Landscape Architect Articles

Celebrity Course Makeover07-05-11 | News

Celebrity Course Makeover

Pinnacle Design Co., Golf Course Landscape Architects, Palm Desert, Calif., Ken Alperstein, President ?EUR??,,????'?????< Stephen Kelly, Editor

The Indian Wells Resort, near Palm Springs, Calif., offers two 18-hole municipal courses. On the 16th green of the Celebrity Course, Pinnacle Design Co., Golf Course Landscape Architects (PDC) worked closely with Creekside Construction to set the waterfall rocks to cascade water in different thicknesses and directions. The waterfalls and streams pump between 2,000 to 3,000 gpm. The water features for the five new holes are interconnected. Vertical turbine pumps are installed on the irrigation pump skid behind a big landform a few hundred feet from the lowest lake. The pumps sit on a deep wet-well, with a large equalizer pipe running between the lakes and wet well. Water is pumped from the lowest lakes to the highest waterfall. Gravity flows the water to the lakes and streams, pushing the dirty water down to the lowest lake. That water is used nightly to irrigate, then fresh water added to the lake to recoup the water loss.

In 2005, the city of Indian Wells, Calif., just minutes from Palm Springs, committed to do a major renovation/enhancement to their 36-hole municipal golf course. The course was originally built in 1986 and designed by Ted Robinson. The city?EUR??,,????'?????<

BEFORE:
The Celebrity course prior to renovation shows dormant Bermudagrass that has been overseeded. The lakes and waterfalls were old technology construction: wood bulkhead walls, near vertical-edged concrete shorelines and waterfalls carved from grey concrete all presented a man-made look.

The city hired Nickalus Design to create the master plan. City officials felt the master plan was on the right track, but did not want to limit themselves to just one option. They issued a request for other design teams to submit their r????????(C)sum????????(C)s and compete for the project. The city narrowed the long list of teams to five.

The team of Clive Clark and Pinnacle Design Co. (PDC) was chosen based on their long list of award winning projects throughout the Coachella Valley (where Indian Wells Golf Resort is located), and their high-profile projects across the U.S. and in Dubai, China, Korea and Mexico.

The design challenge was to relocate five golf holes to a piece of flat, undeveloped land with no vegetation bordered by a fire station, highway and parking lot, while weaving 13 new holes through the existing course and retaining many of the majestic trees. Desert wildflowers, brittlebush and native grasses look over the meandering stream that connects the lake by the 14th green with the lake by the tees at #15. The stream was strategically located between the first and second landing area. The pond guards the right-hand side of the second landing area all the way to the green.

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At #16, a large waterfall guards the right-hand side of the green, helping abate the noise of the major highway bordering the course. Aeration disks throughout the lakes battle nitrogen levels, adding oxygen and keeping the cooler water from getting trapped by the warmer surface water. Desert wildflowers and dwarf pampas grass border the lake. Trailing acacia, Bougainvillea ?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Clive Clark began rerouting and designing the Celebrity Course, while John Fought started his master plans for the Players Course, which would be built the following year. Clive did a masterful job redesigning the course, creating new golf holes and working around most of the trees. Clive proposed five new golf holes in the city field. It was then up to PDC?EUR??,,????'?????<

A waterfall, stream and pond bisect the 18th hole, providing what appears to be an island green. The stone bridge gives golfers a direct path to the green. The placement of boulders on the edges of the pond is not just about esthetics, but a visual reference on the fairway for the water hazard.

Lakes and Streams
PDC worked with Clive in proposing adding a series of lakes and streams to the designs. PDC also proposed removing 45 acres of turf and adding landscape beds, mass plantings of drip irrigated shrubs, desert wildflowers and splashes of annual color. The water feature and landscape designs were proposed to add framing, contrast, strategy, errant ball protection, screening undesirable views and most importantly, add beauty to what was a parkland-style grassed golf course.

Water feature designs are one of Pinnacle Design?EUR??,,????'?????<

#6 is tucked into a backdrop of mature eucalyptus trees protected in place. Riparian plantings and California fan palms and pepper trees are finishing touches. The landscape architect rarely places a stand-alone lake and stream, but here it was unavoidable. Centrifugal pumps in vaults at the farthest end of the lake away from the stream generate significant circulation/aeration, which, along with aquatic plantings, balance the nutrient loads. This is critical, as the only fresh water entering the lake is via automatic fill float valves. Landforms and landscape beds of flowering brittlebush, bougainvillea, gazania and native grasses help provide visual separation from the 5th hole.

