Interviews

Oakmont: An interview with Gil Hanse

With the 2025 US Open arriving at Oakmont, Richard Humphreys spoke with the architect, who renovated the course in 2023, about what to expect

Martin Ebert: Design journey

With a portfolio that includes eight of the ten Open venues, Mackenzie & Ebert occupies an enviable position in the golf design industry. Adam Lawrence spoke with principal Martin Ebert to learn how they got there

Designs for the big screen

Chad Goetz and Agustin Piza discuss their design decisions for the virtual holes that featured in the first season of TGL

Bob Harrison: Wizard of Oz

The Australian designer has had a long career and, like many of his countrymen, has spent much of it away from home. Adam Lawrence listened to his tales from the road

Ben Cowan-Dewar: Shock and awe

Golf development firm Cabot now has properties in six countries. Richard Humphreys speaks with co-founder and CEO Ben Cowan-Dewar about what makes a great site, selection of golf course architects, and more

Team building

Turfgrass has launched its US arm with the appointment of John Lawrence, Adam Moeller and Brad Owen. Richard Humphreys speaks with them, Turfgrass founder John Clarkin and director of agronomy Julian Mooney to find out more

Brian Curley: Life of Brian

The designer has surely clocked up more air miles than anyone else in the business. Adam Lawrence caught up with him in between flights to discuss his career and his new venture with Jim Wagner

Oakmont: An interview with Gil Hanse

With the 2025 US Open arriving at Oakmont, Richard Humphreys spoke with the architect, who renovated the course in 2023, about what to expect

Martin Ebert: Design journey

With a portfolio that includes eight of the ten Open venues, Mackenzie & Ebert occupies an enviable position in the golf design industry. Adam Lawrence spoke with principal Martin Ebert to learn how they got there

Designs for the big screen

Chad Goetz and Agustin Piza discuss their design decisions for the virtual holes that featured in the first season of TGL

Bob Harrison: Wizard of Oz

The Australian designer has had a long career and, like many of his countrymen, has spent much of it away from home. Adam Lawrence listened to his tales from the road

Ben Cowan-Dewar: Shock and awe

Golf development firm Cabot now has properties in six countries. Richard Humphreys speaks with co-founder and CEO Ben Cowan-Dewar about what makes a great site, selection of golf course architects, and more

Team building

Turfgrass has launched its US arm with the appointment of John Lawrence, Adam Moeller and Brad Owen. Richard Humphreys speaks with them, Turfgrass founder John Clarkin and director of agronomy Julian Mooney to find out more

Brian Curley: Life of Brian

The designer has surely clocked up more air miles than anyone else in the business. Adam Lawrence caught up with him in between flights to discuss his career and his new venture with Jim Wagner

Richard Humphreys
/ Categories: News

Bill Bergin returns to Waterfall Club to continue renovation plan

Bill Bergin will shortly begin the second phase of renovation work at Waterfall Club in Georgia, USA.

Waterfall Club was originally designed in the mid-2000s by Scott Pool, a design associate for Pete Dye who later founded GreenScan 3D, a business that offers LIDAR scanning for golf courses.

Bergin was hired for the renovation due to his previous work on mountain courses and his experience of working in the state, having overseen projects at Dunwoody CC, Druid Hills, Sky Valley and Pinetree CC.

“The initial project focused on bunker maintenance and drainage,” said Bergin, of the first phase in winter and spring 2020. “Once we got into the project, it became apparent that the amount of thatch buildup on the bentgrass fairways was much of the problem for the poor drainage. The fairways were also incredibly spongy.

“The course sits at about 2,000 feet above sea level which is perfect in north Georgia for bentgrass greens, but too hot for bentgrass fairways. The club has begun a conversion to Zeon Zoysia fairways, and we continue to work on that now.”

Work on bunkers included installing liners from Capillary Concrete. “They were incredibly difficult, averaging almost eight feet in depth, with four or five bunkers in the 12-foot-deep range,” said Bergin. “We lifted the bottoms and did an excellent job of water diversion around all the bunkers. They now fit the landscape and strategy of the golf holes very well. We also reduced the bunker square footage by 10,000 square feet, while keeping them bold and relevant.”

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Slideshow HTML
  • Waterfall
    Dave Sansom

    Bill Bergin completed the first phase of renovation work at Waterfall Club in early 2020

  • Waterfall
    Dave Sansom

    The second hole is a par three dropping 210 feet over a waterfall to a green

  • Waterfall
    Dave Sansom

    Bergin’s work so far has focused on fairways and bunkers

  • Waterfall
    Dave Sansom

    The eighth is a short par four with a creek that runs in front of the green

  • Waterfall
    Dave Sansom

    A second phase of renovation work is due to start shortly

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Dave Sansom
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