At $10 million, the renovation of theMenlo Country Club is the priciest ofall eight winning projects. But as judgeTanzer puts it, “;is was an impressiverenovation, as the high cost suggested itshould be.”;is renovation is all about modernity.

;e course’s infrastructure had becameantiquated since its last major upgrademore than 40 years ago, which is whymembers had an aesthetic problem. ;ewet months combined with a lack ofproper drainage systems rendered thecourse nearly unplayable in the winter.

To top it all o;, golfers were bored. ;e
course was unchallenging and hurting for
more visual appeal. Attracting and retaining members in a competitive country
club market was a feat that could only be
tackled a;er a substantial improvement.
But the team at Kyle Phillips Golf Course
Design made sure to keep the course’s
traditional architectural components in
mind when redesigning 13 new holes,
leaving only ;ve holes in their previous
positions.

;e course is longer by nearly 500 yards

What the judges said:

“An absolutely stunning
reimagining of a
century-old course
into a modern-day
masterpiece that will
allow a glimpse into the golden
age of golf design. ;e golf course
shaping is of the ;rst order.”

— N;;; M;;;;;;
“It appears this course was
intended to be a jewel
for the members, and
that intention seems to
have been ful;lled.”

— M;;;;;;; T;;;;;and par increased from 70 to 71 with theaddition of a third par-;ve hole. Newfescue, bentgrass and perennial ryegrasswere added throughout the course and apar-three from the old routing wasconverted into a new short gamepractice area.

“;e course achieved the goalof presenting a worthy challengeto the very best golfers,” the entryreads. “To date, no visiting pro ortop ;ight college player has beenable to do better than three underpar.”Member and guest play is upfrom a pre-renovation high of

20,000 annual rounds to 28,000 in its ;rst
full year of play since reopening. It also
has added 70 members to its roster.