Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: Why refresh the East Golf Course?
A: Two views really.
One, from the viewpoint of design: the current course is a nice golf course. The current design has no truly bad holes, but it does not have a lot of really fun or memorable holes either, 18 of course being its best because it is such a tough finishing hole and has a lot of history. Nicklaus Design’s goals for the “refreshing” of the golf course is to add what we feel is much needed VARIETY, while maintaining the elements of the golf course that the membership enjoys so much.
Two, from the viewpoint of course conditions, which is key: we address those topics below in detail. But we need to update an aging product and because East truly is the brand recognition of golf at BallenIsles, we need to maintain it in top condition.
In the opinion of our staff, the Board and most importantly, outside professionals, only a total golf course refresh can adequately address and resolve the scope of these challenges.
One, from the viewpoint of design: the current course is a nice golf course. The current design has no truly bad holes, but it does not have a lot of really fun or memorable holes either, 18 of course being its best because it is such a tough finishing hole and has a lot of history. Nicklaus Design’s goals for the “refreshing” of the golf course is to add what we feel is much needed VARIETY, while maintaining the elements of the golf course that the membership enjoys so much.
- The Scorecard lacks variety. There is not much difference between the longest and shortest par 3’s, 4’s and 5’s
- The tees shots lack variety. Except for the longest hitters, there is not a tee shot on any par 4 or 5 that doesn’t ask the golfer to hit driver off the tee.
- Tees poorly spaced. Largest teeing grounds are under-utilized and smallest teeing grounds have the majority of play
Two, from the viewpoint of course conditions, which is key: we address those topics below in detail. But we need to update an aging product and because East truly is the brand recognition of golf at BallenIsles, we need to maintain it in top condition.
- 14 year old turf year
- Fairways and rough have contaminated turf
- Greens reduced by 30% as the fringe has encroached and the grass became contaminated with mutations
- With the exception of #13 all greens are similar in size and shape
- Portions of irrigation system needs to be updated
- Drainage issues on holes 2, 5, 10, 13, 17 and 18
- Bunkers plagued with poor drainage, frequent washouts and difficult to maintain
- Bunker playability has been a concern for years. High flashed face greenside and fairways bunkers also very difficult to recover from
- Correct areas on course where the fairway slope kicks golf balls towards hazards such as 2, 3, 5, 7 and the like, and improve rises in fairways that punish balls hit into fairways like on holes 5, 8, and 14
In the opinion of our staff, the Board and most importantly, outside professionals, only a total golf course refresh can adequately address and resolve the scope of these challenges.
Q2: But why now, didn’t we just redo it?
A: The course was redone in 2008. The Club’s long-term strategy is to renovate bunkers every 8 years, refresh a golf course every 15 years and fully renovate a course every 30 years. The East is on its refresh cycle in 2023 but it was highly recommend by members and committees that we have pull it forward one year to 2022 so the multiple deficiencies noted above can be addressed while the renovation of the bunkers and greens is performed.
Q3: I love the East Golf Course the way it is. Why do we have to change it?
A: Nicklaus Design envisions enhanced playability of the course for all levels of players. Chris Cochran, Senior Architect, known for his ability to challenge the good golfers while giving those who wish for a less stressful way around the course another option. What you love today is truly only going to get better. In choosing an architect, we had three criteria: someone that would fit our budget, someone who could improve an already very good course and a ‘name’ to promote the improvements the club is making. Via a competitive process, and with the help of Troon, we got all three with the Nicklaus team.
Q4: The bunkers on the East have been a topic of conversation for years. How will the shaping of the bunkers change in a refresh?
A: The bunkers are overly penal. For the most part the bunkers play smallish and are very deep. Nicklaus Design, along with the Professionals involved feel the golf course will be a lot more fun to play and visually appealing by changing bunker sizes and depths and vary the difficulty of recovering from them. You will still see some high facing bunkers, from the standpoint of look and feel, but be far less penal and more maintenance capable. Fairway bunkers, while remaining a “hazard” will become more playable from for the members.
Q5: Why redo the greens?
A: The greens are at the end of their fifteen year lifecycle and can only be managed to be average condition and speeds. Having newer USGA greens will allow for a more consistent putting surface with the ability to get to a tournament speed with less risk of stressing the plant. The greens and green complexes can also be more exciting. All of the greens are perched, surrounded by bunkers, and basically the same size and have similar pitches and contours. Since the greens must be rebuilt, we plan to create many new green complexes that will vary the size, shapes, pitches and contours of the greens as well as create much more variety in recovery shots when a green is missed, instead of the same deep bunker shot that is so difficult for many of the members.
Q6: Why should the practice facilities be renovated?
