A favorable green fee and pleasant-enough conditions assured a steady stream of play at the popular municipal course, Bethlehem (Pa.) Golf Club. Time was taking a toll, however, and management was concerned about the long-term competitiveness and economic viability of the course in a crowded local golf market. The course was not operating profitably, and significant changes would be needed to turn the tide.
The course dates to a 1956 design by the prolific Philadelphia-area design team of William and David Gordon. By the time Larry Kelchner took over as general manager in April of 2018, the golf course had changed a lot. Back in the mid-1950s the course was wide open except for trees on the periphery. Over the years, thousands of non-indigenous pine, spruce and maple trees were planted, lining the holes and forming a tightly screened backdrop for nearly every green. The bunkers and cart paths were also in disrepair, which detracted from the golf experience.
Annual rounds of 36,000 were standard, but the course still was losing money. Kelchner was determined to upgrade the facility with the following goals in mind:
- Enhance the golf experience so the golf course could thrive in an increasingly competitive public market.
- Operate more efficiently while improving course conditioning.
- Boost the revenue stream.
Kelchner did some research and realized that the USGA Green Section was uniquely positioned to help him achieve his goals for the course. He signed up for a USGA Course Consulting Service (CCS) visit that was going to focus on agronomy, the golf experience and course infrastructure. Each CCS visit provides practical recommendations with the individual course’s budget in mind and includes a summary report of the findings and next steps for the course.
USGA agronomist Paul Jacobs toured the course with the superintendent to assess course conditions, infrastructure challenges, and become well-versed on the resources available for course maintenance. Jacobs, a Michigan State University graduate, was the perfect agronomist for the job because of his knack for identifying the key priorities that courses need to focus on to improve their golf experience. Growing up playing municipal courses in Michigan and learning about the golf experience and critical maintenance practices while working at several top courses in the country, Jacobs was able to identify practical but impactful recommendations for Bethlehem Golf Club. After the full-day site visit, Jacobs wrote in his CCS report that Bethlehem needed to address five major issues:
- Cart Paths: Poor placement and subsequent deterioration from traffic and tree roots were leading to bumpy rides as well as turf thinning on adjacent areas.
- Bunkers: Bunkers were suffering from sand contamination, structural breakdown, poor drainage and sand buildup on faces. There also seemed to be more bunkers than necessary in some areas. Reconstruction was recommended, along with a suggestion to reduce the overall number of bunkers to save maintenance costs.
- Fairways: Fairways had become narrow over the years and could easily be widened out to the full extent of coverage provided by the single-row irrigation system.
- Teeing Grounds: The teeing grounds were too small on many holes, especially on par 3s. Realignment was needed on other tees to improve playability.
- Trees: Trees negatively affected agronomics, aesthetics, playability and traffic flow through the course. Most of the problematic trees were also non-indigenous species that had been planted over the years.
Once the CCS report was delivered about a week after the visit, it did not take long for Kelchner to convince municipal officials that the course needed more than the standard turf-related work like aerating fairways and reducing thatch in the greens.