Shaping and earthmoving complete at new Friday Harbour course
The development of a new golf course in Canada is progressing well, with all earthmoving and shaping now complete.
The Nest at Friday Harbour has been designed by golf course architect Doug Carrick, and is located near Innisfil on the edge of Lake Simcoe, around 60 miles north of Toronto.
Though heavy spring rainfall slowed progress somewhat, more than two million cubic metres of earth has now been moved from a 40 acre marina excavation and onto the site of the new course. This earth has been used to build the new course on land that was previously flat and used for agricultural purposes.
15 holes are being built using the moved earth, while three holes are located in a forested area, where minimal earthmoving and shaping has been required.
“The highest fill was over 15 metres and the course features dramatic elevation changes and undulating fairways,” Carrick told GCA. “I think golfers will enjoy the bold fairway undulations and a bunkering style similar to Royal Melbourne, with closely mown edges adjacent to the greens.”
Carrick says that the course is very walkable, with short distances between greens and tees. The course’s sixth, ninth, fifteenth and eighteenth holes return close to the clubhouse, presenting players with the opportunity to play loops of three, six, nine, fifteen or the full eighteen holes.
A driving range is also being constructed, featuring a nine-hole pitch and putt course embedded into the range’s target greens. This will be used for teaching clinics and training purposes.
Four holes and the driving range have already been seeded, with the rest of the course set to be seeded before the end of August.
The Nest at Friday Harbour is scheduled to open in the spring of 2018.
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The tenth hole takes shape at Friday Harbour
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A visualisation of the eleventh hole
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The course plan as designed by architect Doug Carrick
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