Cabinet View Golf Course's original 9 receives upgrade

The turtleback greens are now gone, the tee

boxes and bunkers have changed and the new grass is coming in

nicely. In short, a project to redesign Cabinet View Golf Club’s

original nine holes has gone very well.

Dann Rohrer, a member of the Cabinet View Golf

Club’s board of directors who basically served in the role of

project manager, said last week that folks are going to enjoy the

new course.

“One statement that sticks in my mind is ‘we

maintained the integrity of the old Cabinet View.’ We didn’t build

a brand new golf course because that was a great golf course,”

Rohrer said. “We upgraded it, we brought it up to speed and now

it’s a better golf course.”

Cabinet View originally opened in 1957 as a

nine-hole course. The newer nine-hole section opened toward the end

of the 2007 golf season. To eliminate confusion identifying each

nine-hole section, the original nine are now known as the “Cabinet

9.” The other nine holes that opened three years ago are now called

the “Wilderness 9.”

The Cabinet 9 was torn up last August when the

Environmental Protection Agency began a cleanup project.

Asbestos-laced vermiculite was removed from the original golf

course’s tees, greens and sand traps. The exteriors around cart

sheds, the greenskeeper’s shop and surrounding structures were also

cleaned.

“We really did it in 10 months, that’s pretty

amazing,” Rohrer said. “It was unbelievable just trying to

coodinate it all. It came out well.”

The EPA and the golf course reached a

settlement before the cleanup project began. Like any other

project, the agency was responsible for tearing out contaminated

materials and replacing it with clean soil materials. Rohrer said

the EPA provided an estimate to the golf club on the cost to

replace what had been taken out. Cabinet View then got its own

estimates on a rebuild and accepted the EPA’s offer.

“We took sole responsibility for rebuilding

it, hiring architects, builders and the like,” Rohrer said. “And

the deal was we had to put it back into the golf course.”

Money paid out to the project was done through

a trustee with a complete record of bills and how funds were

used.

The timing of the golf course project seemed

perfect, Rohrer said. In 2009, only one U.S. Golf Association

course was constructed.

“Just because of the economy, it worked out

well for us,” he said. “We had a lot of people interested in

bidding it and we were able to get a lot of quality work for a

reasonable fee.”

Many golfers are waiting to hear when the full

18-hole course will be open for play. Rohrer was hesitant to give

an exact date because he really doesn’t know. But as of Thursday

afternoon, it appeared that the Cabinet 9 would not open until next

spring.

“At this point in time with the information

we’ve got, it says you should wait for next spring. At this point

in time, that’s the way we’re going,” said Rohrer, who then added,

“Between now and September, a lot of things can happen.”

Golf course architect John Steidel, who is

based out of Kennewick, Wash., did the design work.

“John does a lot of work in the valley,”

Rohrer said. “He’s had a hand in most of the golf courses from

Polson to Whitefish.”

The work done on the Cabinet 9 was

extensive.

“We re-did every tee and every green on the

entire golf course,” Rohrer said. “It took them below surface and

any dirt that you see sticking above the ground on any green or tee

is all brand new.”

Local golf pro Jeff Dooley is excited about

the change.

“The greens have been redesigned for more

playability and enjoyment for everybody,” Dooley, said. “From my

standpoint, the new designs of the greens are great. I don’t see

how you couldn’t like them.”

One component of the Cabinet 9 that needed an

upgrade involved the par-5 first hole. The previous yardage on the

hole was 465.

“That’s just not a legitimate par-5 … 485 is

considered the minimum,” Rohrer said. “It was moved back and we

were able to add a few more yards … 465 might be fun for players to

play but it’s not really legitimate.”

Tee boxes are now included on each hole to

match the Wilderness 9. Blue is back the furthest, then white, gold

and red to give golfers four tee options.

Jim Gibson shaped the greens and all tee boxes

were leveled through the use of lasers. Gibson has an exceptional

reputation in the business and has shaped greens for Jack

Nicklaus.

All greens were enlarged and constructed with

complete drainage. The old design featured sloped greens so water

would drain toward the front.

“It makes it wet in the front and hard in the

middle,” Rohrer said of the old sloped design. “By putting drainage

under them, you can put contours in them and subtle breaks. All

around, the greens are more mounded now as opposed to sloped back

to the front.”

Another goal of the project was to bring

together the two sets of nine holes with a common design.

“Now it looks like a continuous 18-hole golf

course,” Rohrer said.

Rohrer also said a lot of new bunkering was

completed.

“We took some out, moved some in using good

white sand,” Rohrer said. “We were able to strike a deal down at

Hamilton and it’s beautiful golf sand.”

The golf course is even safer thanks to an

overlay technique that identifies possible problem areas.

“There’s a template that you can use to

overlay a golf course with what makes it safer,” Rohrer said. “So,

some of the greens were moved and some of the tee boxes were moved

even 20 feet to the right or left to take out dangerous

situations.”

For example, modifications were made because

of conflicts between No. 2 and No. 6, as well as No. 1 and No.

9.

“That kind of technology wasn’t around when we

built it,” Rohrer said. “That was one of the first steps before the

redesign.”

In addition, the putting green was

improved.

“We put some humps and bumps in it for

practice reasons,” Rohrer said. “I think the people will really

like what we did.”

All in all, Rohrer said the project went well

with the available funds.

“We did a lot of things right. We didn’t have

a lot of money to go helter skelter but what we did have, we used

efficiently,” Rohrer said. “The members really ended up with a fine

golf course.”

Besides the full 18-hole course and putting

green, the facility also features a driving range and complete PGA

pro shop.

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On the Net: For information about Cabinet View

Golf Club, go online to: www.cabinetviewcountryclub.com.