CAPE GAZETTE
Mon, Dec 29, 2008

Work continues on Baywood's Scottish-links Duneside course
New nine expected to be ready in 2010
By Dennis Forney

As the winter progresses, so too does work on the next nine holes of the Baywood Greens golf course.

According to Rob Tunnell III, John Traylor and his crew have completed four holes of the Duneside course, most of which lies west of Route 24 in the Baywood vicinity. With any luck, he said, course work will be complete in the summer of 2009. “After that, it will take about nine months to grow in so we hope to have it ready for play by the summer of 2010,” said Tunnell.

Completion of the course will bring the total number of holes at Baywood Greens to 27. “The first nine was our woods nine,” said Tunnell. “The second nine had lots of water and this nine will be a Scottish, links-style course with very wide fairways, large greens and 18-inch fescue in the out-of-bounds area. The fescue should be a beautiful golden color in the summer.”

Designed by San Diego, Calif.-architect Cary Bickler, the Duneside course is designed to help average golfers, not hurt them. “When you stand on the tees, the course will look intimidating, but it’s not,” said Tunnell. “We think that once people play this course they will want to come back. The fairways are 50 percent wider than those on our first 18, and they have a lot more movement, a lot more roll than the others. And there’s not much water in play. There will be plenty of water in the distance, but not as much that golfers have to contend with.”

He said the fairways are deep, with lots of mounding and grass on the sides. “The dunes have been in this area forever and we’re laying the holes between them, naturally. It will be reminiscent of the Scottish seaside courses, with lots of topography.”

John Traylor of Tunnell Companies is overseeing construction of the new course as he did with the first 18 holes. “We built Baywood ourselves, and we’re building this one as well. John’s been doing this for us since he was 18 – that’s 22 years now of shaping these courses. He’s done great work,” said Tunnell.

He said the first 18 holes of Baywood involved the use of 525,000 cubic yards of dirt to develop its shape and roll. The Duneside course will involve 650,000 yards on just nine holes. The new course will cover 2,750 yards. In all, when these 27 holes are complete, the Baywood golf complex will comprise more than 1,300 acres. A full mile of Route 24 will be bounded on both sides by golf course.

“It’s become a landmark for the area,” said Tunnell. “and as far as the number of rounds being played, we held steady in 2008 compared to 2007. The golf package play we have scheduled for next spring is already ahead of our total for last spring. We’re finding that a lot of people from New York and New Jersey, who were going further south for golf outings, are stopping here now for our courses and those in Ocean City (Md.)”

For a virtual flyover view of all nine holes of the course, see: www.baywoodgreens.com