Palo Alto, United States: Two renovations by Robert Trent Jones II Golf Architects (RTJ II) have been named to ‘Best of the Year’ lists by prominent magazines.
Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach, originally built by Robert Trent Jones Jr in 1986, is named 2014 ‘Best Semi-Private Renovation’ by GOLF in its January edition, which followed an honour for ‘Best Newly Remodelled Course’ by Golf Digest in November.
Meanwhile, SentryWorld Golf Club in Wisconsin, an RTJ II original from 1989, also earned an honour for best Newly Remodelled Courses by Golf Digest.
RTJ II is an Executive Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.
Poppy Hills, owned and operated by the Northern California Golf Association, began its extensive, 13-month renovation in March 2013, reopening for public play on April 4, 2014. Each hole was returned to its natural elevation along the forest floor, dog-legs and contours were softened, and all 18 greens were redesigned.
Jones introduced native waste areas that help reduce irrigated turf by nearly 25 per cent. Drainage and irrigation were updated, and the entire course was sand capped, further promoting firm and fast conditions year-round.
Co-host of AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am from 1991 to 2009, Poppy Hills returned to tour competition only five months after reopening, hosting the 2014 Nature Valley First Tee Open, a Champions Tour event.
SentryWorld, which blazed the trail as Wisconsin’s first destination golf course, was renovated in 2013 by the RTJ II team. Upgrades, improvements, and changes to the 200-acre course included everything from its layout, greens, turf grasses and bunkers, to its irrigation system and water features.
Regarded as the premier parkland golf course in the state, SentryWorld is wall-to-wall turf, except for number 16, its famous ‘flower hole’.
These are among the latest honours for RTJ II courses, which have appeared on all of the most respected ‘best of the best’ rankings for the past five decades.