With each passing day, the grass is coming in more and
more at what will be the all-new Poppy Ridge Golf Course.
As part of the design of the new course, the tee box
areas, fairways and greens-surrounding areas all now feature Santa Ana Bermuda
grass.
The Santa Ana Bermuda was the optimum choice due to its
outstanding playing conditions, as well as sustainability and the Livermore
climate. It is one of the most drought tolerant hybrid Bermuda grasses, and is
very tolerant to high traffic. Among the courses using Santa Ana Bermuda are
the esteemed Valley Club of Montecito in Montecito and The Preserve Golf Club
in Carmel.
As noted by architect Jay Blasi, whose previous work
includes the recently highly acclaimed renovation at Golden Gate Park Golf
Course in San Francisco and being a design associate for U.S. Open venue
Chambers Bay in Washington, the Santa Ana Bermuda was the optimum choice.
"We think the Bermuda will love this climate,"
Blasi explained. "The Bermuda loves the heat and requires less
water."
We recently caught up with Blasi to have him talk about
some of the decision-making and technical precision that went behind the design
and size of the new course’s fairways.
Santa Ana Bermuda is featured on the tees, fairways and
green surrounds. Given the climate at Poppy Ridge, including the hot summers,
we felt this would be the ideal turf moving forward. Santa Ana Bermuda requires
far less water than the old, cool season grasses that previously occupied the
site and it offers wonderful playability year-round.
The greens were seeded with Prestige Bentgrass (a 50/50
blend of Pure Distinction and Pure Select). This newer bentgrass tested really
well in the region and is a strain that the agronomy team felt very comfortable
with. This bentgrass likes to be maintained tight and that works well with the
design of these greens.
The fairways will vary in width from hole to hole based
on the individual setting as well as the length and difficulty of the shots.
Given the windy nature of the site and the big elevation changes, the fairways
are quite wide. Most fairways will range from 40-60 yds in width with certain
spots being 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” so the
fairways are wider allowing 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.
We believe the grasses used at Poppy Ridge give us the
best chance to present high quality surfaces year-round. The grasses allow us
to provide firm and fast conditions which make the course more fun and playable
for a wider audience.