For the past couple of years, the Jacksonville Airport Authority has been looking to build an 18-hole golf course on property it owns adjacent to Jacksonville International Airport. That plan should come to fruition within the next two years.
By late 2005 or early 2006, Woodwings Industrial Park will be home to Cedar Creek Golf Club. And, Bing Parkinson, director of business development for the Authority and an avid golfer, couldn’t be happier to have a brand new golf course a couple of good drivers away.
“I like what I see so far,” said Parkinson of the proposed course.
Despite having the finish line within sight, the entire process has been trying. Several months ago, the Authority put out a Request for Proposals. No one bit and it looked like the golf course at Woodwings was fading faster than a sliced tee shot. Then, a gentleman from Ann Arbor, Mich. came calling.
“Craig Bowen approached us,” said Yul McNair, manager of business development for the Authority. “The RFP was not successful and he approached us about doing the course. Right now, we are in the internal process.”
Parkinson explained that Bowen, president of Bowen Investments, has assembled his team and taken the initial steps of introducing the team and its concept to the Authority.
“We are pretty much done with the development side,” said Parkinson. “The developer has his financing, the drawings and an owner/operator. They have made their presentation to management to introduce the team.”
The team includes Joe Jemsek, a golf course architect who recently left renowned golf architect Pete Dye’s company (think TPC at Sawgrass and Whistling Straits, the host of this year’s PGA Championship). While Cedar Creek won’t be built on top of a former landfill and the land won’t need guys in radiation suits to eradicate every contaminate known to man and it won’t resemble a windswept Scottish plain, Cedar Creek may prove to be one of the toughest tests around.
Consider: it will be 7,293 yards from the back tees. The 12th hole is a 609-yard par 5. The seventh is a 643-yard par 5 and it’s followed by a 222-yard par 3. The course will also feature a full range, putting green, chipping green and full-service clubhouse. There will also be a 3-hole par 3 course for beginners.
Parkinson gets excited when he talks about the course and for good reason. After cultivating the project for years, he’s only a few “OKs” away from having a brand new golf course a mile from his office door.
“The next step is to submit and present and comprehensive development plan,” explained Parkinson. “After the executive staff is satisfied, we will take it to the board for approval. When we get approval, we will start the permitting process.”
In Jemsek, Cedar Creek is getting a golf course architect with the game in his blood. The Jemsek family is a tradition in golf in the Chocago area and owns Cog Hill in Lemont, Ill., the home of the Tour’s Western Open. Parkinson said Lemsek has designed a course that will take advantage of the natural lay of the land.
“We will keep the trees. That was a goal,” he said. “The course will be carved out of a forest. There are a lot of hardwood trees. The course will look mature from day one. We won’t be planting trees and watching them take years to grow.”
The amount of water on the course is actually up to the Federal Aviation Administration. Water tends to attract birds and birds and airports are a bad combination. McNair said the cartpaths will resemble those at North Hampton, which are made from packed, crushed coquina instead of concrete or asphalt.