A Note from our Director of Golf,
As Ventura Country Club nears its next milestone with our 40th Anniversary on September 11th, I am celebrating my 26th year of dedicated service. I love this place! The golfing relationships my staff and I have formed with our residents, golfing members and public players that all call Ventura Country Club their “home course” are stronger than ever! We have strived to be the friendliest, best valued and best conditioned course in the area and currently we are one of the highest rated courses on Golf Advisor in Central Florida with a 93.7% rating. We have a great reputation in one of the biggest golf markets in the country, Central Florida.
Ventura is getting better each year, and our Golf Course Superintendent Steve Holley and Assistant Golf Course Superintendent Roger Bays are making daily repairs to our aging irrigation system. While keeping the course in great condition gets more difficult by the day, we are blessed with a golf staff that takes pride in our course and works tirelessly to keep us moving forward. While so many courses in the area failing, we have been working on plans to renovate our aging golf course for the past 3 years and we have scheduled a start date.
Our upcoming golf course renovation will begin on April 4th, 2022. The golf course will be closed throughout the renovation reopening on or by November 1st, 2022. Pro Shop Staff is working on playing relationships with area courses during our closure to ensure that our residents can find good golf at a fair price. This project is going to be a full irrigation design and replacement and rebuild of the green’s complexes, tee boxes and bunkers. The USGA recommends replacing irrigation systems every 10-30 years and rebuilding greens complexes every 15-20 years.
To put this renovation in perspective, here is the background of the last 40 years. The Grand Opening of Ventura Country Club Golf Course was on September 11th, 1981. In the early 1990’s, the cart barn was built along with the addition of the Pro Shop. In 1999, the now 18-year-old greens complexes were rebuilt to USGA specifications. This involved removing approximately 18 inches of material and rebuilding the drainage system beneath the green, then the green itself. In 2012, the greens were regrassed with Champion Bermuda. In 2022, the Greens will be 23 years old, and the irrigation system 41 years old. Both are well beyond USGA recommendations.
Since the rebuild of the irrigation system and greens complexes are occurring simultaneously, this is the perfect time to improve the course playing conditions including drainage, bunkers, tees and greens. We all know our small greens limit the number of pin locations. Concentrated foot traffic and ball marks on our small greens makes maintaining the greens health very difficult. The small greens also limit the water egress points on each green creating wet spots, often in the approach areas and bunkers, making some holes unplayable. The rebuild will have larger greens and multiple water run-off points appropriately placed to make the course more playable and more fun.
Our new golf course renovation architect, Lee Marshall of Lee Marshall Golf Design, has provided an outline and plans detailing the scope of the renovation. I am happy to meet with groups of 4 to 6 people by appointment to review the upcoming project. The meeting will require about an hour, and I will present the project from tee to green. To make an appointment please email me at jbennett@venturacc.org
We have made it 40 years and this investment will put us in a great position for the next 40!
Respectfully,
Josh Bennett
407-277-2640
