The Arizona Biltmore Golf Club in Phoenix, Ariz., has started an extensive renovation project on its Adobe Golf Course. Led by The Lehman Design Group and Scottsdale resident and five-time PGA Tour champion Tom Lehman, the multi-million renovation project will bring modern golf course design and water conservation technology to the 95-year-old course. When complete, the new Adobe Course will offer golfers more variety, challenge and length, feature recontoured fairways, new greens and enhanced landscaping. The Adobe Course is expected to reopen for public and member play this fall, while the Club’s Links Course will remain open for daily play.
“It’s a pleasure and exciting to work with the JDM team to refresh one of Arizona’s most iconic and historic golf properties,” said Lehman. “The renovated Adobe course will demand a much wider variety of shots, will have more length and much improved strategy. We’re using the most efficient and highest quality modern turf to dramatically improve the ability to maintain the greens, fairways and tees to the highest standards. Add on to that a wonderful landscape plan full of new trees, colorful plants and flowers and the result will be a far more visually appealing and fun Adobe course for players of all levels.”
Originally designed by William Bell, the Adobe Course opened in 1928, a few months before the iconic Arizona Biltmore Hotel. During this six-month renovation, crews will install a new irrigation system and plant new drought-tolerant TifTuf bermudagrass throughout the golf course. TifTuf maintains turf quality under drought stress. In addition, the new irrigation system will allow the agronomy team to control each sprinkler head while using high-tech sensors to measure soil moisture and salt levels to allow for precise watering and reduced water usage.
In addition to the new turf and irrigation system, greens complexes will be renovated, tee boxes will be laser leveled, and bunkers will be rebuilt, incorporating a technically advanced drainage and liner system. Throughout the renovation, the golf course’s general routing and par (71) will be consistent with Adobe’s famous parkland design setting.
This past March, the Arizona Biltmore Golf Club unveiled its new 19,500 square-foot .golf shop building designed by Douglas Fredrikson, AIA, and Alexandra Lemos of Phoenix-based Douglas Fredrikson Architects. The new building includes retail and office space, member locker rooms, fitting rooms, restrooms, and more than 13,000 square feet .of underground golf cart storage. In addition, a new cart staging patio serves as the starting point for golfers playing the daily-fee facility.
Simultaneously, crews recently broke ground on phase two of the clubhouse improvement project. Phase two will include a new clubhouse and restaurant, replacing the existing event tent and clubhouse and bringing additional on-site parking and landscape improvements. The new clubhouse and restaurant will open in 2024.
JDM Partners, the Arizona Biltmore Golf Club’s Phoenix-based ownership group, consulted with neighbors, community stakeholders, the City of Phoenix and industry experts on the multi-phase property improvement project. The significant investment by JDM will bring the historic property on par with the neighboring Arizona Biltmore Resort and Wrigley Mansion.
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