It was important to have the large lakes sitting in low areas where water would naturally occur, and for the stream and waterfalls to feel as though they originated from a long distance away where one couldn?EUR??,,????'?????<

The streams and waterfalls were cut into the ground, giving the appearance that over the years the water had eroded and cut the bedrock, carving the corridors of the features. PDC created very specialized construction details to guide the water feature contractors to build the lakes and streams so the PVC liner is covered with concrete to protect it from failing.

Right: Looking from the tees at #13, accent beds of brittlebush, verbena, Aristida purpurea (purple three-awns) and gazania provide beautiful color. A well-placed lake (ill-placed, if you?EUR??,,????'?????<

The water features looked as natural as the stream in the Sierras from which PDC fashioned them. The final touches for the attractive outcome of the water features are the addition of aquatic plants in predesigned aquatic benches within the lakes, and locating landscape beds with plants adjacent to the new features to provide a final framing.

PDC has designed more than 100 golf course landscapes and water features. The firm understand that no matter how good their designs might be, they are only as good as the contractors who install them. With this knowledge,PDC provides an installation observation service for clients. The firm is involved from the beginning, recommending competent qualified contractors and assisting the client during the bidding phase. Our designers direct the aesthetics of the installation of the water features and landscape on site. Staff may be on site more than 100 days per 18-holes to ensure the design vision is constructed with the level of detail demanded. During these site visits, PDC paints the locations of streams, the subgrade shaping of the streams, where every boulder is located, and how the soil is backfilled on the edges to make sure the golf course shaping ties into the shaping of the water features.

This view from the #14 tees looks across to the 13th green. Large landscape beds of wildflowers, brittlebush, bougainvillea, purple three-awns and verbena offer a great colorful display and help reduce the amount of turf. By planting 45 acres of new landscape beds versus laying sod over that same area, water consumption was reduced 40-70%, depending on where drip irrigation was used, or where there were desert wildflower mixes.

The same level of detail goes into the new landscape beds. Every tree and shrub to be planted is flagged. PDC works with the golf course architect to flag the edges of the turf and where the landscape beds start. This service is critical to the design, as the landscape beds weave in and out of turf areas in long flowing lines. The contractors appreciate the field visits, as it eliminates them having to interpret the design drawings.

Rushes, pickerel, water lilies and iris make up the aquatic ?EUR??,,????'?????<

The Dead Flats
As discussed earlier, one of the challenges was locating five golf holes in a dead-flat area with no existing plants. The golf course architect prepared grading designs to create great movement in the landforms. PDC proposed lakes and streams to complement the strategy, using the cut soil to create large landforms separating and framing each of the four golf holes.

A series of stream and waterfalls greet golfers as they walk onto the tees at #15. The water features are enclosed by a big hillside of bougainvillea, deer grass, brittlebush and wildflowers. Riparian type trees (weeping willows, California pepper and native California fan palms) provide colorful framing and contrasts to the fairways. A nifty custom lake edge detail (?EUR??,,????'?????<

To complete the area?EUR??,,????'?????<

A low-profile stone bridge leads golfers from the #5 tees to the #5 fairway. The transition from the landscape beds to the aquatic beds, then across the clear blue waters gives the lakes an extremely natural look

The project?EUR??,,????'?????<

This detailed shot of the stream on hole-5 illustrates how PDC had the contractor create natural looking pools and streams without building the typical straight ?EUR??,,????'?????<

The hotel guests rave about the course. The local Indian Wells residents, who get preferred rates, as it?EUR??,,????'?????<

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The colorful botanical array for the Celebrity Course consists of 54 varieties of aquatic plants, shrubs, desert wildflower mixes and ornamental grasses.

Thevetia peruviana (yellow oleander)

Hesperaloe parviflora (red yucca)

Lantana ?EUR??,,????'?????<

Muhlenbergia capillaris ?EUR??,,????'?????<

Rosmarinus O. ?EUR??,,????'?????<

Nerium oleander ?EUR??,,????'?????<

Pontederia cordata (pickerel rush)

Nymphaea arc en ciel (yellow/rose water lily)