68 back and left. What surprised them, however, as they took the original Ross drawings out in the field and compared them to what they had, was the degree to which putting surfaces had not just shrunk but had also completely changed in size, contour and boldness. The same was evident in the bunkering and in fairway contours. Seminole had migrated sufficiently away from its original Ross design to raise serious questions as to its design heritage. It also made it imperative that the club address this migration from the original character. Addressing these issues has involved detailed study by outside professionals working in conjunction with Seminole staff. The club has been undertaking hydrological studies for several years now, measuring and monitoring everything from sea level rise to water table variance, storm water management capacity and on-site absorption load. Obviously, these issues are not new to the club. Donald Ross himself was attuned to them back in 1929 when he devised a plan, based upon a pumping system he read about in Popular Mechanics magazine, of diverting on-site water to ponds adjoining the golf course to the south. What has changed is the pace of environmental change and the increased stress it places on the golf course. Seminole leadership decided that it needed, simultaneously, to raise its lower-lying areas, enhance pond capacity, and accelerate the rate of subsurface drainage through an aggressive system of sump pumps and 12-inch drainage pipes throughout the golf course. Additional work to stabilise pond edgings through a secure, protective fabric layer has also enhanced long-term sustainability. The club has acquired further flexibility of more assured water supply by purifying its own accumulated water through a reverse osmosis system designed by irrigation expert Paul Granger. They are also in the process of sand-capping 20 acres of the lowestlying fairways. The first half of that, planned for the front nine, involved distributing 15,000 tons of sand, which had been stockpiled on the seventh Hanse and Wagner are recapturing the green designs as detailed in Donald Ross’s 1929 plan for Seminole “ Seminole had migrated sufficiently away from its original Ross design to raise serious questions as to its design heritage” Image: Tufts Archive
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