While rain may not be the best thing for golfers, it suits Pompano Beach Golf Course Golf Pro Bob Loring just fine. “We are mowing greens on 1 through 12 and we are putting bunkers in places that warrant it,” said Loring, who has been the pro at the facility for the past 11 years and is looking forward to the Greg Norman Signature Design on the Pines course. “We are rolling the fairways and it’s a growing time for most of the holes.”
“The rain has helped it tremendously with the growing,” Loring added. “With the last six holes, they sprigged it with the grass 1½ times the amount they did on the first 12 holes to help it catch up and fill in areas faster. We are excited about the rain because it has definitely helped the growing.”
All holes have been grassed on Greg Norman’s redesign of the Pines Course and the final punch list items are occurring on the Pines Course, slated to open on time on Nov. 16. The city is also finishing up with the irrigation on the neighboring Palms course. Loring said they also put in concrete cart paths for the entire 18 holes and added that the remaining greens would be mowed by mid-October. Golfers are talking about the redesign on a daily basis.
The Pines Course, which is located at 1101 N. Federal Hwy., is one of two golf courses at Pompano Beach Municipal that originally opened in 1960.
“People who are playing on the Palms Course are seeing the formation of the holes and what they are looking like now,” said Loring, who noted the grass first went down on the course in late July. “They are looking like golf holes now with the grass growing in. People are really excited.”
“This is one of the most exciting things that I have ever been involved with in golf,” said Loring, who is working with the city’s public information office, parks and recreation office to have a grand opening ceremony.”
“We would like to have Greg Norman out here for the opening ceremony and we are not sure if he is in the country at that time,” Loring said. “We are going to be looking to have major tournaments out here.”
The course design was commissioned by the City of Pompano Beach in an effort to modernize the facility and give the city a championship golf course that will serve as a pillar for the community, providing a first class amenity for the residents and tourists of Pompano Beach.
Loring said the course is already one of the most talked about courses around.
“It hasn’t even been played on yet and people are talking about it,” Loring said. “Everywhere you go, people are saying, ‘Oh, you’re in Pompano where that Greg Norman Course is going to be.’ People are going to definitely want to come out and play it.”
Norman has made several site visits to the course to review the construction progress on his Signature Design – which will be his first design at a municipal golf course. “I was introduced to the sport of golf through public access golf courses in Australia, so this project and public golf are very special to me,” Norman said. “I see this as the first of many municipal golf course design and renovation projects that I would like to be involved with.”
For more information, contact the Pompano Beach Golf Course at 954-781-0426.