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Prior to Hurricane
Katrina, the US Air Force planned on repairing the greens at Bay
Breeze GC at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. After Katrina's storm surge covered parts of the course
with as much as eight feet of water, all of the green complexes were
damaged by the storm and three fairways were covered with
mucky marine silt. The clubhouse was destroyed by
the storm surge from the Back Bay of Biloxi which caused the damage
to the base. In addition, the course's irrigation system was
destroyed and the irrigation lake was filled with debris--everything from lawn chairs to
refrigerators--and enough salt water to sustain crabs and other salt
water animals for weeks after the storm. Working
closely with Engineering-Environmental Management, Inc. of San
Antonio, Watermark Golf/Nathan Crace Design was called in to handle
the design of the green complex repair project.
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After
Katrina made landfall, portions of the course were under as
much as eight feet of water from the storm surge along the
Back Bay of Biloxi. The floor of the on-course restroom near the 13th
tee in the photo at left was about five feet above sea level
before the storm (the Bay is visible in the background). |
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The
"Before & After" photos below show the results
of the repair work at Bay Breeze GC on
Keesler AFB. |
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The
most unique feature of Bay Breeze is, ironically, the same thing that
devastated the course during the hurricane--it's setting along the
Back Bay of Biloxi. Five holes run along the bay on property
that is some of the most visually stunning for golf on the Mississippi
Gulf Coast! The trick in the design along those holes was in opening
views of the tidal marsh while carefully balancing cut and fill, as
three of the holes are positioned on Air Force landfill sites and no
material was to be hauled in from off-site for any of the green
complexes. All
greens were repaired to current USGA standards and enlarged where
allowed to permit additional pin placements and lessen
the stress on the greens from foot traffic. Additionally, the new green complexes
now have new and better placed bunkering and the putting
surfaces feature the rolling yet subtle contours Mr.
Crace is known for in his work. After
spending months in the planning stage, Mr. Crace developed an
aesthetically pleasing solution that will be both cost effective to
maintain and fun to play.
Construction is complete and
everyone on the base from the top brass to the course management team
is eager with anticipation to play the new course when it re-opens on
2 November 2007. Some "Before & After" photos of
selected holes are being posted below
as time permits. Be sure to check back again for more updates
and photos!
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