The golf course at the Cornerstone Club community in the San Juan mountains of Colorado, USA, is being renovated by Dusenberry Golf Course Design.

The 7,800-yard par 72 course was originally designed by Greg Norman and received a range of ‘Best’ awards when it opened in 2008.

The mountain layout (the tees of the first hole are at an elevation of 9,200 feet) is part of a recreational community encompassing approximately 4,800 acres of the Uncompahgre Plateau, with views of surrounding aspen and pine forests and the West Elks, Cimarron Ridge and San Juan mountains.

The club closed in 2014 after the original developer sold their interest and has since changed hands several times. In 2018 a group of Cornerstone members and property owners invested in a project to reopen the course, through the Cornerstone Owner’s Association.

As a result, construction on a 21-acre practice facility and short course began in autumn 2017 and was opened to members in July 2018. The main course is currently being renovated and is expected to be mostly complete by September 2018, with a view to fully reopening the course in summer 2019.

“Eight principles are guiding all of the decisions made during the renovation process,” said Matthew Dusenberry, principal at Dusenberry Golf Course Design. These are: improve strategy; improve playability; improve memorability and player enjoyment; improve ease of maintenance; improve aesthetics; moderate the capital costs of the renovation; reduce water use long-term (reduce irrigated turf); and, maintain the core Cornerstone Club identity and design characteristics from the original design.

The renovation work is focused on tees, bunkers, approaches, and greens.

Dusenberry said: “A local golf course contractor is executing finish work while myself and design partner Jim McKenna are shaping the features. This is in keeping with our philosophy of full-time on-site supervision and participation in the construction process to give the client the most creative and cost-effective results.”

The Cornerstone Owner’s Association project will also feature an equestrian centre, a swimming pond and beach, glamping yurts, and a 10-mile trail. A wildlife and environmental plan includes wildlife monitoring, forest management, wetlands restoration, water quality monitoring and conservation, and protected calving grounds for elk that are on, or passing through, the property.