Ken Weinstein and Chris Wahlers ended their first season as owners of Sandy Pond Golf Course the same way they began -- by making improvements from top to bottom at their nine-hole course in Riverhead.
More accurately, the improvements went from bottom to top. One of their first projects, according to this Riverhead News-Review profile from last June, involved cleaning out the course's three namesake ponds. And among a host of renovations last fall was a resurfacing of the elevated fourth tee. (A time-lapse video of the teebox reno can be viewed at Sandy Pond's Facebook page.)
The results of their hard work on and around the course late in 2012 will soon become evident to returning golfers, though by that time, Weinstein and Wahlers will already be far into their 2013 to-do list. Aside from the reshaping and extension of the #4 tee, the Sandy Pond crew renovated tees on #1, #6 and #7, all of which will debut this spring. They also added mounding and tall fescue to some rough areas between fairways.
Much of the effort, however, was devoted to the putting surfaces. "The biggest improvement has to be the greens," Wahlers says. "Last winter when we took over, some of them had up to 40% turf loss. As of right now every green has been expanded and is in great shape."
While last season's cleanup and renovations were designed, Wahlers says, "to try to get the worst out of the way," the tasks in year two -- besides bunker restoration on #1 and #9 -- will focus a little more on the periphery of the course. One project already underway is the "clearing and beautifying" of some of the outside out-of-play areas. The bathrooms and clubhouse are currently being upgraded.
If all goes according to plan, when the warm weather arrives golfers will be able to unwind on a new shaded patio with food and drinks.
For more on Sandy Pond, check out the course flyover or visit the Sandy Pond website (Facebook).
[PICTURED, above left: View from the elevated fourth, which this season will have a newly shaped and surfaced teeing area.]
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