Summary: The owner of new home wanted a lawn like a golf course fairway. Using golf course shapers, we added positive drainage swales and feature mounding to create a unique lawn experience.
It’s a good idea to diversify in the golf course construction business, especially when financial markets tend to fail once every decade. Diversification created opportunities for me to build sports fields, a garden maze, an island, and countless other little projects using golf course construction skills.
A few years ago, I got an inquiry from a client who said: “I’m building a big house and I’ll need a new lawn. I’ve seen your golf course work. Can you build me a golf course like lawn that has golf course forms like rolls and mounds built in?”
With a three week lapse in work due to a delayed project start, I agreed to do the work.
The client’s new home is a million dollar contemporary on a one-acre lot facing a pond. Our crew included a weathered golf course shaper, two skilled golf course laborers, and an irrigation technician.
We located the subsurface utilities and stockpiled the topsoil in a flat area near the house. We added several subtle rolls and mounds. We checked the grades to insure that all water drained from the property. The shaper suggested building a pot bunker, but I told him about the client’s small children.
We installed a wall-to-wall irrigation system. A contemporary low-cut bluegrass and rye seed mixture provides a deep green color to the turf. Native grasses and a stone retaining wall provide a suitable contrast.
The golf course features provide a visual break to the large flat, lawn area. They are random, natural forms that look like a natural creation, like something that could be seen along the edge of a green complex, twenty feet from a bunker or green. We softened the grades so a riding rotary mower will not scalp the slopes. Last time I drove by I saw him hitting wedge shots from a mound.
Village Links, Plymouth,Mass. by Ray Richard
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