Climbing the Hill: Calusa Pines
Below are excerpts from an article that originally appeared in Fried Egg.
We hear stories of people in all walks of life who chase their dreams, overcome adversity and achieve moments of triumph. These stories provide us with inspiration to tackle our own challenges. To go one large step further, what about a person who stares death in the face while simultaneously working to build something great enough to outlive them? That is the kind of example that stops us in our tracks as if to ask, “What is your excuse for not living your best life today?” Just such a story unfolded outside of Naples, FL, at Calusa Pines Golf Club, and continues today with a vibrant membership, a beautiful golf course, and a surprisingly tall hill.
Gary Chensoff was like many successful businessmen and golf nuts in that his dream was to build his own club. He set about pursuing that dream with his typical determination when circumstances intervened in a way that would have caused most people to give up. He was diagnosed with cancer and received a grim prognosis from his doctors. In remarkable fashion, Chensoff doubled down on his resolve to see his dream become a reality and to prove his doctors wrong by beating the disease. His example had a profound impact on the Calusa team. “We knew that he was having treatments, and yet he’d be right back on site checking on progress,” recounts architect Dana Fry. “Seeing that made us all want to give our very best.”
The owner’s leadership went beyond inspiration though. Chensoff was hands-on in assembling a solid team and in attending to the details of course construction. “If you put a stake in the ground, Gary was there to hammer it in,” Fry explains, only half joking. Dana stresses the collaborative aspect of this project, heaping praise on shapers Steve Coe and Jeff Karsher, construction manager Clint Taylor, and grow-in Superintendent Eric Von Hofen and his crew. The club also notched a big win by hiring General Manager Walt Kozlowsky. Walt was instrumental from day one, helping to recruit key early members like John Harris, a former Walker Cupper. Visitors to the club today are met by a welcoming membership that takes their golf seriously but also knows how to have fun. I can attest to the fun factor, having laughed so much during my round that my face hurt by the 18th hole.
Design influences
Golf architect Dana Fry—formerly of Hurdzan/Fry and now of Fry/Straka—cut his teeth on a bulldozer with Tom Fazio before achieving noteworthy successes at Erin Hills, Arcadia Bluffs South and Calusa Pines, among others. During his time on Team Fazio, Fry learned from two key figures who continue to influence him to this day. The first was Andy Banfield, who was the standard-bearer for the Fazio team’s expertise in “creating environments.”
Sometimes Mother Nature blesses an architect with great land. In those instances, it is the designer’s job to use as light a touch as possible. Other times, a site has little inherent interest. Some architects avoid such projects, but Fazio has always seen them as an opportunity to apply his maximalist free hand.
“I don’t believe nature can make great golf all by itself. I think it’s pretty obvious that you need to shape the land forms to create a quality golf setting and to produce acceptable shot values. That’s where a golf course designer earns his keep.” – Tom Fazio
Banfield taught Fry that if you have to move dirt, you should move enough to make sure that the landforms tie together elegantly and naturally. The frame of a golf course is critical, and if not built properly, the picture never looks quite right. “Too many courses are built starting with the holes without paying attention to the larger landscape,” says Fry. “These courses end up with ugly mounding and ponds as a result.” Because of this belief in the importance of the frame, the Fazio team started by getting the landscape right. After that, they narrowed down to the level of holes and features.
The second major influence on Fry was Mike Strantz, famous for his creativity and artistry, who was also with Fazio at the time. “I have never seen anyone who could sit down and sketch a golf hole like Mike, and then recreate his picture with a bulldozer,” shares Fry, still with a tone of awe in his voice. Strantz stressed the importance of attention to creative details as the differentiator between good courses and great ones.
The dual influence of Banfield and Strantz is what Dana Fry brought to his site visit with Dr. Michael Hurdzan and Gary Chensoff. The owner gave the designers the objective of making a dead flat piece of southwest Florida scrubland look like a site that nature had prepared specifically for great golf.
Creating Calusa
Chensoff and team achieved his goal of creating a golf course that feels somewhat found rather than completely contrived. Understanding the enormity of the undertaking makes that achievement more impressive. The land was flat with a high water table, which meant that the holes would need to be built on fill. However, Fry was not about to produce a course of ugly mounds and ponds, so his crew launched into a massive transformation of the site that revolved around two key features: the lakes and the hill. They removed all of the soil down to the bedrock and set it aside.
Six months of daily dynamiting ensued to create the lakes that snake through the property. Those lakes were designed and built adhering to a key principle – a player cannot see both ends from any one spot on the property. This creates a look of a natural waterway, rather than typical Florida irrigation ponds.
Large rocks were used to build the central hill, with smaller pulverized stone employed in shaping the fairways and other landscape contours. Chensoff would check progress regularly and was met with a recurring thought from Fry: “Gary, I think we need to go higher.” The reply was always the same: “Do it.” The hill ultimately grew to almost sixty feet, much taller than was originally planned. The elevation it creates at the heart of the course, coupled with the snaking lakes, are the features that give Calusa its unique character and make it stand out from its neighbors.
With the landscape conjured, soil was returned to cover the stone, the holes were sand-capped and features shaped. A large scale revegetation process was also undertaken, drawing inspiration from the surrounding area. Hundreds of pine, oak, palm and palmetto trees were planted, along with native grasses, shrubs and groundcover. Von Hofen brought in a wetland specialist to enhance the lake banks, an important detail given the significant rise and fall of water levels throughout the year. Chensoff invested and the team worked hard to adorn the landscape in such a way that it looked both mature and “believable,” to use Fry’s word.
The course
“Calusa Pines will be a golfer’s golf course, meaning that you will never tire of playing it, there are an endless variety of golf shots required each time you play it, and every hole will be distinct and memorable.” – Dr. Michael Hurdzan
There are many reasons why members and guests love playing Calusa Pines. The course is visually stunning, with shapely fairways, bold bunkering and pushed up greens. Reasonable people can disagree about the aesthetics, but it is hard to argue the with quality of the work. Further, Superintendent Jim Whalen and his crew deliver an immaculate presentation on a consistent basis. Members know, and Dana Fry confirms, that there is substance underneath the flash. “It takes repeat plays to learn how to get around the course,” he says. “Members will often stand aside and chuckle while their guests are being aggressive in the wrong places.”
Calusa is intimidating from the tee the first time around, but once the lines have been learned, players find that there is more room than is initially apparent. The greens and surrounds are what make the course stand out. “This is an approach golf course,” explains Fry. “Players need to know when to attack, when to be conservative and when to take their medicine.” Those rules apply to recovery around the greens as well. Aiming at the pin is often a bad play.
Fry didn’t draw inspiration from any particular architect or course in determining the style of Calusa. The bunkering has shades of Alison at Milwaukee CC, with a splash of MacKenzie, Russell and Morcom’s Australian Sandbelt flare. The greens have a Pinehurst No. 2 feel in their construction, contours and surrounding slopes. After a cold snap, Fry admits that the difficulty can go over the top, but under normal conditions crafty players can use contours to their advantage. Calusa Pines rewards shots that are creatively conceived and well executed. It punishes carelessness and deflates big egos. Guile and humility are the keys to success.
The lack of housing around or on the course, coupled with robust interior landscape features that were created, allowed Hurdzan-Fry to route the course in a manner that adds to its mature feel. Calusa Pines is replete with cross-course vistas that deliver the multi-flag looks that we so cherish. The par and length mix is dynamic, and no two consecutive holes play in the same direction. Green to tee walks are generally short, creating a smooth, walkable flow.
Click here to read the full article on thefriedegg.com.