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Greens were rebuilt and cart paths repaved at the Northdale Golf Club, which will have a grand reopening Oct. 11 and 12.
By LOGAN D. MABE, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 27, 2002
NORTHDALE -- For months now the Northdale Golf Club has been a duffer's ghost town. After closing for some much-needed renovations, the only games played on its rolling fairways were the occasional tag football matches among neighborhood kids.
Club managers sent out the last foursomes in early May then closed the course to upgrade the greens and repave the cart paths. They hoped to open again Oct. 1, but the summer's stormy weather pushed that date back some.
"It's going pretty well. We've had a little bit of a slow down because of the weather," said general manager Robert Stanley. "Just a little under 50 inches of rain between June and now. That's certainly slowed down the progress of things and inhibited our ability to get some of the areas in shape for play."
Stanley said the club will host a grand reopening Oct. 11 and 12, featuring free greens fees for the first 200 golfers to sign up.
The biggest change golfers will notice will be the revamped greens. "We rebuilt the greens to (U. S. Golf Association) specs," Stanley said. "The old greens, over the course of time, didn't have as much drainage as a modern green would have."
Workers dug down 16 inches around each green and removed the old sod and dirt. To build the new greens, they filled the void with crushed rock for drainage and a new 12-inch layer of specialized dirt. Finally, they installed Bermuda grass plugs and let Mother Nature go to work.
In addition to the greens, the course's sand traps were updated with new drainage and sand, and the cart paths were repaved.
The $750,000 project is just the latest improvement to the course since Crown Golf Properties bought it from original owner Dave Creighton in 2000. The first renovation was a total overhaul of the clubhouse.
"It was a good summer to do it," Stanley said. "The economy is slow, but it's obviously a step of faith to do it. We feel strongly that the design of the course and the local population of golfers warrants it for the long term."
-- Logan D. Mabe can be reached at 269-5304 or at mabe@sptimes.com