Playing golf in Phoenix? This linksy desert course needs to be on your list
Back in 2013, the property’s three-decade-old Indian Bend course underwent a major $10 million renovation via Jason Stracka of Hurdzan/Fry Environmental Golf Design to improve both playability and flooding. Indian Bend was extremely flat, which meant it was harder to drain after big rains. Flat courses are also less fun, so there was plenty of work to do. About 365,000 cubic yards of material was removed from the water much of the course butts up against and used to raise parts of the layout, improving not only the fun factor but the ability to properly drain. They also removed trees and added more native/desert areas. Only 90 acres of the course is now considered maintained turfgrass, which also helps the maintenance team (not to mention saves millions of gallons of water annually). When it reopened it was renamed Ambiente, which means “environment” in Spanish.
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The Eco-Friendly Golf Course Designed to be Both Beautiful and Sustainable [Ambiente Course at Camelback Resort].
Native Grasses Yield Water Savings
The Ambiente golf course at Camelback Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, was almost 35 years old and needed renovations. The management team wanted to improve the golfer experience and create a more sustainable golf course by reducing water use.
Ambiente - New layout reshapes Camelback GC
The new Ambiente course at Camelback Golf Club has blossomed into a layout this Couple of Travelers love to play. It is a big step up from the former Indian Bend Course at Camelback, which was built on a flood plain that couldn’t drain the rain. That problem led to other problems, such as being expensive to maintain and having limited play.
Facing the Challenge: ASGCA Design Excellence Award Winners
The ASGCA’s Design Excellence Recognition Program highlights some of the best recent examples of golf course architecture. By Design profiles this year’s honorees, including Fry/Straka designs at the Ambiente Course at Camelback Golf Club and Columbia Country Club.
Best New Courses 2013
Camelback's old Indian Bend Course, straddling a linear flood control channel, was embarrassingly flat and lifeless. No more. Straka lowered and naturalized the wash and used the fill to reshape every hole with such flair that Ambiente now overshadows the resort's Padre Course. Started as a Hurdzan/Fry project, now billed as a Fry/Straka design, Ambiente is probably the most improved course of the year.