Course: Wynstone Golf Club. North Barrington, IL.
Architect: Nicklaus Design
Animation
- 18th Hole
Play Surface Visualization
Challenges: Members desire to keep costs within those of a conventional survey, while architects want greater mapping coverage and detail than conventional, and the superintendent needs additional asset map products. The original design drawings from 1985 use a unique coordinate system (as typical for the time). The existing aerial photograph was flown before coordination with fieldwork. Tall trees lining the course limit the use of GPS mapping, and water hazards constrain optical-instrument positions. Mapping must be done while the course is in-play.
Solutions: TerraVea delivered a high accuracy, high detail topographic dataset formatted to the in-house specifications of Nicklaus Design, integrating seamlessly with their established office procedures. The aerial photograph was registered and corrected to overlay with the field data. The original design drawings were registered to the new map base. Site photographs were provided for reference.
The combination of GPS, Totalstation, and aerial photography provided a more flexible and accurate mapping approach on the challenging site than a traditional survey or a solely GPS-survey. The high productivity instruments enabled the generation of highly detailed topography with 0.5-ft contours for the greens complexes, and 0.1-ft contours on the greens surface. This uniquely precise dataset enabled the architect to see the design exactly as it was built, and to make accurate volume calculations and budget projections.
Wynstone Golf Club received a complete map of golf course features and facility assets in both hardcopy and digital documents. Additionally, the entire dataset with aerial photograph was compiled into a GIS and delivered in a user-friendly software application. The superintendent is able to directly measure areas and distances from the GIS and print custom maps as needed. The areas of all course features (tees, fairways, bunkers, greens, ponds and plantings) were individually tabulated and summarized in a standard spreadsheet format.
The superintendent made significant adjustments to his areas. An immediate 30% savings in area was realized in their next contract for greens work. Knowing cart-path length and area allowed accurate budgeting for a major resurfacing project.
The membership values highly the quality and challenge of their course, and is now assured that the original design has been precisely modeled and can be faithfully restored after the renovation work is completed.