A: It is the intent to the Club and Nicklaus design to construct not a simply a driving range, but an all-encompassing practice area where players of all skill levels, from very beginning to advanced, can enjoy the game at the Practice Grounds. The short game area has been extensively redesigned to allow putting, chipping and pitching from all angles, depths, distances, curves and bumps one may experience on the golf course. If sand is your challenge, we have you covered there too. The long game area has targets galore from your newly raised, pitched and expanded teeing ground. Artificial teeing lines have been added to both the North and South ends of the area, fairway bunker shots can be enjoyed and fairway and targets greens are more realistic to preparing you for want you may encounter on the golf course.
Current issues
Current issues
- Lack of private space to practice short game.
- Poor push up greens that have deteriorated
- Too few of targets in the 100 yard range
- Inability to see targets very clearly
- Barely an opportunity to create a fairway to hit drives into.
- Turf conditions not up to standard
- Need to change to celebration for better recovery and less contamination
- Need for new mats on both ends
Q7: Why should we add a putting course?
A: Putting courses have become very popular over the last few years. This gives us the opportunity to have a large green for events and transform into a gathering area for members and their families to gather and have fun in another way.
Q8: Why should we add a par three course within the practice grounds?
A: Par three courses have become very popular because of the demand on time. This gives us the opportunity to host a par three event later in the day once a week/month.
Q9: Why should the Club add a Learning Center?
A: The BallenIsles Golf Academy Professionals are projected to teach over 4,000 lessons in 2021, an increase of 20% over the five-year average. The staff is well educated and motivated about teaching the game of golf. Studies show that practice is a very important component to today’s country club member. Golfers today rely so much more on validating information through technology, whether it be for their swing or purchasing new clubs. Area clubs such as Admirals Cove 2022, Ibis 2021 and Mirasol 2022 are building golf learning centers.
Currently we have the following challenges
Currently we have the following challenges
- Lack of private space with the latest teaching technologies.
- Inability to perform the very best in custom club fittings.
- Transporting demo clubs daily out to the practice tee.
- Lack of ideal club repair space.
Q10: Why should the Club place such a high priority on the consistency and quality of all three golf courses?
A: There are three main points:
- Quality: BallenIsles is a premier community and all amenities should be equal to that ‘brand’. A refresh of its three golf courses is every fifteen years, and is part of the clubs strategic plan consistent with clubs in our competitive set. We cannot allow our reputation to be damaged. It could eventually affect the prices of our homes. The East course simply needs a refresh.
- Usage: The East Course has so much history. It is also one of the largest golf courses in FLA. Members love entertaining their guests on the East and mentioning that Jack Nicklaus, Sam Sneed and many other great champions won tournaments on the famed course. We need to keep the East in the best condition possible to maintain its status as a pure championship course.
- Balance: With the South renovation in 2019 designed by Rees Jones, adding another huge named architect in the game of golf puts us in rare company. The success of the North and South Course and a refresh on the East also gives us the best opportunity to spread out traffic on our courses. It was not long ago when we could not say that about the North and South.
Q11: After refresh of the East Golf Course wouldn't our maintenance costs go down?
A: The maintenance costs would not go down, however special attention will be made towards the long term maintainability of the golf course. Specifically ensuring bunkers are more maintenance friendly, low areas prone to water retention will be addressed and elimination of multiple varieties of grasses will be handled in the regrassing. Grass varieties will change slightly in that we will move to a complete tee to greens approach use of Celebrations grasses and continue with our proven TiffEagle on greens complexes. We will move away from the use of paspalum on tees to eliminate the cross contamination we have to address each year on fairways and greens and a consistent stand of grass will provide a better opportunity for consistency of look and cut.
Q12: I am not a Golf or Sport member. How will the East Golf Course refresh benefit me?
A: The courses are an integral part of the brand identity and compliment the overall appeal and quality of the community. The East Golf Course, beginning to show significant wear , lessens the overall appeal of the Club. Having three truly top notch golf courses is a key distinction of BallenIsles. In addition, having a world famous architect, Nicklaus Design, the East Golf Course will complement the other courses and help to build the brand identity of BallenIsles. By maintaining an appropriate level of integrity and quality, we provide the best opportunity to maintain, if not improve, the image of our community and the desirability of all home in BallenIsles.
Q13: How much will the renovation cost?
A: In our initial plan, the total cost is estimated to be $7.? M. That cost includes updating both the East Golf Course and the Practice Facility
Q14: How will we pay for the renovation of the course?
A: We will use the same model as with the South Course, in that we will use cash on hand from Capital Reserves and bank borrowing, repaid in the form of an assessment to Golf and Sport members. The details are outlined on the financing model located on the website.
Q15: When will we see the proposed course?
A: Member workshops are being hosted during the months of November and December. Video of a workshop is available on the Golf Projects website. Each workshop includes a narrative of the project along with the Nicklaus team hole-by-hole vision for the course. Member questions and comments will be answered by the Nicklaus team along with insight from our professionals. Each workshop will also include a member Q & A session. Finally, all of the details are available on the project website, www.ballenislesgp.org.
Q16: When will the project begin and end?
