Elements of original Ross design being restored at Ohio’s Inverness Club
A project aimed at restoring many historic features of the Donald Ross-designed course at Inverness Club near Toledo, Ohio, has been approved by the club’s board of governors.
Ross was hired to design the Inverness Club course back in 1918, and the club would go on to host the US Open Championships on four occasions.
George and Tom Fazio were engaged to lengthen the course ahead of the 1979 US Open. While this helped the club better accommodate tournament play, it meant that some original Ross features were lost.
Andrew Green of A.H. Green Design was hired to draw up a masterplan for the restoration work.
Green used original drawings by Ross, as well as the original architect’s notes on the course ahead of the 1931 US Open. Numerous archive photographs also informed Green’s work and helped him better identify the original intentions of the design.
The masterplan called for the reintroduction of two par three holes which had previously been lost in their entirety.
Two lost putting greens have also been incorporated into the design of a new par four and revised par five hole, while characteristic Ross hummocks on the course are being enhanced and expanded.
Selected bunkers will be rebuilt and others relocated as part of the project. Certain greens will also be expanded, helping to recover hole locations that have been lost over time.
Work is now underway, with the construction element of the project being handled by McDonald and Sons Golf Course Builders. Inverness Club’s green superintendent John Zimmers is overseeing he work.
The new design is expected to open for play in early 2018.
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The new third green looking back towards the tee
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The green on the final hole
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The ninth green at Inverness Club
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The project is set to be completed in early 2018
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