by Fred Seely
Editorial Director
The biggest club renovation here in 20 years is underway at Deerwood. Not since Hidden Hills was rerouted and the clubhouse almost completely renovated has a club undertaken such a project.
The golf course will be plowed under — literally — starting Jan. 5 and will reopen in the fall after a total renovation and redesign by architect Brian Silva. The new clubhouse will be built next to the present building and should be ready by November.
The club’s swimming and fitness center will get renovated and the administration building will be razed, which will allow the driving range to get at least 30 more yards of depth. The administrative offices will move into the new clubhouse.
The present clubhouse will be demolished when the new one is ready.
“It’s a credit to our membership that they’re doing this,” said General Manager Rocky Staples. “It’s a major commitment.”
The course hasn’t been renovated since it opened in 1960 although a few greens have been rebuilt.
“It’s typical of the 60s courses,” said Silva, who will escape his New Hampshire office and winter at Amelia Island and will have a site visit weekly. “It was built with cost in mind. But the architect (George Cobb) gave wonderful routing.”
The lay of the holes will remain the same but almost every one will be noticeably different. Silva has worked on some of the state’s best courses — Seminole and the Country Club of Orlando, for two — and says Deerwood will emerge as a distinctive layout.
“It’s a great piece of property to work with,” he said. “The original design didn’t take advantage of the water, but the redesign will.”
Perhaps the most interesting hole will be No. 11, a short par-4 dogleg left with a carry over Lake Deerwood.
“The green now is 40 yards from the water,” he said. “We’ll move it to the water. A good player can take a chance and drive the green. A guy like me will hit his high-tech driver 210 yards and have a wedge left.”
Doglegs will be straightened on many holes, notably the 90-degree dogleg right 14th. The course, which hosted six Greater Jacksonville Opens, was derisively known as the “Dogleg Open” by PGA tour pros because only one hole — the 6th — was reasonably straight.
The 14th will be somewhat straightened by moving both the tee and the green to the left of their present locations.
Drainage also will be addressed and a new drain system will be installed throughout the course. The par-4 3rd, which has always been a problem, will be rebuilt with the green moved back and the lake banks redesigned to include a catch basin and better grading.
A look at other changes:
No. 1: There will be a strip bunker along the pond to the left of the par 5 and the fairway also will be graded to keep balls from rolling into the water.
No. 2: The bunker to the right of the green will be removed so the hole won’t be as tight.
No. 4: The fairway will be pitched away from the lake on the right. In the past, a drive just slightly off-line could roll into the water.
No. 5: The green will be shifted to the left to allow water to come into play at the back.
No. 6: The fewest changes on any hole. The green will be rebuilt to lessen the double level effect it now has.
No. 7: The green moves to the right, closer to the water.
No. 8: The green is moved well to the left so water comes into play.
No. 9: The tees will move to the right to “soften” the dogleg. The green will move slightly back and to the right.
No. 10: Again, the green will move to the left to be adjacent to the water.
No. 12: Much the same, though the left bunker will be removed and the green enlarged.
No. 13: Bunkers at the corner will be removed so there’s better definition on the tee shot. The green will be moved to the right, bringing more water into play.
No. 15: The area’s longest par 3 can now play up to 249 yards, its original design. The right greenside bunker will be removed.
No. 16: It will be a little longer, with the green moved back toward the 17th tee, but better bunkering will give golfers a better view of the fairway landing area.
No. 17: Bunkers on the left side of the fairway will define the landing area. The green will be more level with the chipping areas.
No. 18: The second shot landing area will be enlarged and the green will be moved to the left.
Deerwood members will have playing privileges at a number of area courses and pro Alex Mairone will lead bi-weekly “road trips” to courses from Tampa to Sea Island.
The last major overhaul of a club here was at Hidden Hills in the early 1980s, but that course never closed.
“Ours wasn’t a renovation,” said pro Ted Hopkins. “We rerouted many holes. We always stayed open, but we continually changed the layout as the new holes were built.”
The Hidden Hills clubhouse was built on the same site; only the load-bearing walls were retained.