Story & photos by Mike Besa
Several months ago I wrote a lament about how the golf courses at Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club had deteriorated and how I had hoped that the club could turn the situation around. Less than a week after the article saw print, the club called to invite us to see the work that they had been doing to get the golf courses back in shape. This was two months ago.
Of course, we took the club up on their invitation. Management had begun work to rehabilitate the golf courses, but we noted that there was much that needed to be done with two big tournaments (the BRAFE and the Asean Senior Championships) just a few months away. At this point only three golf courses were open for play. The Dye was in bad enough condition that the club closed it for play until further notice.
Although much had been done, much still needed doing to get the courses ship-shape in time for the big events they’d calendared. We agreed to return in a month or two to document the progress of the work.
Driving into Eagle Ridge’s main clubhouse earlier this week, we saw at least a dozen maintenance staff hard at work cutting grass, sweeping and otherwise sprucing up the premises. These were good signs.
After getting settled, we began our tour of the golf courses. We started on the Faldo, which was closed for play on that day. The course was in good shape and was in various stages of maintenance. The greens had been aerated and top-dressed with sand. The fairways and rough areas, as well as the areas around the tees and greens, were well manicured but we noted the bunkers lacked sand.
Our security escort informed us that the club had recently purchased bunker sand and that the club had begun work with the bunkers on the Aoki. They would then move to the other golf courses as work progressed.
The greens, however, looked like they had a ways to go. Most were a bit patchy and, to my alarm, two greens on the outgoing nine of the Faldo had been drastically reduced in size. Superintendent Tito Mojado later informed us that those greens had gotten quite sick so the club reduced the playing surface of the greens in question to allow them to recover fully.
Touring the Norman and Aoki golf courses, we noted that they were similar in condition to the Faldo; everything seemed in order. The fairways, areas around the greens and tees were all properly manicured. Work remained to be done on the bunkers but we now knew that was work in progress.
The greens, again, appeared patchy but that was really to be expected. The greens have the most sensitive grass on the golf course and will take the longest time to recuperate. The important thing here is that the club is continuing to work on them so they will all improve, in time.
The best news we received was that the Dye had been just been opened for play that week. Our schedule precluded a tour of that corner of the property but we’ll allow the course to recover more fully before we return to report on its condition.
In general, the three golf courses we toured were all in pretty good shape. Certainly, they are now far removed from the state in which we first found them when we started this series of articles and we commend General Manager Boy Blue Ocampo and his team for the work they’ve done so far. They’re definitely on the right track but much remains to be done.
There are little things around the clubhouse that also need addressing. The locker facilities and rest rooms all need sprucing up. Some things still don’t work right and others just need a bit more care and maintenance. But these are minor in the grand scheme of things and the way things are going now at Eagle Ridge, we feel certain that once the larger concerns are addressed, management will then turn their attention to the details that need fixing.
Things at Eagle Ridge have improved considerably in the two months since our last visit and we have no reason not to believe this trend will continue. However, maintenance is a discipline and the culture of the work environment. It is something that needs constant attention and the corporate wherewithal to maintain, much less improve upon.
As a former member, I’ve seen improvements happen with a change of management only to see them fade away with changes in priorities. I hope that this eventuality doesn’t repeat itself with this new team in place. Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club has so much potential it would be a huge shame if the club didn’t live up to it. It would be a loss for golf and for golf tourism in the country.
I was a member there long enough to see the golf course at its absolute peak. I also saw it at its lowest point. I am glad the club is back in reasonable shape and that it seems headed again toward better days. Some of the best golf in the country is at Eagle Ridge. I’m looking forward to the day that the golf courses here can again be mentioned in the same breath as the best the country has to offer.
Image credits: Mike Besa