A: When approved, construction will begin in April 2022, construction will be completed in September 2022, grow-in will be completed in November and the course will be ready for play in December 2022. When play begins, it will be cart path only for a period of time, as it was for the North and South courses.
Q17: What are we voting on and when will we vote?
A: There will be three votes for the Golf Projects, on the same ballot, in December 2021.
- All membership categories will vote on the on (1) doing the project, which is a weighted vote, and (2) the bank borrowing (financing) for the project, which is an unweighted vote.
- Golf and sports membership categories will vote on (3) approval of the assessment, to repay the bank borrowing, which is weighted between those two categories.
Q18: Is it possible to just re-grass, repair bunkers and fix the serious irrigation and drainage issues and not have a total refresh?
A: It is possible, but without changing the actual shaping of the bunkers, the architect would have to rebuild the greens at the same elevation and shape. This would be a lot of work and similar amount of down time without addressing other issues effectively.
Q19: Has there been any discussion to add a place to get a hot dog and a beer?
A: Yes, there has been talk about adding at some point.
Q20: Have you considered lighting?
A: Yes, though not in the practice grounds budget, this is something we will likely install around the main putting course after the project is complete.
Q21: Will there be additional costs for maintenance?
A: The estimated costs are 45K , mostly in fertilizers and sprays.
Q22: Is there a bathroom in the learning center?
A: No, there is not one planned, however there is the possibility of adding in the future. Currently, there are two restrooms within two hundred feet of the proposed location.
Q23: What is the square footage?
A: 4K overall
Q24: Very few members play 7K yards. Why would you want that?
A: Although we would have some of our younger Members in the future playing from 7K, this is also a marketing opportunity. When people are seeking the best golf courses to join, yardage is a contributing factor. A course at 7k over is perceived as a Championship caliber course and courses much lower in yardages are not. This is also important in hosting future Professional events.
Q25: What is the anticipated rating change?
A: We will not know until the Florida State Golf Association performs a rating approximately one month prior to opening. We are anticipating a similar rating to what we currently have.
Q26: Are you concerned about balls going long on the practice tee that can hit someone on 18?
A: No, the short game area is still significantly far away from the short game area.
Q27: What is the hitting surface in the Learning Center, indoor and outdoor?
A: The indoor and outdoor bays will have mats.
Q28: Can you have natural grass in front of the bays?
A: There will be natural grass in front of the bays. The Professionals will determine based on usage when safe to do so.
Q29: What was the thinking to adding 18 tees? Are there any continuous tees?
A: The indoor and outdoor bays will have mats.
Q30: Hole 4 – If you have a rock wall, will everything be elevated?
A: Yes, the greens complex will need to come up a couple of feet in order to build a rock wall.
Q31: Will this return the East Course to where it once was?
A: Collectively we believe this a great plan will return the East into a great golf course.
Q32: How is the vote going to work?
A: Ballots to be sent? The East Course and Practice Grounds will have a weighted vote to approve both projects together. The learning center will have a separate vote. The financing for all projects will have an unweighted vote to approve.
Q33: Can you provide an animated video like you did for the clubhouse?
A: Yes, we will be adding to the TV’S around the Club.
Q34: Is there any talk to add a snack bar to grab a sandwich?
A: We have spoken about possibly adding to the learning center in the future. We also have the opportunity to add some snacks to the new comfort stations on the South now and East and North in the future.
Q35: Slope rating – “I hope at the end, the difficulty remains the same.”
A: The ratings should remain roughly the same.
Q36: Where the training Center, would like to see a snack area. The three carts were taken away, the coolers are ugly, would like to see it done now.
A: We will look into adding to the learning center at some point after construction.
Q37: Have you thought about adding lights to the practice facility?
A: We believe this would be a homeowner concern from those that border the practice facilities.
Q38: What are we doing to address having food on the courses this season?
Currently, Members are able to pick up food at the Cabana and bring to the courses. Coolers are available for daily use if needed. We will communicate to the members this option along with snack at the 1st tee of each course. We are also exploring other opportunities to provide on course food.
Q39: Hole 8 – Is a very long bunker. There is no way to leave the bunker without going to the front then you have to rake the whole bunker. This slows up play. If you can just enter from the right side would be better.
A: Bunkers on the new design will be much easier to get in and out of.
Q40: What grass is at the Loxahatchee Club and what will we be using?
Loxahatchee has latitude 36 on fairways , tees and roughs and tif eagle greens. We will be using celebration on fairways , tees and greens and tif eagle greens. These grasses have proven effective here at BallenIsles and seem to hold up much better with the amount of cart traffic we have.
Q41: WAS THERE A SURVEY OF THE MEMBERS OF THE OVERALL ATTITUDE OF THE EAST COURSE?
A: No
BallenIsles Country Club
100 BallenIsles Circle
Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418
Phone: 561.622.0220
Fax: 561.626.3941
ballenisles.org | [email protected]
100 BallenIsles Circle
Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418
Phone: 561.622.0220
Fax: 561.626.3941
ballenisles.org | [email protected]