Stonebridge Ranch reopens its redesigned No. 1 course, with bunker work on a third course due by year's end

Members of The Clubs of Stonebridge Ranch are back on the club's No. 1 course after a redesign, the latest phase of a multiyear rework of all 27 holes at the McKinney club.

The nine-hole layout reopened to members Saturday, Oct. 3, according to a release from Invited Clubs, the Dallas-based company that operates the private club. World Golf Hall of Fame member Lanny Wadkins and course designer Kurt Bowman handled the redesign, which the company said focused on playability and on opening up views and sightlines.

Among the changes the release describes:

• The green on the second hole was rebuilt so players can run the ball onto it, and new trees were planted to screen views of Lake Forest Drive.
• Fairway bunkers on the sixth hole were combined and moved to make them easier to see and to improve turf conditions.
• The ninth green was shifted left and lowered so it can be seen better from the fairway.

Golf carts must stay on paths while the new turf grows in, and the club expects that rule to remain in place likely through spring.

Three phases

The work is being done in three phases. Wadkins and Bowman earlier finished Course No. 2, where the work included reshaped bunkers, rebuilt greens planted with G12 Bermuda grass, laser-leveled tees and fairway improvements, the company said. Bunker renovations on Course No. 3 are set to begin before the end of the year.

Invited Clubs described the course work as part of a multimillion-dollar reinvestment across its clubs nationwide but did not give a cost for Stonebridge Ranch. Besides golf, the club has a racquet sports complex, a fitness center and two restaurants, Pete's and the Twenty-8 Grille, according to the release.

The club is private. Membership questions go to the club's membership office, the company said.

Sources

thegolfwire.com