2001 Leo Feser award candidate

Just as its mother company, National Steel, used all its resources to stay productive, so did the company's golf club, Williams Country Club. In Weirton, W.Va., the local economy -- and the well-being of Williams CC -- was dictated by the steel mills, especially National Steel's Weirton division. As the club followed the company's path, it was eventually forced to focus on only basic needs. But years later, with careful planning and a supportive membership, the club's resurrection began.

Willliams has a long history, dating to 1931. National Steel owners wanted to build a course with a country-club atmosphere. They wanted a place where they could entertain customers, a place modeled after the famed Oakmont Country Club. National hired Oakmont's superintendent, Emil Loeffier, to look over a site in Weirton, sketch a design and start construction. Loeffier remained busy with his duties at Oakmont, so his brother Arch took over at Williams, and five years later the course opened for play.

Williams CC prospered for many years and was the playground for National Steel and its clients. However, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. When the prosperity associated with steel ended, National got out of the steel business. It sold its mill to the employees and sold the country club to the membership in 1982.

For the next 10 years, the objective of the course was simply to keep its head above water. But there was an obvious need for renovation.

After three years of renovations, the final six holes to be completed opened for play on April 1. Additions, such as new bunkers around the No. 14 green, were part of the course's facelift.

First things first
I came to Williams in the fall of 1992. At that time the club was beginning to show signs of new prosperity, but the course needed to upgrade if it was going to survive. The first priority was to assess just how much work would be required.

The largest immediate obstacle was solving an existing problem with black layer. Black layer is caused by gas buildup under the green surface. It is brought on by anaerobic conditions and heat in the summer months. Black layer causes thin, blotchy greens for up to 90 days. We faced the problem by overseeding late in the summer.

However, members were still upset by this particular problem, so an informative meeting was scheduled. Thomas Watschke, Ph.D., professor of turfgrass science at Penn State University, was asked to review our situation and discuss a solution with our green committee. Watschke confirmed that the program we already had in place, combined with a vigorous aerification plan (20 times in five years) and the pruning or removal of all adjacent trees, would solve the black layer problem.

At the same, we sent out a survey to members to get their opinions on subjects such as green and tee renovation, course conditions, bunkers and the possibility of a water hazard. What the survey results showed was that we had a divided club membership. Almost all responses were split in half: 50 percent wanted renovation, 50 percent didn't; 50 percent liked the course in its current state, 50 percent wanted change. The only item that a majority agreed on was the addition of a water hazard.

From the survey results, the board decided the plan of action should be, first, to solve the green problem, and then they would OK renovations of the landscape, including bunkers, fairway bunkers and perhaps a lake or pond.

With overwhelmingly positive feedback from the club membership, the renovation plan was changed to include a lake, the course's first water hazard. CGCS Dan Houk and his crew added a 75-foot stream and waterfall to the 12th hole as well.

Planning for action
Solving the black layer problem was a slow process, but each summer the condition appeared less and less. Looking toward the future, the club hired a course architect, Jeff Myers of J.C.M. Group. Myers had grown up in the area and was excited about restoring the once-proud country club.

We determined that the course had many problems. Green surrounds had every type of grass that grew in the area; the bunker surrounds were not uniform in sand or style; the lakes became lost after fall rains, and they had sand up their slopes that created a maintenance nightmare. The par 4s were almost all the same: short with minimum fairway bunkers and not very challenging.

The renovation architect designed a master plan, with the hope that after five years the greens would once again be back to excellent condition. All the greens surrounds were redesigned, and fairway bunker complexes were added in strategic places.

Survival of the greens during the '96 season allowed us to put our plans in place. We accepted renovation bids and presented everything to the membership. With money always a factor, it was decided to carry out the project over three years. This timeline allowed project funding to come from the regular cash flow without an assessment. It also provided for the renovation of six holes at a time, allowing work to be done in October and November when play is minimal and green fees and golf car income would not be affected.

The board approved this approach and the hiring of Aspen Corp. of Daniels, W.Va., to do the renovation work.

Aspen Corp. of Daniels, Va., worked on the renovation two holes at a time. Here they are working on No. 2.

Two at a time
Renovation of the first six holes started in October 1997. The holes with the most problems were the first to be renovated. The 12 remaining holes were reduced to nine holes from October to April. The renovation was completed within 60 days, but the holes remained closed until April.

The renovation process involved two holes at a time. Following a hole design created by the architect, Aspen Corp. stripped all green surrounds and disposed of all sod and sand from the old bunkers. The putting green surface was the only area left untouched. Following the blueprint, the company formed new surrounds, cut out bunkers, installed drainage systems and added sand to bunkers. The entire green surround was sodded, and bluegrass and ryegrass seeded.

Williams CC's No. 2 after completion in December 1998.

Fairway bunker complexes were made with each green surround, and the process continued from hole to hole and repeated over the next two years into late fall.

Watery reward
The final six holes offered an additional challenge that was very rewarding for me and my crew. The board's feedback from the membership was so positive that the design on the No. 12 hole was changed to include a lake.

To add the lake, we first took soil samples to make sure the on-site materials could be used to form the dam. An engineer who specialized in dams was brought in to approve the design. A local company, James White Construction, was awarded the contract to work with Aspen Corp. on the new signature hole.

For me, this stage of the project was especially rewarding because I was in charge of adding a 75-foot stream and waterfall. The waterfall/stream runs from the lake to a smaller pond used for recycling water.

The renovation project was completed in December when the last piece of sod was installed. April 1 was the opening day for the final six, and the renovations met with overwhelming enthusiasm from the membership.

The renovation has been so successful that our club now has a waiting list for membership for the first time in years. We are making further plans for a new irrigation system. Although we want to complete an irrigation change in one season, we are still following the sound practices we used for the renovation. We've hired an irrigation consultant and will involve the general membership.

I know a lot of golf facilities need renovation. We found that a well-planned approach works best -- even if it's over a three-year period.

Dan Houk is CGCS at Williams CC in Weirton, W.Va., and a seven-year GCSAA member.