Jackson Park Golf changes right on course

In the 1990s, the environmentalists drove the builders of golf courses nuts, preferring to save a salamander than par. The cost of doing business soared as wetlands were circumvented.

But, now, within the city limits of Seattle, the synergy of environmental and recreational needs is producing a massive makeover at Jackson Park Golf Course.

A Seattle Public Utilities project to save and detain the waters of Thornton Creek will not only produce a renovation of the course's front nine, but will pay for it.

This is classic win-win. The winter waters of the little creek will be held in three large detention ponds covering nearly four acres.

No longer will they scour the creek and its habitat during storms. At the same time, environmental engineers are replacing the habitat. Last week, a beaver was seen just a few blocks away, apparently awaiting the project's finish as ardently as are the golfers.

More fish are sure to follow.

Meanwhile, Seattle Golf, the non-profit organization that runs the city's three golf courses, expects the front nine to be finished and playable next spring or early summer.

Already, two of the big ponds have been completed and grass is growing on the newly reshaped No. 1 fairway.

"When I came to the Northwest in 1980, Jackson Park was the most heavily played course in the state,'' said John Steidel, the golf-course architect. "Now it is Riverbend (in Kent).

"What we are doing here is modernizing a golf course.''

The nearly four acres of ponds were designed not to interrupt the course, but to enhance it. They will offer some kind of water feature on seven holes.

A good example is the short par-4 third hole that runs along I-5. Reachable by big hitters, the green, the only new one being built in the project, is being moved 50 yards to make the hole longer. The green will also be bordered on two sides by water.

The par-4 seventh hole was once as wide as I-5. Now it demands a tee shot that will carry the creek, and a second shot that must avoid water along the right side of the fairway.

The weather has been so good this fall that the final pond's completion is expected by the end of November. It has been hoped that the changes on hole Nos. 1, 8 and 9 would take place this fall, and those on Nos. 3, 4, 7 and 16 would happen next spring. Instead, they should all be finished before spring.

Golfers are still playing the course amidst construction. All 18 greens are in play, but some holes, like No. 1 and No. 9, have been shortened drastically. The course has been reversed — golfers start on the old back nine — and par has dropped from 71 to 68. The price has dropped, too, to $20 a round.

"Our play is off about 20 percent,'' said Ron Gibbs, the director of Seattle golf, "but the golfers generally seemed pleased with the progress we're making and understanding of the inconvenience.''

An antiquated irrigation system is also being replaced as holes are redone. The cost of the water detention project is $5.5 million, $1.5 million of that being spent to reshape the golf course. Seattle Golf will spend $800,000 to extend new irrigation throughout the course.

This is not the first time Seattle Public Utilities has helped update the golf course. Its first detention pond was placed alongside the 14th hole, which was completely redesigned.

The master plan for the modernization of Jackson Park, which was built in 1930, calls for the building of a driving range where the old 10th hole now sits. No. 10 will relocate east of where it is now, causing the 11th hole to be shortened to a par 3. Eventually, Nos. 15 and 17 will be lengthened to par 5s, changing par from 71 to 72.

Seattle Golf expects to have all these changes done within three years.

Gavin Patterson of Seattle Public Utilities said the city was fortunate to have the land available in the form of the golf course to build the detention ponds.

"In most cities this size it would be impossible,'' Patterson said. "This is a great opportunity for everyone.''

For golfers who know Jackson Park, the biggest difference when they play next spring will come on the very first hole, which may go from being the worst on the course to one of the best.

It still isn't a long par 5, but at least you can see where you are going. The fairway has been cut down 14 feet so it no longer requires a blind drive.

The hole eventually swings around one of the big ponds and passes over a revitalized Thornton Creek, which was not much more than a ditch before.

A new bunker is being built right of the uphill green.

The third and seventh holes will also be improved by the addition of water hazards. Like on the adjoining first hole, the ninth fairway is being lowered so you can see the green for your second shot.

A project that will help habitat and hacker alike.

Blaine Newnham:206-464-2364 or bnewnham@seattletimes.com.