Norman's Latest Venture Taking Shape
MONTROSE -- Greg Norman showed up to Montrose in his work clothes Thursday.
The world-renowned PGA golfer and entrepreneur capped off a busy day with a visit to his latest golf course designing project, one of his many business ventures away from the PGA tour.
Norman designed the 18-hole golf course of Cornerstone Colorado, a 6,000-acre residential community being developed south of Montrose.
|
Dressed in a yellow short-sleeved golf shirt and a pair of jeans, Norman flew from Idaho to Montrose in his private jet Thursday afternoon to check out the course's progress -- and to go to work.
The private course, when opened next June, will only be open to the 412 potential owners of home sites at Cornerstone Colorado.
The course is just less than 8,000 yards long from the championship tees.
Thursday marked Norman's fifth visit to oversee construction of the course since he first viewed the property in January 2004.
Asked why he's made more than the normal number of visits he usually makes to check out course construction, Norman said, "One word -- pride. I want to make sure we get the job right.
"You know what the secret to this place was?" he asked at a gathering on the course's eighth hole for media and founding members of the Cornerstone community. "I did my first tour on a snowmobile."
Seeing the layout of the land under a blanket of snow gave him a better idea of the contours and terrain he had to work with.
In all the golf courses Norman has designed over the years, that's the only time he's viewed the land from a snowmobile.
Norman was immediately taken by the 6,000-acre property on the Uncompahgre, 3,000 acres of which will remain as open space.
"The scale is so broad, so massive," Norman said when asked what his biggest challenge was in designing the course.
Norman owns a 14,000-acre ranch near Meeker and designed the Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott, so he has a number of ties to Colorado.
Course superintendent Tom Huesgen, whose previous position was as superintendent at Pebble Beach Golf Club, left California in May 2005 to oversee construction of the course.
"(It was) the challenge of being a part of this, from the ground up," Huesgen said.
This is the first time Huesgen, who lives in Telluride, has worked with Norman on course design.
"It's really an impressive operation," he said of Norman's hands-on approach and of working with Norman's course design company.
Huesgen is particularly impressed at how non-invasive the construction has been. Most courses move an average of between 600,000 and 800,000 cubic yards of dirt during construction, he said. Cornerstone Colorado will move only 270,000 cubic yards.
The fairways and roughs are Kentucky Bluegrass. The tees feature Penncross Bentgrass and the greens are covered in A-4 Bentgrass.
Most of the course is being sodded, although some areas will be seeded next spring.
"Oh, no problem," Norman said when asked about growing grass at altitudes ranging from 7,300 feet to 8,500 feet. "This is cold-weather grass."
The course is primarily sodded because of the short growing season in Colorado.
"We have a five-month window at best," Huesgen said.
White sand for the bunkers was shipped in from Idaho.
Huesgen said he's pleased with how well he, Norman and the design company have been able to fit the course into the contours of the land.
"What you have out here is a golf course that was placed very well and fits with the (land)," Huesgen said.
Most 18-hole golf courses cover 125 to 130 acres. Cornerstone Colorado is being built on 375 to 380 acres, with plenty of room between tee boxes.
Two of the holes have eight tee boxes to accommodate golfers of all abilities.
Norman considers this a rare opportunity to put his course-design skills to work.
"You don't get very many opportunities to get the vistas we have, the terrain we have," he said. "It gets tougher and tougher to find a beautiful place like this."
