MEMBER CLUB PROFILE
Fulfilling
Fazio’s
Master Plan
at Waynesborough CC
Fulfilling
Fazio’s
Master Plan
at Waynesborough CC
BY MARTIN D. EMENO, JR.
The newly restored 9th hole, Waynesborough Country Club
eorge Fazio’s vision is almost complete, albeit 48 years after
Waynesborough Country Club’s birth.
In a move to fulfill Fazio’s original 1963 design, the Paoli, Pa.
course started a “restoration/modernization” this summer.
Changes include environmental upgrades; a new, larger and
more challenging putting surface on the par 3, 14th; improved
tee box/fairway sight lines and, the most prominent difference, a return to Fazio’s
original bunker concept. Add in a selected number of hole reconfigurations, tree
removal to allow more sunlight in and chipping area additions, and it is a process
that will take two to three years to complete.
“We wanted to put George Fazio’s look back on the ground,” said Tom
Marzolf, a senior design associate for Fazio Golf Course Designers, the group
overseeing the design and implementing the changes. “In 1965, he couldn’t
afford to finish his design.
“[George] Fazio’s concept is for the golfer to read the hole from the tee. He
didn’t want anything hidden. Bunkers are to be prominent and seen.” (The
restored bunkers now contain Valley Forge white sand and are visually striking.)
George Fazio, a fine player in his day who won twice on the PGA Tour in the
late 40s, crafted Waynesborough with a scant $240,000 budget. It opened in
1965, but Fazio didn’t have sufficient funds to implement his every nuance.
“The changes aren’t radical, but to the golf course aficionado they will be
dramatic,” said Club President John Bagby, Jr. “My father was an original
member and I caddied here as a kid. I’m thrilled we are going to raise George’s
vision out of the ground.”
George Fazio’s name occupies the architect marquee, but it was nephew Tom
Fazio, yes, the now world acclaimed Tom Fazio, who was the man responsible for
moving Waynesborough dirt back in the day. At the time, Waynesborough was
Tom Fazio’s second-ever golf course construction. Squires Golf Club, another
GAP Member, was the first.
“The changes aren’t radical, but to the golf
course aficionado they will be dramatic. I’m
thrilled we are going to raise George’s vision
out of the ground.” – Club President John Bagby, Jr.
century without any results, but when Marzolf made a visit in 2007 to discuss
trees issues, the wheels were truly set in motion. Trees led to Marzolf and Bagby,
then the Green Chairman, to examine everything from bunkers to golf course
length. There were two key factors that ushered in such talk some five years ago:
The advancement of both ball and club technology and the lack of bunker work
to Waynesborough since its founding. Waynesborough redid its sand hazards
only once since opening, in 1997 by Gil Hanse. A call to action was penned, although the 2008 recession almost derailed it, and the plan implemented this year.
“Our primary goal was to renovate the golf course so that it was the highest
quality championship course we could put on the ground and to return it to that,”
said Bagby. “The original concept of Waynesborough was that it would be a
