The long 18th hole is a classic finisher. The 462-yard par 4 plays over a hazard to an uphill green with the clubhouse framing the approach shot.
C
The 17th hole is A 225-yard par 3 requiring a tee shot over water.
ontinuing a relationship with the United States Golf Association that dates to 1957, Del Paso Country Club in
Sacramento will host the U.S. Senior Open June 25-28. In 1957, the club hosted its first
national championship, the U.S. Women’s Amateur. The Senior Open marks the fifth national championship hosted by Del Paso, and the first one for men. “As the new board president
in 2010, one of my initiatives was to seek a national cham- pionship which mirrored Del
Paso’s rich tournament history and our legacy of leadership in our community through golf,” explained club member Dan Spec- tor, who passionately took the lead in the drive to bring the national tournament to his home club. “Upon approval from our board of direc- tors, general manager Bob Kunz and I started the process with the USGA.” Del Paso really began that process
in 2005. Spector noted that the old 6,300- yard course had served well for 85
years, but needed a renovation to better challenge today’s best players. The course debuted in 1916, originally designed by golf professional John Black. Subsequent renovation work was performed by Herbert Fowler, Sam Whiting, William Bell, Gary Roger Baird, Robert Muir Graves and Richard Phelps. But in July 2006, in conjunction
with the club’s 90th anniversary, Del Paso completed a $10 million golf course redesign and renovation using the innovative plans of internation- ally renowned golf course architect Kyle Phillips. The Granite Bay-based Phillips is known locally for his original design at Morgan Creek, and internationally for Kingsbarns in St. Andrews. Phillips has also completed highly regarded renovation projects at California GC in San Francisco and Menlo CC, among others. Over an 18-month span, Phil-
lips’ work encompassed mass grading, shaping, fairway drainage and irriga- tion improvements, and sand capping of the layout. Along the way, Del Paso’s original Bermuda grass was replaced with rye
SPRING 2015 /
NCGA.ORG / 35
PHOTO: USGA
PHOTO: USGA
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