A regional public golf course recently broke ground on what is described as a “comprehensive renovation project.”
Melbourne’s Cooper’s Hawk Golf Course said in a media release the three-phase project, which is scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2023, aims to enhance the look, playability, and maintainability of the course.
The release said the work will also be completed in a way that will minimize any disruption of play during the renovation process.
Cooper’s Hawk Golf Course opened in 2000 and has been voted Arkansas’ top public course four times by Arkansas Business.
Course owner Jim Cooper said the results of this project will be one for the community and future generations to enjoy. The release noted high school golf teams from Melbourne, Calico Rock, Cave City, Southside, and Batesville, along with Lyon College, have all utilized Cooper’s Hawk as a home course. And there have been more than a dozen state champion golf teams and individual medalists from schools that have called Cooper’s Hawk their home course, according to the release.
Cooper said the course emphasizes the importance of these partnerships, as well as making golf more accessible, especially to the youth.
“We think it’s important to give kids the opportunity to succeed beyond school well into life, and golf is a sport for a lifetime,” said Cooper.
Ben Cooper, founder and developer of Cooper’s Hawk, said his family “takes pride in their efforts to provide top-quality golf experience to everyone by creating a friendly, laid-back atmosphere at a great value.”
“We tried to break the mold that golf was a stuffy society and open it up to men, women, and children from all walks of life,” Ben Cooper said in the release.
Phase I of the project will include adding and changing a number of tee boxes throughout the course, as well as reshaping all of the bunkers.
Plans for new fairway bunkers are also part of this first phase, which should be completed within six weeks.
Phase II of the project, which is planned to take place this winter, will include the addition and alteration of several water features of the golf course. This will include improving drainage areas with new infrastructure, as well as utilizing the natural terrain more efficiently.
This phase also includes minor changes to the layouts of some holes.
Phase III is scheduled to take place next summer and will include stone masonry using local stone to accent the existing aesthetics of the course. It will also include a few more in-depth changes to the course layout.
Todd Clark, golf course architect and owner of CE Golf Design of Overland Park, Kan., is heading up the project. Clark says that as golf courses near the 25-year mark, it’s very common his firm takes on projects like this as a way to modernize and to also help with saving operation costs.
“It’s a beautiful piece of ground for a golf course, with a very nice topography and roll,” said Clark, a member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects.
“Our master plan aims to make the course more current and up-to-date, and to improve its playability and maintainability,” said Clark.
Clark added that two major improvements will be with irrigation and drainage, especially during times with heavy or very little rainfall. He said this major aspect of the project will be done by using the natural topography as efficiently as possible during the excavation and construction of these areas.
The release noted the irrigation system will also be getting a “high-tech” upgrade where the superintendent will be able to remotely monitor and manage irrigation to critical areas of the course.
Cooper’s Hawk superintendent Travis Lawrence, who has worked at the course since he was 14, said he’s very excited about the upgrades.
“As an avid golfer, I’m happy about the playability and beauty of the changes, but as a superintendent, I’m more excited that we can control drainage and irrigation in order to enhance the efficiency of our maintenance team,” said Lawrence.
“We want to enhance the natural draws and creeks of this property, and line these water features with local rock and stone as a way to help with more efficient drainage. Overall, it’s going to give this already beautiful course a classy, modern style.”
Cooper said in the release he hopes that, once completed, the project will “continue to bolster Cooper’s Hawk’s reputation as an exceptional Arkansas golf experience.” He said he wants people who travel from other parts of the state or from Missouri to play golf to think of Cooper’s Hawk as a “bucket list” golf course.
Images provided by Cooper’s Hawk
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