By Jeff Barr
Using a throwback design technique, Orangeburg Country Club completed a renovation project that kept costs in check and pushed up business
A tee-to-green restoration at Orangeburg Country Club, completed on Halloween Day 2009, did more than push up the club’s rounds played numbers by 30 percent. It also pushed up the greens on the course—literally.
Located in Orangeburg, South Carolina, the Ellis Maples design opened in 1961, and little renovation work had been done on the private club’s putting surfaces since. The old greens were still adequate, but they had shrunk over time and didn’t fit with the vision the club’s new owner, Frank Tourville, had for the facility.
To help breathe new life into the tired design, Tourville called in North Carolina-based architect Richard Mandell to sketch plans for a renovation. Mandell studied an aerial photograph from 1963, and from that created a plan that retained Maples’ original design intent while incorporating modern elements that enhance playability and maintenance.
Somewhat surprisingly, Mandell didn’t propose constructing USGA-spec greens, which are considerably more expensive and require truckloads of sand or filler; instead, he followed Maples’ lead and bulldozed native soil to shape the surfaces. In the process, Mandell increased their size from 81,775 square feet to the original total of 122,881.
“We wanted to stay as close to the original design as possible, and it only made sense to use the push-up greens,” says Dan Cook, manager of OCC. “That’s the way Ellis Maples did it, and it helped us maintain the integrity of the look of the course when it opened 49 years ago.”
Use of the throwback technique also created some very real cost savings. Tourville, who acquired the course in May 2009, won’t disclose numbers, but OCC staffers admit that cost-effectiveness was an essential aspect of the mission to renovate. In addition to improving the playability of the course, management was looking to enhance its infrastructure, including replacement of the original irrigation system.
“We now have a radio-controlled system, and when you’re talking about switching from a 49-year-old irrigation system to what we have now, it’s quite a difference,” Cook says. “It allows us to change the watering patterns instantly, gives us better coverage, and keeps the golf course looking the way we want it to look.”
Although the greens and irrigation system were a central focus of the renovation, management took the opportunity to reconfigure tee boxes, remove numerous trees that had changed the course’s personality and were impacting grass growth in some areas, and rework bunkers with ragged edges to give the course a look not seen in decades. The bunkers proved to be a challenge, and they ultimately had to be reworked for a second time after the renovation was complete, when management discovered they were too deep for players to walk in and out of comfortably. According to Cook, the average age of members at OCC is approximately 50 years old, and it was “physically difficult for our players, so we lowered the edges.”
To complement the on-course improvements, OCC purchased a new fleet of golf cars and overhauled its 25,000-square-foot clubhouse. The facility now exudes the feel of a classic Charleston home, and is punctuated by a marble floor at the entrance that features the OCC logo and a spiral staircase that spills from a patio within viewing distance of the No. 18 green.
“We never closed the clubhouse, and it was a complete gutting of the building,” says David Lackey, head professional at OCC. “There were some ‘pardon our dust’ signs, but members didn’t complain. They appreciated the work that was being done.”
That appreciation is now paying dividends. The collective body of work at OCC is drawing the attention that’s coveted by operators, and has led to the addition of 50 new members to the roster, bringing the total to 458. Thanks to a partnership with Golf Santee and Santee Cooper Golf that permits outside play from traveling golfers on packages, OCC has even caught the eye of tourists from Canada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and beyond.
“We’re getting great feedback from golfers in the area, and the folks who come down from up north really love the course,” Cook says. “Those who saw it a year ago say there’s no comparison and, of course, we agree.”
Jeff Barr is a Michigan-based freelance writer and author of “1001 Golf Holes You Must Play Before You Die.”