Q: What excited you the most about Poppy Ridge?
JB: I fell in love with the big, bold, rolling landscape and the long views. The challenge was to highlight those elements but to do so in a way that was playable and more walkable. I was also really excited about the opportunity to work with the NCGA and help craft a facility that would be home for hundreds of thousands of NCGA members.
Q: What kind of turf did you use and why?
JB: Tees, fairways, and green surrounds are Santa Ana Bermuda. Given the climate, including hot summers—we felt this would be the ideal turf because it requires far less water than the old, cool-season grasses that previously occupied the site and offers firm, fast conditions and wonderful playability year-round. As for the greens, they were seeded with Prestige Bentgrass, a newer bentgrass that tested well in the region. It likes to be maintained tight, which works well with the design of these greens.
Q: In general, how wide are the fairways?
JB: Given the windy nature of the site and the dramatic elevation changes, the fairways are quite wide: Most range from 50-60 yards in width, with certain spots as wide as 100 yards. We designed the fairways to make them playable for all NCGA members while still being able to “test the best.” Keeping the fairways wide allows the everyday player to get around, but at the same time they have lots of contour that the best players will need to assess and attack strategically.
Q: What was your thinking in designing the bunkers?
JB: The bunkers have been shaped to fit into the landscape. Given that the site is big and bold with large elevation changes, many of the bunkers sit in a hillside and serve as a transition from one landscape to another. As for shaping, the bunkers match the shot being played. So, if a golfer is likely to be hitting a middle or long iron out of the sand, we might have a lower lip than when adjacent to the green where one would use a sand wedge. We utilized a custom blend of sand that provides playability, drainage, and a natural color for a beautiful contrast.
Q: How did you shape the greens?
JB: Each green is designed to match the setting of the hole as well as the shot being played. As a result, there is a wide variety in the sizes and shapes of the greens. If the approach shot is a wedge or a short iron, odds are the green will be smaller, or there may be more movement within a bigger green. On holes where the approach is longer, the green is likely bigger or there may be slopes around the green that help feed the ball onto the surface.
In general, the surfaces are quite gentle to ensure that we have lots of usable hole locations to spread out traffic and handle large volumes of play. Most of the greens are surrounded by fairway and in many instances those fairway areas around the green will feed the ball onto the surface, making the target much bigger than the green itself. The new bentgrass allows us to offer surfaces that will play firm and fast throughout the year.
Q: One of your goals was to make the course more walkable. How did you achieve that?
JB: The old layout of three nine-hole courses was not walkable for most people. There were very long walks between greens and tees and lots of steep grade changes that made it difficult, especially in the heat of the summer. To improve playability and take advantage of the best features of the site, we re-routed the entire golf course so now there are much shorter green-to-tee walks and much smoother transitions across the landscape. If you normally play from tees around 6,500 yards, the walk will be about 2,000 yards shorter with around 400 feet less overall elevation change.
Q: What would you say to players heading out to play the course for the first time?
JB: The golf course has been completely re-imagined on the site of the former course. It is completely different from the old layout so it’s a new and thrilling experience for all. My hope would be that first-timers are taken by the beauty of the site and the surrounding vistas and that they appreciate how the golf course fits the landscape. For regulars who played Poppy Ridge many times prior to the transformation, I would hope that they appreciate the newfound walkability, playability, and variety of the layout.
As for playing it, I would encourage everyone to study the areas around the greens. More often than not, there is a risky side and a safe side. Oftentimes there may be a sideboard or kicker slope that will help feed your ball down onto the green or toward the hole. There is a lot of short grass around the greens so players should be able to use any club in their bag within 30 yards: For many players the putter might be the best play.
Q: How did wind affect the design of the course?
JB: As with many of the great courses around the world, the wind can be a big factor at Poppy Ridge. Because the prevailing wind is from the southwest, we made sure there was more room to play a north-south hole that may have a crosswind. Where we have east-west holes, we tried to build in lots of flexibility so the tees can be adjusted as needed. We also tried to design the course so that you can experience the wind differently. Our par-3 and par-5 holes play in all four directions so players will have different winds on each. We also tried not to have all of the shorter holes into the wind and all longer holes downwind, so players could experience a variety of emotions throughout the round.
Q: How much of your design process revolved around the site being the home course for NCGA members?
JB: From the very first discussion about the course transformation, it was imperative that the new course be a wonderful home for all NCGA members. One that would challenge the best while also being enjoyable for players of all abilities. To me that was one of the exciting and challenging aspects of the project. It isn’t every day that you get the opportunity to work on a facility that caters to players of all abilities but is also capable of challenging the best players via NCGA championships. Designing for all players—be it a beginner or scratch championship player-- was central to every decision we made throughout the process.
Q: How do you do that, making the course challenging for the most advanced players while also being fun for players of all abilities?
JB: Championship golf and everyday golf are two drastically different games. What makes a course challenging for the best players is often the opposite of what makes it challenging for the everyday player. Average golfers struggle with rough, bunkers and water. Top players usually struggle with firm, fast conditions, undulating fairways and greens and multiple options for how to attack a hole.
At Poppy Ridge we crafted a golf course with wide, undulating fairways that will play firm and fast. The green complexes offer an infinite variety of shots to play into and around the greens. This formula should allow all average golfers to get around without losing balls or struggling out of rough while at the same time forcing good players to think their way around the course and play the ball on the ground more than they would like.