Jeff Mingay completes strategic masterplan for Wing Point G&CC
Golf course architect Jeff Mingay has completed a strategic masterplan for the course at Wing Point Golf & Country Club on Bainbridge Island, Washington.
Mingay’s plans aim to better meld the original holes at Wing Point, which were built in the early 1900s, with a collection of holes created in 1989.
“In that process, we’re also looking to remedy some fundamental problems with safety, drainage, tree issues, tee locations, bunker quality, and overall playability for golfers of all abilities,” Mingay told GCA. “Architecturally, we’re taking inspiration from the original, lay of the land holes to create a course that matches the club’s distinctive history.”
Small parts of work have taken place already, including work on the fourth green last year, and the removal of selected trees to help meld the fairways on the twelfth and thirteenth holes.
“The original fourth and eighth holes also have a shared fairway area, so combining those fairways on the back nine has helped with making the newer holes match the look and feel of the older ones,” Mingay said.
If plans are given the green light by the club, Mingay will be working closely with the club’s golf course superintendent Mike Goldsberry, who has been heavily involved with the masterplan’s development.
“This spring we’re looking to work on the par three eleventh hole, and par four sixteenth and seventeenth holes,” Mingay said. “Then, in the fall, we’re planning to completely rebuild the par three third hole. More work will continue from there, in phases, beginning again in 2019.”
The plan is for all the proposed work to be carried out ‘in-house’, without a contractor.
Mingay added: “Mike and I will do the shaping with the support of his golf course maintenance staff.”
Wing Point was established 1903 and is located on Bainbridge Island, which is a 30 minute ferry journey from central Seattle.
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The current view of the sixteenth green...
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...and a visualisation of the proposed changes, including the addition of a Lion’s mouth style bunker
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Mingay has worked closely with golf course superintendent Mike Goldsberry to create the masterplan
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