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| Norman Opens Golf Course at Savannah Quarters |
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September 14th 2006 - Excerpt from Pooler News
By William Saunders
Golfing legend Greg Norman put his seal of approval on the golf course at Savannah Quarters in Pooler Thursday, hitting the first ball off the #1 tee to a round of applause by gathered staff and club members.
"This is a culmination of many, many years," Norman told the crowd before he teed up. "I wanted to let you know every time I've been out here on this site I've never hit a golf ball. I pride myself and take pride in my team's ability to be able to build a golf course and make changes like we've done here at this golf course, that we see with our eyes and capabilities. I'm a staunch believer that you don't need to come out here and hit a golf ball to find out whether the landing area's in the right place or the green's in the right location. This golf course is your course - we built this course for the members here and the residents here, and we want to make sure you guys enjoy it."
The course at Savannah Quarters was extensively redesigned by Norman and Medallist Developments, which is a joint venture between Norman's Great White Shark Enterprises and Australia's Macquarie Bank.
"I know what we have created is fabulous and I'm looking forward to seeing it, he said to the members. "This is your day, this is your golf course. Enjoy it as much as you can - don't hate me too much - because at the end of the day, you're the one hitting the golf ball, I'm not. I put the tees and the greens in the right place - the bunkers you find, the water you find. It's been an honor. We thank you for entrusting us to do this for you."
Before Norman hit the shot, the course was blessed by Rev. Dave Allgire and Father Patrick O'Brien.
Norman and his company identified Savannah Quarters several years ago as a place they'd like to be a part of. "We knew the Savannah area was a fast growing growth corridor when we identified this proerty six years ago and it's still to this day that way," he said.
Norman tackled the golf course as the first ever complete reconstruction of a course he'd done, and he made no bones about the fact it was hard work. "One of the hardest things to do is accepting the job to do a total redo of this golf course. You have to respect the layout of the original designer," he said. "I thought long and hard about doing a total redo, but at the end of the day I'm proud of what we've done here. We've enhanced this property tremendously, we've improved playability tremendously. Even after 36 hours ago we had about two inches of rain and in 45 minutes the course was playable. A couple of years ago you wouldn't have been able to do that here."
Norman and his company (his "guys" as he call them) worked to make the course more friendly, yet still worked to keep the challenge of playing intact. Drainage was dramatically improved, plus he made the fairways wider and reduced many of the forced carries.
"It's easily accessible by all players, whether females to males, elderly to the young, and that's what golf is all about," he said. "You've got to make it a memorable experience that will make them want to come back."
"Golfers loved to be punished at the end of the day," he continued. "I know myself as one I hate playing boring golf courses. I'd rather have a challenging shot with a seven iron in my hand than have an open shot to the flag with no bunkers or water. You have to be able to make the golfers think about what they're doing."
During all that reconstruction, Norman said he never once took a club and a ball out onto the course to test what they were doing. "I trust my eye, I trust my instincts and I trust my skill. And I also trust my guys because I'm not here every day. I come in here four or five times and I've got to trust my guys to take my feedback. Every time I came back here they did what I asked them to do, and that is teamwork. I've never done it - I've never deisgned a golf course and gone out there and hit a golf ball during construction. I just don't believe in it. You've just got to trust your gut."
Norman wasn't just a figurehead making decisions from afar, either." (I was) very much hands-on," he said. "Like every project I do I'm very much there. I walk the virgin site, understand what I've got to do to it, and then from there I take it back to the office and discuss it, and we just make it all evolve over a period of time. I'm not invovled in the day-to-day operations of it, but I do know what's going on day-to-day."
Taking on the redesign and putting a course around a community with his name on it was a challenge, Norman said. "You take pride in it...that's one of the unique parts about designing a golf course around a residental developement because you know your name's on that for generations and generations to come." |
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