Bunkers, greens redone after years of neglect
If watching two of Northern Virginia’s best daily-fee golf courses, Augustine and Bull Run, rapidly decline was traumatic for D.C.-area players, imagine how the designer, Rick Jacobson, felt.
“Architects get emotionally attached,” Jacobson said. “You work with them from a raw piece of ground, nurture them along from a vision and turn them into reality.”
By 2009, however, the reality at Augustine and Bull Run included horrendous conditions, bare bones service and unhappy players wondering what had become of the once-great courses.
As his first solo effort after working for years in the design firm of Jack Nicklaus, Augustine was particularly dear to Jacobson. The Stafford course opened to such rave reviews in 1995 that it led to other local projects — Bull Run in Haymarket and Bear Trap Dunes in Ocean View, Del., both of which opened in 1998.
“It was embarrassing,” Jacobson said of the disrepair of Augustine. “Your name is still aligned with the property. I heard from golfers who had gone down there that they were never going back.”
Some of those players, however, have reconsidered. Under the ownership of Raspberry Golf Management, Augustine has taken major steps toward recovery. After purchasing the course in 2010, Raspberry closed it for renovation. Augustine reopened in April, looking much the way it did in 1995.
Bunkers and bent grass greens were redone and are in perfect shape. Roughly 1,000 trees were removed from the perimeter, giving more light and air to the fairways and green complexes. The fairways, rough and tees are thin in spots but will fill in as the heat-resistant Bermuda grass grows through its first summer.
The revival is similar to what Raspberry accomplished at Bull Run after purchasing the course in 2009. Course conditions weren’t as dire, so Bull Run didn’t have to be closed. After hosting 17,000 rounds in 2009, upgraded Bull Run did 32,000 rounds last year, according to Steve Clark of Raspberry.
“The golf business is like many others. When the demand softens, you need to maintain or improve your services,” Clark said. “The previous owners of both Bull Run and Augustine went more down the cut-expenses, cut-costs route. The product suffered to the degree where it couldn’t be supported.”
Jacobson said he was “thrilled” to hear of Raspberry’s takeover of the courses he designed. Other Virginia courses under the Raspberry umbrella are highly acclaimed Raspberry Falls (Leesburg), Cannon Ridge (Fredericksburg), Old Hickory (Woodbridge) and Blue Ridge Shadows (Front Royal).
Players who had sworn off Augustine and Bull Run were inclined to give them a second chance after they became associated with Raspberry. Positive reviews of Augustine are spreading by word of mouth, just as they have the last two years about Bull Run.
After a long hiatus, Keith Cotner of Manassas returned to Bull Run last week and remembered what made it so appealing.
“It’s in fantastic shape,” Cotner said. “Each hole is totally separated from the other holes and fairways. I felt like I was in my own private nature preserve.”
