Zinkand Golf Design (ZGD), led by golf course architect David Zinkand, has completed a multi-year bunker and greens restoration project at suburban Chicago’s Old Elm Club.
Thanks to the course’s one-of-a-kind design pedigree, the engagement represented a unique opportunity for Zinkand, who has more than 25 years of experience designing, managing and shaping projects. England’s Harry S. Colt routed the golf course in 1913 during one of his rare visits to the United States.
Donald Ross then led the construction, including work on its greens, during his absence. Together, these two legends of the Golden Age of golf course architecture are credited with 16 designs among Golf Magazine’s 2023-24 Top 100 Courses in the World. Yet, Old Elm, recently ranked among Golf Magazine’s 2024-’25 Top 100 Courses in the U.S., represents the only project where the two men crossed paths.
Although Colt’s ingenious routing and Ross’s inspired greens remained very much intact, by the early 21st century Colt’s original bunker layout had been lost through successive course renovations. Golf course architect Drew Rogers began initial restoration efforts, recapturing width with tree clearing and expansion of fairways and green perimeters.
Then, with Colt’s elaborate sketches and notes as inspiration, ZGD — as the club’s designer of record — and Old Elm superintendent Curtis James brought the original bunkering back to life.
"We took painstaking care to reintroduce Colt’s preferred bunkering at Old Elm, merging his aesthetic preferences and strategic concepts with modern play and maintenance expectations," said Zinkand, who spent more than a decade working as a design associate for Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. "The course now features bold bunker forms with dramatic ripped and torn edges that complement the site’s beautifully rolling terrain."
The bunker restoration work occurred in parallel with the regrassing of the golf course, including the famed Ross putting surfaces. ZGD touched six of the greens, including the celebrated Redan at No. 17, incorporating subtle contour modifications to ensure Old Elm continues to deliver on Ross’s cunning intentions. The bunker and greens work, combined with the regrassing and expansion of fairways to match Colt’s vision for a course presentation supporting firm-and-fast playing conditions, has received glowing reviews from members and guests alike.
"It’s an incredible honor to work on Old Elm’s incomparable Colt-Ross hybrid and play a role in ushering the two titans’ design ambitions into the future," Zinkand said.
In addition to Old Elm, ZGD is currently working on a wide variety of projects across the U.S., ranging from restorations and renovations of Golden Age courses to new builds with routings that push the creative envelope.
IT'S A WRAP AT ADDISON RESERVE
Rees Jones and associate Steve Weisser wrapped up their $24 million, 27-hole renovation at Florida’s Addison Reserve in November 2024.
Located in Delray Beach, Addison Reserve features three championship nines — Redemption, Salvation and Trepidation — which were originally designed by Arthur Hills and associate Drew Rogers in 1996. Jones and his team completed their reimagination project in two phases, the first in 2023 that encompassed the practice facility and the Trepidation nine. Work on the Redemption and Salvation nines followed in 2024.
"The newly re-designed Addison Reserve 27-hole golf course was created so that each hole offers a distinct challenge and character," Jones said. "The golf holes have a visual appeal while being strategic to play. Players of all skill levels will enjoy playing this course on a continuing basis."
Among the changes effected by Jones and Weisser were rebunkering to create individual hole memorability, regrassing with Platinum TE paspalum for improved aesthetics, durability and playability, recontouring on fairways and green surrounds for variety, and redone green complexes to boost the ground game aspects of accessing a green. Also new are new tees on the championship nines so that each hole can be played as a par 3.
"The project also included the creation of a Par 3 short course within it to allow players to enjoy the golf course from a totally different perspective," said Kevin Baldizar, the club's director of golf. "Many members have used it during days when we are cart path only, as well as late in the day for friendly competition. Florida State Golf Association rated the short course tees to allow members to post their scores. This gives newer players and juniors the chance to experience the golf course in a shorter set of tees without being intimidated."
THE SOCIAL ASPECT
Great progress on the grow-in at Poppy Ridge…Bermuda pretty much dormant at this point, so a lot of focus on natives, greens, bunkers and details until everything else wakes back up. @jayblasi @GHmgmtgroup @ncga1901 @masonjeff pic.twitter.com/NDWtSDPo6q
— Josh Lewis (@theturfyoda) February 15, 2025
HARBOR SHORES ADDS A WEE COURSE
Harbor Shores Resort, the Benton Harbor, Michigan, lakeside resort destination with its Jack Nicklaus Signature Design golf course that has been the core of a major economic transformation for the community since 2010, has a new golf option on the horizon. The Wee Course will provide another unique, fun golf attraction at the popular resort where children will play for free, and youth programming will be a priority.
Hall of Fame golfer and former KitchenAid Senior PGA Champion Colin Montgomerie will design this five-acre, nine-hole pitch-and-putt course adjacent to the cottages along the first hole. The course will consist of holes measuring 60 yards or less in length, modeled after the nine most iconic holes of the current Jack Nicklaus layout.
When Whirlpool initially developed Harbor Shores almost 20 years ago, it was all about creating a catalyst in the Benton Harbor community for economic development, recreation, and tourism. This project is about seeding the future.
“It’s the perfect use of the land,” says Jeff Fettig, former chairman and CEO of Whirlpool Corporation, who is the visionary behind the Harbor Shores expansion and a leading contributor through the Fettig Family Foundation. "We’ve been talking over the last several years about what other amenities we could add. We percolated the idea, focusing on families, kids, non-golfers, and golfers — wondering what we could do to make this an even more successful magnet for people in our community. This project will fit that need. It will be a fun pitch-and-putt course that anybody can play.”
The Wee Course will feature two sets of tees so that the course can be played as 18 holes. “It will be lit, too, so guests can play at night," Fettig said. "And it’s just something that we think will be attractive to the entire community, and that’s really what we’re trying to do. You can bring a wedge and a putter or just a putter to play a round with.”
Complementing the Wee Course will be an 18-hole putting course inspired by similar attractions at St. Andrews and Pinehurst — replete with lighting, music, and food and beverage.
The Wee Links development and putting green will break ground in early 2025 and could see preview play by Fall 2025, with a grand opening in the spring of 2026. The new course is just one of many exciting developments in the community, including an outdoor park along the canal on Riverview Drive and the continued expansion of walking and bike trails.
