The Pellucid Perspective - February 2015 - (Page 14)

GOLF COURSE DESIGN No time to play? Trilogy at Ocala Preserve offers a unique solution By Jim Dunlap I f, as countless surveys tell us, a shortage of time is the primary The public will likely have some degree of access to the reason why people are playing less golf or not playing at all, course until the community's roughly 1,500 home sites are built the developers of the Trilogy at Ocala Preserve community out and sold and the club becomes members-only. Members in Ocala, Fla. are providing a unique solution to the problem. will pay an annual fee for golf course use, along with a $7 daily Homebuilder Shea Homes has commissioned golf course ar- use fee. The fee for guests accompanied by a member will be chitects Tripp Davis and Tom Lehman to take 48 acres of avail- $15, with members of the public paying an average of $35 ($45 able land and create what are essentially 12 different golfing in peak season). The course does not offer golf cars and has no experiences to accommodate virtually every time block, age and cart paths; what is does offer is a fleet of the wheel-mounted skill level imaginable. and motorized Golf Skate Caddies. What veteran course designer Davis refers to as "the bones "We had 48 acres and they wanted us to come up with of the golf course" is an 18-hole, par-54 layout consisting of 18 something different and unique," Davis said, "and we were able par-3 holes of varying lengths which Davis says have differing to do that for less than a third of the cost of a full-size course. shot values and are definitely not of the pitch and putt variety. Our intentions were to design in some options that wouldn't Onto that framework, he and Chamtake too long to play and some others pions Tour standout Lehman have that were just for people to have fun, tacked a number of par-4's and even a as well as some that would challenge par-5 hole, with the longer holes utilizbetter players." ing their own tees and parallel fairways As a hub of the resort-style comto the par-3 holes, or in the case of the munity, the uniquely configured course par-5, running from the 9th tee to the will provide not only recreational but 11th green. In some cases, a greenside enhanced social benefits to resident bunker on the par-54 layout will serve members, according to Keilholtz, a as a fairway bunker for one of the longer plus that more and more private clubs, holes nearby. It's almost a Rubik's Cube golf course communities and even muexperience to figure out the 12 possible nicipalities are pursuing these days. combinations of play options, but it can "We think it will provide more of a be done, and almost certainly will. social, happy hour culture in addition to With players sharing bunkers and the golf," Keilholtz said. "We're hoping occasionally fairways, it may sound a that a bunch of people will meet there bit hazardous, but Davis, Lehman, the to play a few holes of golf in the late afTrilogy at Ocala Preserve sales team ternoon and then that will give them an and golf club manager BlueStar Resort excuse to congregate and kind of kick & Golf have thought of that. While off happy hour at the club. Because of rates and schedules have not been finalthe design, we're also expecting much ized, the plan will probably evolve into Golf routing plan at Trilogy Ocala Preserve more gender balance at the course, with some type of split scheduling, with the more women taking advantage of the 18-hole par-3 option offered in the mornings and the 6-hole shorter options and a more fun-oriented atmosphere." routing with 4 par-4's, 1 par-5 and 1 par-3 offered in the afterThe Shea Homes development team is well aware that thinknoon. Players will also be able to play shorter iterations of either ing outside the box runs some risk of failure, but feels that the option, depending upon availability. allure of something new and different will be a plus and a dif"The tee sheet configuration will be a bit of a challenge," ad- ferentiating factor in the highly competitive Florida golf course mitted BlueStar's director of marketing and sales, Ben Keilholtz. community market. As Keilholtz noted, "We'll either prove to "We're thinking that Sunday-Thursday non-holiday, it may be be pioneers who will look really sharp and on the leading edge, residents only, with designed windows to weave people in to the or we'll be all wrong, but we think we've addressed the time isvarious routings. Then on holidays and Friday-Saturday, we may sue. Instead of taking 20 minutes less (as many full-size courses open it to outside public play on the 18-hole, par-54 configura- are trying to accomplish with pace-of-play initiatives), our playtion, but we're far from digging in on that. We'll see how the ers can take two hours less if they like." n membership responds, and adjust accordingly." It could well be an idea whose time has come. 14 The Pellucid PersPecTive February 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Pellucid Perspective - February 2015

TOC
Oro Valley has ‘golden’ opportunity with El Conquistador purchase
Whither golf equipment in 2015: Up, down or sideways?
Notes from 35,000 feet
USGA annual meeting: Nothing earth-shattering
Rival FootGolf groups state their cases
Golf and public policy find common ground
No time to play? Trilogy at Ocala Preserve offers a unique solution
January golf weather impact: Off to a good start relative to ’14
Like oil prices, Houston market hard to figure
Tough week for sports legends

The Pellucid Perspective - February 2015