The retooling of Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach by Robert Trent Jones II Golf Architects has been selected Best Semi-Private Renovation of 2014 by Golf magazine and Golf Digest.
Poppy Hills, designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and opened in 1986, is owned and operated by the Northern California Golf Association. The 13-month renovation began in March 2013, with the course reopening for public play on April 4, 2014.
Every hole was returned to its natural elevation along the forest floor, the doglegs and contours were softened, and all 18 greens were redesigned.
Jones introduced waste areas that helped reduce irrigated turf by nearly 25 percent. Drainage and irrigation were updated, and the entire course was sand capped, promoting firm and fast conditions all year.
Part of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am rotation from 1991 to 2009, Poppy Hills returned to tour competition five months after reopening as one of the courses played in the 2014 Nature Valley First Tee Open, a Champions Tour event.
Robert Trent Jones II Golf Course Architects, headquartered in Palo Alto, has more than 270 courses in more than 40 countries on six continents.
SentryWorld Golf Club in Stevens Point, Wis., a Robert Trent Jones II-designed course that opened in 1989, was honored as Best Private Renovation of the Year by GOLF and Golf Digest, with that work also done by Robert Trent Jones II Golf Architects.
