Redesign of Ocean Course at the Sea Pines Resort to commence 5 October
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Plans for the new tenth and twelfth hole as drawn up by Love Golf Design
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A sketch of the Ocean Course’s new tenth green
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Work is scheduled to get underway 5 October
Work to redesign of the Ocean Course at the Sea Pines Resort on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina is to get underway early next month.
The project is being led by the Love Golf Design firm, with architect Scot Sherman serving as the project’s lead design associate.
Planning and permitting has been ongoing since September 2014, with Davis and Mark Love working alongside Sherman to oversee the new design of the course.
With work scheduled to get underway on 5 October, GCA caught up with Sherman ahead of the project’s next phase.
“The Ocean Course was originally designed by George Cobb in 1962 and was thefirst course ever built on Hilton Head Island,” Sherman explained. “Our goal is to build a new golf course that players will fall in love with and want to play over and over again. To accomplish this, we will rethink and rebuild everything– even some slight rerouting of the existing layout. We’ll build features and create a strategy that will lead players around the course and help them have fun.”
“For example, the existing par four 10th hole can be described as awkward at best,” he added. “For many years it seems the tenth has just been waiting to become a par three playing across the water – and now it will happen. As a result, the existing par three eleventh will become a sporty par four which will tempt players to drive the green.”
The upcoming work at the Sea Pines Resort follows on from the recent renovation of the Pete Dye-designed Harbour Town Golf Links course.
“Aesthetically, the course will have a completely new look,” Sherman said. “Our desire is for the course to blend more seamlessly with the ocean, dune, oak hammock, and pine environment for which Hilton Head Island is known. We will make tweaks to the land which will reveal this look and restore some of its native materials and seaside vegetation.”
Sherman said that the project will involve a number of parties, including Sea Pines’ vice president of Sports and Recreation Cary Corbitt, MacCurrach Golf Construction, Tony Altum Irrigation Design, and the club’s new golf course superintendent Brook Sentell.
“We have been thrilled to work with Sea Pines on this project – Davis, Mark and I have career-long connections with the Resort, and working there feels like coming home again.”
The course is scheduled to reopen in September 2016.