Rees Jones heads $1M bunker renovation at Kentucky course

Griffin Gate Golf Club, a Marriott Golf-managed facility in Lexington, Ky., has broken ground on a $1 million bunker renovation project along with a complete greens complex refinement.

Renowned golf architect Rees Jones, the original Griffin Gate designer, will direct the project. The project is scheduled for completion in mid-May.

“I am happy to be returning to work on Griffin Gate, one of my first designs. It’s like seeing an old friend after 34 years,” Jones says. “1981 was quite a while back, so a bunker renovation to bring the course ‘back to the future’ will serve the course well. We are also re-defining the fairway lines and creating chipping areas to give the course more varied challenges.”

Jones and his team will use the Better Billy Bunker Method throughout the course. The system has been utilized on multiple Marriott Golf facilities, with the most recent one installed at The Rookery at Marco at the Marco Island Marriott Resort. The Better Billy Bunker Method can also be seen at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., Bethpage Black in New York and Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., site of the 2016 Ryder Cup.

“We are extremely excited to have Rees Jones return to Griffin Gate and lead not only the bunker renovation, but the greens complex refinement as well,” says Mark Ravenscraft, general manager, Griffin Gate Marriott Resort & Spa.

To allow play to continue while the renovations are being completed the project will take place in two 9-hole phases.