Gary Player Course to Remain Open Through Construction
(MIDDLEFIELD, CT) – Lyman Orchards Golf Club – managed by Billy Casper Golf (“BCG”) and home to two celebrated 18-hole golf courses – will invest more than $2 million in course-related enhancements to its storied Robert Trent Jones, Sr. course.
The Jones course closed on November 30 and is slated for a spring 2009 re-opening, therefore, not impacting the core golf season. Lyman Orchards’ other 18-hole course – designed by PGA TOUR legend Gary Player – will remain open.
The course-enhancements plan – crafted by the Lyman family, BCG and Mungeam Cornish Golf Design – calls for replacing the irrigation system, renovating all existing bunkers, adding new bunkers, improving drainage and creating even more aesthetically pleasing sight-lines for golfers.
“The main priority of this plan is to expand upon already outstanding playing conditions,” says Dave Christenson, General Manager of Lyman Orchards. “Adding fairway bunkers and improving the appearance of the course will further accentuate player strategy, create new shot values and increase course enjoyment for all golfers.”
Another focus is maintaining trees bordering fairways and framing greens to ensure top-drawer turf, exciting playability and amplify course vision. The extensive pruning and underbrush removal will be the last major work to take place before re-opening.
“A healthy blend of tree thinning, drainage improvements and the visual impact of refurbished bunkers and redefined fairways will excite golfers even more,” says Mark A. Mungeam, Principal of Mungeam Cornish Golf Design, whose acclaimed renovation projects include Olympia Fields (IL), host of the 2003 U.S. Open. “The Lyman family and Billy Casper Golf are further establishing Lyman Orchards as Connecticut’s premier golf club, and this renovation is an important first step.”
The scope of work – including installing a multi-row irrigation system with a more efficient pump station to reduce water usage – will align Lyman Orchards with the Audubon International Cooperative Sanctuary program. Following Audubon-approved steps for an environmentally-friendly golf course decreases pollution and protects wildlife habitat, and Lyman will experience reduced use of energy, water, pesticides and fertilizer.
The par-72, 7,011-yard Robert Trent Jones, Sr. course opened in 1969 and features rolling hills on the front nine and varying doglegs on the back. Meandering through acres of woodlands, wetlands and grasslands, “The Jones Course” offers four sets of tees on each hole and its 44 bunkers provide unique challenges to golfers of all abilities. On the back nine, water comes into play on seven holes, and undulating greens rankle nerves of novices and scratch players alike.
In 1994, PGA Hall of Fame golfer and course designer Gary Player opened Lyman Orchards’ second course, a par-71, 6,725-yard gem. “The Player Course” is sprinkled with deciduous trees and classic white pines. The routing takes players through apple orchards and features ample elevation changes throughout. On holes No. 11 and 13 especially, golfers are treated to 360-degree views of southern Connecticut’s picturesque landscape.
For more information about Lyman Orchards or to book a tee time: www.lymangolf.com, 860.349.6031.
About Billy Casper Golf
Headquartered in Vienna, Virginia, Billy Casper Golf was co-founded by Robert Morris and Peter Hill in 1989 along with professional golf legend Billy Casper, the Masters and two-time U.S. Open winner who ranks seventh all-time with 51 PGA Tour wins. The company manages 100 golf courses in 23 states, the District of Columbia and Costa Rica. Combined with Buffalo Communications, the golf-lifestyle PR division of BCG, 24 of their courses were honored in the recent Golfweek’s “America’s Best” state-by-state rankings.
For more information about Billy Casper Golf, visit www.billycaspergolf.com or call 703.761.1444.
Contact:
Nick Lashinsky
Billy Casper Golf / Buffalo Communications
703.891.3324
nlashinsky@billycaspergolf.com
www.buffalocommunications.com
www.billycaspergolf.com
