BY JEFF FALK
LEBANON – Lebanon County’s oldest golf course is still fabulously gorgeous. But the Lebanon Country Club is having a little work done.
The Lebanon Country Club recently unveiled a renovation plan for its challenging 6,361-yard, par-72 layout. The plan is more maintenance than renovation, club officials stressed.
The plan calls for work to be performed on all 56 of LCC’s bunkers, new tees to accommodate lady and senior play to be built on the par-fours numbers eight, 11 and 18 and the re-adjusting of number eight’s fairway away from Oak Street. Bridges across Beck Creek on numbers 13 and 14 will also be redone.
The Lebanon Country Club has retained the services of nationally renowned Forse Golf Course Designers and Mottin Golf Course renovations to complete the project.
“A golf course is a living and breathing entity,” said Jim Nagle, the president of Forse Design. “This course has grown and evolved. It’s (the project) just trying to keep up with those changes.”
The focus of the renovation project will be on LCC’s traps, work which had been long overdue and that will provide them with better drainage. While the number of bunkers will be reduced, the overall square footage of sand on the course will increase.
“We haven’t touched our bunkers in years,” said LCC member and official John Gross. “It’s the only complaint we get about the golf course. We’ve had problems with poor drainage and we’ve exhausted every avenue.”
Country Club officials declined to release the cost of the renovation project, but they did characterize it as ‘a significant investment’. The last time LCC performed a noticeable upgrade on its golf course was 1999.
Work is expected to begin on July 7 and to be completed by the end of October. Officials stressed that play on the course will not be affected in any way, and that the prestigious W.B. Sullivan Better-Ball-of-Partners Tournament scheduled for the last weekend in July will go off without a hitch.
The current renovation project is simply the initial part of LCC’s multi-phase plan to update its golf facilities. The Country Club’s membership is split evenly between golf members and social members.
“We have a very good product,” said Gross. “We’re always looking to improve it. We’re always looking for ways to improve.”
The Lebanon Country Club golf course was constructed in 1920.
“What we love about Lebanon Country Club is its history,” said Nagle. “But there’s always been some disconnect between the two nines. Part of the plan is the marrying of the two nines.”