A wave of tax-incentivized turf reduction projects swept over Southland golf courses in 2015 in response to the drought. Steele Canyon was among the last to complete its work, but course management is banking that it will worth the wait.
“We looked at four other courses that did turf removal,” said general manager Colin Radchenko. “They were all different, and we realized we had to make it fit what we wanted to do.”
What they did is use the opportunity to revamp and upgrade the course while adding a vineyard to a nine-hole stretch they were looking to rebrand. The concept works because grapes qualify as drought-resistant plants, one of the qualifications for receiving turf-reduction funding. That’s why there are vines sprouting adjacent to tee boxes and greens on a nine-hole layout Steele Canyon redubbed as Vineyard. The former Meadow layout was the last of three nines to be built and the one deemed least favorable play players, said Steele Canyon CEO Larry Taylor.
“Nobody really wanted to play it,” Taylor said. “It wound through the homes, and it didn’t have the character of the other two nines. We wanted to make it on par with the two others.”
The vineyards are situated on reduced turf areas by the third and fourth holes at the course in Jamul. A stone bridge was added to No. 4, a par-4 that requires a creek carry on the second shot, to enhance the hole’s character. The renovated nine that eventually will yield grapes is currently yielding compliments.
“People love it,” Radchenko said, with Taylor adding, “We accomplished our goal.”
The vineyards currently are mostly wire and shoots watered by a drip system. There are 1,200 vines that need nurturing that will annually produce enough grapes to generate 2,400 to 3,600 bottles of Syrah and Sangiovese.
Greg Maness, owner of Maness Vineyards in Jamul, is educating the Steele Canyon maintenance staff on cultivating the grapes. His first task was to help ownership determine if the land was suitable for growing grapes and then, along with vineyard design partner John Kelly, assist in determining the angles of the vineyard plots to maximize sun exposure. Maness said the property is ideal for growing grapes because of favorable wind conditions.
“It has two real good airflow patterns are just perfect,” he said. “One is the cool breeze off the Pacific and then the warm breezes from the desert. It’s a double whammy, versus all hot or cold.”
The soil composition was also ideal given 30 years of fertilization as a golf property. Maness said he was approached by course owners over the years about growing grapes but had no takers until the drought worsened.
“It’s a novel concept … one that the drought finally put into play,” he said. “It’s innovative thinking, and it increases the property value and gives you usable product at the end.”
The novelty factor and eventual aesthetics are ideal benefits too.
“It’s an elegant low-water plant,” Maness said, “and the beauty of looking at the vines is captivating to people.”
All that can be seen of the vines at present are a few green leaves peeking out the top of a plastic sleeve that protects them from pests and acts as a greenhouse to nurture the vine and give the plants guidance to grow vertically.
“Those plants have to grow in. They’re just getting started,” said Radchenko, an admitted wine enthusiast. “We will for sure have grapes next year, but the real bounty is years three and four.”
The question now turns to what the club can become. The renovation came after ownership purchased the private Bear Creek Gold Club in Murrieta, and the two courses are now being promoted under a combined premier membership.
Taylor said the Bear Creek purchase also played into the decision to upgrade Steele Canyon.
“We’re trying to create a dual branding where the members here can play there and vice versa,” he said. “And we wanted to elevate this course to be comparable to Bear Creek.”
The two courses are different playing experiences, with Bear Creek mostly wooded and tight and Steele Canyon more open with dramatic elevation changes. A cool aspect of the pairing is that Bear Creek is a Jack Nicklaus Signature Design Course and Steele Canyon is a signature layout by Gary Player.
“Both courses cater to better players,” Taylor said, “and we consider ourselves very lucky to have two premier golf courses.”
Steele Canyon aspired to be a private club in 1991 when it opened but never quite achieved that status, but the renovated club has renewed local interest, Taylor said, and memberships are again on the rise.
Radchenko said the club relies on local play but benefits from being just 20 minutes east of downtown San Diego.
“We have a strong relationship with the local business community downtown,” he said. “We do a lot of tournament rounds that are from convention business.”
The course’s most popular nine is Canyon, which has three stunning and challenging par-3s all involving elevation – both up and down. The Ranch nine also begins with elevation change and plays its way around a working ranch. Taylor said holes on both nines were renovated to elevate the playing experience, and all 94 bunkers on the course were refilled with Caltega white sand to enhance the visual impact.
The work began last May and was completed in December. Taylor said the $3.2 million spent already has been worth it, even though the first cork from a bottle of wine in the vineyard has yet to be popped.
“On Canyon and Ranch, we took some of the tee boxes up another level. The tees we added really enhanced the visual experience,” he said. “We’re really pleased with what (the construction company) did.”
BY THE NUMBERS
1991 – Year Steele Canyon opened as an 18-hole course
1994 – Year the third nine (Meadow) was added
35 – Acres of turf removed in 2015
1,200 – Wine vines planted in the reduced areas
2,400-3,600 – Expected annual yield in bottles of wine
2 – Types of grapes being grown
9 – Number of new tees added during the renovation
19,500,00 – Gallons of wather to be saved annually as a result of the project
