Golf courses that have been let go are not pretty sights. Well-maintained grass and greens revert to a pasture-like state, as the course becomes an unkempt cousin of its former self.
Recovery takes time. But how much?
“For about every year you let a course go it takes you three years to get it back,” said Byron Casper, corporate golf director and golf professional at Warner Springs Ranch Golf Club. “This course was let go for the better part of almost three years. I think we’re ahead of the game by getting it in this condition this early.”
Using Casper’s calculation, that’d be nine years of regression for Warner Springs, which closed in 2012 amid bankruptcy proceedings for the course and adjoining resort and hot springs. Pacific Hospitality Group, led by chairman William H. McWethy Jr. and president Fred Grand, claimed the property and hired Casper to oversee the renovation of the course, which is open three days a week until a targeted grand opening in November.
While the course remains rough around the edges, Casper said the progress made in 18 months, especially with California’s drought, is remarkable.
“I think we’re ahead of the game by getting it in this condition this early,” he said.
During a September visit, several cart paths remained to be laid and the course had more than its share of bare spots, but the sizeable greens were rounding into shape and most of the par-3s played as finished holes.
“If it’s 80 percent ready (now), that remaining 20 percent is the most important part,” Casper said about the detail work ahead. “That 20 percent is the aesthetic beauty that people want. That’s what everybody sees. It’s the part that makes a course look like a proper golf course. And we’re at that level of detail right now. … All of that will be taken care of.”
That would complete a transformation that Casper saw as an unprecedented challenge.
“I’ve opened golf courses from scratch, but I’ve never taken one over,” he said. “This was a huge challenge, and that appealed to me. I liked the ownership group and wanted to take this on.”
The thing that gave Casper hope were the many stands of old-growth trees, which were still healthy and had given the course its character since it opened in 1984.
“The infrastructure was absolutely perfect. I thought we could have a pristine, desert-type course that looked like we just naturally dropped it in,” he said. “That’s what this looks like.”
The Warner Springs team has taken a parkland-style layout and added bunkers and, on the par-4 8th, a pond on the right side that stretches from the fairway to near the green.
“I love No. 8 since we added the lake,” he said. “It’s a great risk-reward hole. If you rip it, you’re looking at having a wedge in your hand into a green that’s front to back. But if you fade your drive, you’re in the lake. In a tournament scenario, you’re probably taking a 3-wood, hybrid or long iron there. It becomes a placement hole.”
While it puts some teeth into the hole, Casper said the intent remains within the guidelines of those handed down to him by his famous father and mentor, World Golf Hall of Famer Billy Casper.
“He always said that you don’t make a course for Tour players,” Casper said. “You make it for the average golfer. That’s a 17-handicap.”
The course is open three days a week during renovation partly so Casper can capture the play and get opinions from players he sees as vital to returning the course to its place as a recreational and social hub for the community.
“I wanted something people could respond to, and I’m getting some great comments and feedback,” he said. “But when you’re letting people play a course at this stage, you’ve got to be in constant communication about the things you’re still working on.”
Casper’s father died shortly after he took on the project, but he gave his blessing to his son’s involvement and commended him for continuing the family legacy of maintaining and preserving the game.
Like most teenagers, Byron Casper and his father didn’t always see eye to eye; however, as the two grew older they found a mutual appreciation for each other and worked closely for several years before Billy’s death. Casper said striking out on his own and working overseas, including a stint as the head pro at St. Andrews, earned his father’s respect.
“It changed the dynamic,” Casper said. “The last seven years, he became so much more than a father to me – a coach, a friend, religious adviser, etc. – as well as my dad.”
In that regard, Casper said Warner Springs has unintentionally turned into a legacy project that bolsters his dedication to the outcome. The course – or any golf course, for that matter – is a constant reminder of his father’s memory and influence.
“My dad thought I was good enough for the Tour and good enough to teach. He sent all his friends to me,” said Casper, who intends to make Warner Springs a destination for coaching and teaching. “At the end, you either feel like you had enough time or you didn’t. I felt I had enough. I would’ve loved more, but I felt like we had enough.”
And that puts him at peace.
“I don’t have any regrets. When my father died, I knew he was proud of me and he knew how much I loved him,” Casper said. “And he knew I’d do the job he’d wanted in terms of the family legacy.”
