Post by Richie3Jack on Dec 9, 2013 9:45:58 GMT -5
I didn't know this, but Rio Pinar is going through $4.5 million worth of renovations. My dad and I played there on Saturday and it was the best the course has looked in a long time.
They re-did the greens using Championship Bermuda. I'm a bigger fan of TifEagle. It's much easier to maintain and provides a consistently smooth surface. Part of the reason why I have a bias against Championship Bermuda is Eagle Watch outside of Atlanta tried Championship Bermuda and had nothing but problems. But, that course gets a lot more traffic and they had another major issue, some shithead living in a house off the course was using an illegal pesticide and it was draining off into the water on the 17th hole...which is where most of the water they used to water the greens came from. And that pesticide killed all of the animal life in the water on 17th and was killing the greens. Classic example of why I was glad to move out of Atlanta.
Anyway, the course layed down a TON of sod. All of the fringes were re-sodded. So where the areas around the cart path. They also improved the cart paths quite a bit. They could still work to level out some of the tee boxes. Unlike Metrowest who shut down for 5 months while they went thru a $1.5 million renovation, it appears that Rio Pinar didn't shut down completely and the renovation is still ongoing.
To me, the main issue with Rio Pinar is that they really need to renovate the restaurant and club house and they have to make it more of a 'community country club.' The community around Rio Pinar isn't terrible, but it's not nearly what it once was. And they need to find a way to provide an affordable membership for the surrounding community as well as get the restaurant and club house of that 1972 look and look more modern and make it a place where people want to eat, book banquets, weddings and wedding receptions at. Although as a private Country Club they are not really designed to make a profit.
I think the course has to realize that they cannot compete with any of the high end country clubs like Tuscawilla, CC of Orlando and certainly not Lake Nona. The surrounding area is more dilapidated now and that it has to be a place where from a golf perspective it's really about golf instead of all of the other bells and whistles. The advantage is the design which is pretty good and very old school (course was designed in 1957). It's not going to be the place where business execs are going to bring clients out to wow them. But, if you like golf and good young golfers in the area or mini-tour players and want to get in your golf where you can walk or take a cart, this should be the place.
3JACK
They re-did the greens using Championship Bermuda. I'm a bigger fan of TifEagle. It's much easier to maintain and provides a consistently smooth surface. Part of the reason why I have a bias against Championship Bermuda is Eagle Watch outside of Atlanta tried Championship Bermuda and had nothing but problems. But, that course gets a lot more traffic and they had another major issue, some shithead living in a house off the course was using an illegal pesticide and it was draining off into the water on the 17th hole...which is where most of the water they used to water the greens came from. And that pesticide killed all of the animal life in the water on 17th and was killing the greens. Classic example of why I was glad to move out of Atlanta.
Anyway, the course layed down a TON of sod. All of the fringes were re-sodded. So where the areas around the cart path. They also improved the cart paths quite a bit. They could still work to level out some of the tee boxes. Unlike Metrowest who shut down for 5 months while they went thru a $1.5 million renovation, it appears that Rio Pinar didn't shut down completely and the renovation is still ongoing.
To me, the main issue with Rio Pinar is that they really need to renovate the restaurant and club house and they have to make it more of a 'community country club.' The community around Rio Pinar isn't terrible, but it's not nearly what it once was. And they need to find a way to provide an affordable membership for the surrounding community as well as get the restaurant and club house of that 1972 look and look more modern and make it a place where people want to eat, book banquets, weddings and wedding receptions at. Although as a private Country Club they are not really designed to make a profit.
I think the course has to realize that they cannot compete with any of the high end country clubs like Tuscawilla, CC of Orlando and certainly not Lake Nona. The surrounding area is more dilapidated now and that it has to be a place where from a golf perspective it's really about golf instead of all of the other bells and whistles. The advantage is the design which is pretty good and very old school (course was designed in 1957). It's not going to be the place where business execs are going to bring clients out to wow them. But, if you like golf and good young golfers in the area or mini-tour players and want to get in your golf where you can walk or take a cart, this should be the place.
3JACK