We visited a handful of others in the area as well as on the east coast. We visited Battle Creek, perhaps the best reflection of Park’s work in the area. Many of us on the design team made these visits, and we collectively shared each other’s thoughts on how Park’s design philosophy related to Meadowbrook. So, we visited and studied as many of his other courses as possible to get a sense of what Park was creating when he came back to America in 1916, and we attempted to integrate his known built work into our plan. The Club felt that maintaining a connection to Park’s original design was important. The rest of the course was a mix of Collis & Daray, Art Hills, and Jerry Mathews. Interestingly, Tillinghast made a visit on behalf of the PGA in 1936, of which only minor modifications, if any, were made. Then in the 30’s Ross came through, and changed the 18 th green (which we think was an original Park green), so we started with only had 5 original Park greens. I can only imagine this connection happened in some way through Chicago and by way of Park’s eventual work at Olympia Fields. Collis & Daray assisted the Club in 1921 and expanded it to 18 holes. So really, MCC is only a 6 hole Park course. They began construction in 1916, but for financial reasons, the Club was only able to complete the first 6 holes of Park’s 18 hole routing. But no, they didn’t have any of Park’s original plans or notes. They did have very detailed notes in their Club minutes dating back to when the club hired Park, and they have a number of newspaper articles stating when they commissioned Park to design their course. Unfortunately no the club did not have any documentation. Many people said we couldn’t do it, but in the end, we did and we did it on time and under budget.ĭid you have any design or construction documentation from Willie Park Jr.? If so, to what degree did it influence the work? I think this connection with the general membership and the staff is the reason we were able to achieve 74% approval to close their golf course in the first place. Earning everyone’s trust is a very concerted effort over the life of the project, and it’s my job to give them the confidence that we’ll give them something to be proud of. All clients want to know that you’ve been here before and that the project is going to turn out great. Much of what we did at Meadowbrook came down to giving the membership the feeling of being a part of the process and that they could trust me to guide them through the entire renovation. I guess I would narrow my process down to two words: communication and trust. Ben Hogan holed out for 2 on #18 on back to back days during the ’58 Motor City Open for crying out loud! This place is really cool, and I’m honored to have had the chance to work here.ĭescribe your process for a renovation project of this nature. And no doubt, getting the chance to help direct a 100-year old club with such a cool design lineage in addition to its fabulous tournament history. Working in the Metro area where there is such a strong portfolio of historic courses is a big one. To be able to get back to the Midwest and work with such great people probably tops the list. What got you excited about the opportunity to take on this renovation? Enjoy!ĪNDY STAPLES ON THE MEADOWBROOK RENOVATION Thanks to Brian Walters for permitting the use of his beautiful photos of Meadowbrook. Many thanks to the Andys for sharing their outstanding work with us. In the meantime, Andy did an interesting interview with Dave Wilber from TurfNet. The possibilities had me intrigued.Īndy Staples and Assistant Superintendent Andy O’Haver did a great job of sharing updates as the renovation unfolded, and with every photo and video, my excitement grew (I highly recommend following them both Andy Staples and Andy O’Haver his role as a project lead, I’m hoping to be able to add some of Andy O’Haver’s thoughts here at some point.

Over the years, much of that Golden Age character had been lost, and Andy was charged with bringing back that spirit in a modern form. It was founded in 1916 and received attention from Willie Park Jr and Donald Ross. While doing a previous interview with Andy Staples, I learned that he would be renovating Meadowbrook County Club. One in particular has risen to the top of my radar as I have watched it unfold from a distance. The past decade has seen a number of wonderful renovations of classic golf courses – Philadelphia Cricket Club, Moraine CC, Cal Club, Orchard Lake CC and others are exciting for golf geeks at several levels.

Andy staples age