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"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
weekly online golf column
by
Chris Dortch
August 26, 2003
Construction at Hampton Creek continues to move along despite
all the rainfall this summer. That’s good news for Chattanooga
golfers. There can never be too many good golf courses around, and
when Jay Morrish and Associates get finished with Hampton Creek,
it’s going to be fun to play.
Hampton Creek began as a nine-hole "executive course," with
five par-3 holes. Carter Morrish, handling the work for his
father’s company, is converting the course into a par 72 that will
incorporate some existing holes, borrow from others and feature
completely new holes.
"We’re excited," said Hampton Creek general manager Rich
Balthrop. "The unusually heavy rains this summer have slowed us
down a little bit, but we’re still on track to open by next
October [2004]."
Greens and bunkers have already been shaped on the new nine,
and Morrish plans to reconfigure some current holes. Holes No. 8
and 9, for example, both fairly short par-3s, will be combined and
converted into a short par-4 that longer hitters can attempt to
drive. "It’s going to be a great little hole," Balthrop said.
Hampton Creek’s opening holes will also be affected by the
change. No. 1, also a par-3, will become No. 9 and stretched to
195 yards from the back tees. No. 2, yet another par-3, becomes
part of the back nine. The new No. 1 will be a 570-yard par 5.
Morrish has also designed some burly par-4 holes, which
Balthrop thinks will complement Hampton Creek’s existing par-4s.
All three are challenging because they’re tight driving holes, but
all are on the short side.
Hampton Creek, currently open to the public, will become
private when its membership breaks into the 150 range. Just last
month, 30 new members signed on, as excitement about Morrish’s
work continues to build. Call 238-6812 for details on the course’s
progress and membership packages.
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The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay will officially reopen on Sept.
12. The course has been closed since early July while undergoing a
significant facelift. The most important part of the project is
the resurfacing of the greens. Bear Trace administrators made a
decision several months ago to convert the greens from bent grass
to Champions bermuda. Bermuda thrives in the hot, steamy weather
that played havoc with Bear Trace’s old greens.
"Things are going great," said Ron Bargatze, who runs
Tennessee’s five Bear Trace courses. "Our putting green is
basically ready to go. The other greens are very close. They’ve
made amazing progress in the last week or 10 days. I’ve certainly
played on worse greens in my life than they are right now."
But that isn’t good enough.
"We can’t afford to tell people we’re going to fix things and
not have them totally fixed," Bargatze said. "We’re not going to
mess with the public. We could probably open this weekend, but we
want the greens to be perfect."
The course opens with an outing for Hunter Middle School, but
Bear Trace is already accepting tee times for the afternoon of
the 12th. By all accounts, the course will be as close
to perfect as the day it first opened. I was a part of the first
foursome to play Harrison Bay, and I can still remember those
pristine greens. Unfortunately, bent grass couldn’t hack the
particular conditions at Bear Trace. Bermuda should work just
fine, if the success Valleybrook has had after switching from bent
is any indication.
While the course has been shut down, other work has been
completed.
Every bunker on the course has been rebuilt, 122 new irrigation
heads and 9,000 feet of drain line were installed and more than
275 dead trees killed because of pine beetles were removed.
"The course looks great," Bargatze said. "The fairways and tees
are just perfect. The green surrounds and bunkers are perfect. And
pretty soon, the greens are going to be perfect.
"It’s almost like we’re introducing a new course."
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