Omni Amelia Island Resort and Spa, the oceanfront destination off the Northeast Florida coast, reopened its Oak Marsh course in late April, following a comprehensive renovation carried out by Beau Welling Design.
The overarching goal of the $7.4 million renovation from Welling and his team was to protect the architectural feel of Pete Dye’s original 1972 creation. Additional objectives were to modernize the layout to meet the requirements of today’s game brought on by technological advancements in equipment; enhance the aesthetic attributes of the entire course; and provide a high-quality and consistent playing experience.
All the greens on Oak Marsh were rebuilt and regrassed with TifEagle bermudagrass. The layout’s fairways, tee areas, rough and green collars now feature Bimini bermudagrass. All the bunkers on the 6,471-yard layout were rebuilt and repositioned as needed. New drain pipes, liners and sand will make for more consistent playing conditions from these hazards. The tee areas are all renovated and utilize the “ribbon-tee” concept, creating opportunities for nearly unlimited tee placements.
Additional work expanded the native areas to enhance the overall aesthetic quality of the layout and to improve the turf growing conditions. Rounding out the renovation details, the course irrigation system was improved, and the driving range tees and landing areas were upgraded with new hitting mats incorporated. The existing cart paths were also replaced.
“Our team is incredibly excited about this renovation of Oak Marsh,” Welling said. “We were very mindful to preserve Pete Dye’s strategy and design intent as well as elevating the playing experience for today’s golfer. We have such a great relationship with the Omni team at Amelia Island, and we hope the overall aesthetic improvements, coupled with Amelia Island’s natural beauty, will truly showcase how special Oak Marsh is.”
STARMOUNT SET TO SHINE AGAIN
Starmount Forest Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, closed in January for a significant renovation to its historic layout.
The only North Carolina design from Wayne Styles and John Van Kleek, who worked primarily in New England, Starmount opened in 1930 and became an early co-host and solo host for the PGA Tour’s Greater Greensboro Open. Among the greats who triumphed at Starmount Forest were Sam Snead, Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson. The club also played host to the 1947 U.S. Women’s Open.
The comprehensive revitalization initiative aims to enhance the aesthetics and functionality of the course. Among the highlights will be a course redesign by renowned restoration specialist Kris Spence, who has been enlisted to remodel the course in a manner that brings it stylistically closer to a course from 1931. The redesign focuses on improved playability, especially into and around the putting surfaces and more defined strategic challenges.
In the area of environmental sustainability, the club is incorporating sustainable practices, including water conservation measures, native landscaping, and eco-friendly course maintenance practices into the renovation plans, while providing top-notch playing conditions. Also on tap are new bunkers, strategic tree clearing for expanded sightlines and tee boxes strategically placed to elevate the challenge and visual appeal of each hole.
An infrastructure overhaul will introduce a new state-of-the-art irrigation system, upgraded drainage and new grasses. Greens will be a hybrid ultradwarf TifEagle bermudagrass; green collars, Tahoma 31 bermudagrass; fairways, Tif-Tuf bermudagrass; and tees, zoysiagrass.
The renovation project began in December 2024 and is anticipated to be completed by fall 2025.
THE SOCIAL ASPECT
A proving ground meant to make any golfer a better player opens today…
Months of hard work, dedication, and a willingness to break the norms result in this day.
Thank you to Coach Holder, the donors, the OSU Family, @callahan_kyle , & the team that put in the work.#GoPokes pic.twitter.com/5S2UmVKsn7
— Andrew Green (@GreenGCA) May 9, 2025
NORTH COURSE OPENS AT VINPEARL GOLF LEMAN
Vietnam’s Vinpearl Golf Leman, located in the Cu Chi District of Ho Chi Minh City, opened its new North course in March and has another under construction.
Work began in February 2023 and both courses bear the architectural stamp of Golfplan, one of the busiest firms working in Asia. With its level terrain and severe drainage issues during the rainy season, Golfplan’s principal David Dale knew that the course design had to account for water dispersement.
"Numerous lakes had been excavated and the lake edges had naturized," Dale told GolfCourseArchitecture.net, while referencing a previously half-built course that had been abandoned ten years earlier. "We have utilized the existing lakes for a natural look on the North course as well as for strategic purposes. We developed an interconnected lake system to store irrigation water and dewater the site during the rainy season. We also created eight meters (26 feet) of elevation change throughout the course with elevated tees, landing zones and green sites. Few trees existed, but those that remained and were above the managed water were retained and utilized aesthetically."
Dale was especially proud of the variety he instilled in the routing and the historic nods via the design features.
"There is a wonderful variation of play direction with the North’s front nine routed with a clockwise rotation and the back nine with a counterclockwise rotation," Dale said. "The North’s par 3s pay homage to a few of the great template holes with the Dell, Redan, Biarritz and Volcano represented within the character of the golf course. Strategic design principles drive bunkering and features throughout the remaining holes. The fairways are broad and undulating, and landing zones have distinct locations that set up approach shots of varying difficulty, according to the quality of the drive."
Dale’s design partner in Golfplan, principal Kevin Ramsey, emphasized how shotmaking options play a central role from start to finish.
"Risk-reward is present throughout the round," Ramsey said. "There are numerous holes adjacent to lakes, but there is width for the short hitters to offer them a safe route. It is the angle of approach to the green sites that sets the tone for the strategic character of the course. The conservative tee shots will require more skill from the player to challenge the hole locations."
Greens will have sufficient internal contouring to demand precision from low-handicap players on approaches but are mostly open in front to allow run-up shots. Tightly mown collection areas around the greens yield a multitude of recovery shot choices for golfers of every skill level.
The South course is on track to open in August.
