will cause damage to the course and cause delays, Brown said.

Brown also said the tee boxes, which golfers use to take the first shot on each hole, will be replaced and leveled by filling the new boxes with fresh sand.

Brown said he began notifying Peridia residents of the closure a few months ago in community newsletters and website postings.

The renovation benefits the golfers, he said, and isn’t meant as an inconvenience.

“This project will do two things,” Brown said. “It will increase play revenue and will decrease the players’ dissatisfaction with the greens.”

For more information on courses offering discounted rates for Peridia golfers, visit peridiagcc.net or call 758-2582.

BY THE NUMBERS
1 — The number of times the golf course has been renovated

18 — The number of holes on the golf course

1986 — The year Peridia Golf and Country Club opened

2002 — The year of the golf course’s last renovation

40,000 — The number of rounds played at the golf course per year

Contact Amanda Sebastiano at [email protected].