Lakewood Ranch's Legacy gives green light for improvements

More than anything, Legacy Golf Club's Kevin Paschall and fellow owner Jon Whittemore are golfers.

So when they play rounds at their Arnold Palmer-designed course in Lakewood Ranch, they know the problem areas.

Since Nov. 4, 2015, when they closed on a $3.4 million deal to buy the troubled course, they have knocked off those problem areas one by one.

"We have brought the fairways back," Paschall said proudly. "We have eradicated the weeds."

But after more than two years of work, they haven't been able to solve the problems on the greens. They've tried many potential solutions, and none worked.

"We saw the contamination of the greens," Paschall said. "They were just too contaminated to bring back."

The bottom line was the golfing experience at Legacy was hindered because the greens weren't at the level of the rest of the course.

On Monday, Legacy Golf Club closed its golf course to the public — the driving range will remain open — to completely redo 22 greens (the 18 on the course and another four practice greens). The green areas will be scraped four inches deep and the remaining ground will be treated to kill anything that might contaminate the future greens. The greens will be rebuilt with TifEagle Bermuda grass.

"It's the best grass you can put on a green," Paschall said. "This should be a resort style golf course."

The course's reopening is set for Oct. 1.

Besides the surface, many of the greens will be expanded near their original design. Paschall said the greens have shrunk over the past 25 years to make it cheaper to maintain. He said 14 green-side bunkers also will be renovated to bring them back to their original design. Three bunkers have been eliminated and the bunker along the No. 13 green will be reduced in size.

Recreational golfers were having trouble at No. 13 with water to the left and sand to the right and no place to bail out. Reducing the size of the bunker will give golfers the chance of bailing out to right and still being in the grass.

Six bridges around the course also will be resurfaced. "The weather has worn them out," Paschall said.

The entire project will be an estimated $1.2 million.

"Once we bring the greens into this decade, and it's my opinion, but we will have the best course in the area by far," Paschall said.

Paschall isn't worried about a narrow window for such a large project. He said most courses that plant TifEagle Bermuda greens begin mowing their seven to eight weeks after planting. In this case, Paschall said the greens originally were built to USGA specifications so the proper drainage is in place.

Besides the improvements already mentioned, Paschall said some minor interior upgrades to the clubhouse also will be added, such as trim.