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Alex Elias  Courtesy of Interlachen Country Club In 2016, when Oak Hill Country Club (Rochester, NY) retained Andrew Green to restore its Donald Ross-designed East Course, many were left scratching their heads. Now, eight years later, Green has emerged from a unknown commodity to one of the leading renovation and restoration specialists, restoring the aforementioned Oak Hill Country Club, Inverness Club (Toledo, OH), and transforming Congressional Country Club (Bethesda, MD). Most recently, Green spearheaded the restoration of Interlachen Country Club (Edina, MN). “Although many well-intentioned modifications had been made to the golf course in the years following [Donald] Ross’ re-design (1919), our goal was to return the course to how Ross intended for it to be played,” said Nathan Ollhoff, Director of Golf at Interlachen Country Club. To restore the course to Ross’ 1919 re-design, Green turned to Ross’ original blueprints, archived on property. “We were incredibly blessed to have Ross’ original blueprints,” said Ollhoff. “Although the blueprints are very primitive, they still translate to today, and we knew that there was nobody better than Andrew to interrupt Ross’ drawings and notes.”
No. 5 - Courtesy of Interlachen Country Club The restoration of the Par-3 5th green is perhaps the most evident example of the utilization of Ross’ blueprints. “As had occurred on many of our greens after 100 years of topdressing and mowing practices, the 5th green had lost much of the character that Ross had created,” said Ollhoff. “The green had shrunk considerably, become more rounded, developed a severe pitch from back right to front left, and the bunkers had become more offset.” Now restored to its original Ross-design, the 5th green has been expanded on the corners, the transition slope in the center has been reconnected, and the nine surrounding bunkers have been restored. “The character of No. 5 post-restoration is really special. It reminds me so much of the 5th hole at Seminole [Golf Club]. For all intents and purposes, it’s an island green,” said Ollhoff.  No. 14 - Courtesy of Interlachen Country Club Although the overarching emphasis was to restore Ross’ vision, the all-encompassing task was to do so while suiting the modern game. To achieve this goal, the course was lengthened from 6,981 yards to 7,201, the fairways were expanded from 28 acres to 34 acres, 12 bunkers were re-introduced to bring the course total to 104, and the average green got enlarged from 7,000 square feet to 8,300. As a result of the additional yardage and the fairway expansion, Green was able to strategically position the bunkers. “The bunkers are as strategically positioned as any golf course I’ve ever played, which forces the golfer to think,” said Ollhoff. “Throughout the project, Andrew said, ‘I want to make the golfer think, and then make a decision on every shot,’ and the positioning of the bunkers are a significant reason as for how that was achieved.” As a complement to the positioning of the bunkers, the design of the bunkers inherently reject the notion that Green’s bunkers are homogenous. “There’s a ton of variety in the bunkers,” said Ollhoff. “We now have 104 bunkers, and they’re not cookie-cutter by any form. The bunkers vary in size and scale, fitting into the land very well, with the island bunker between No. 11 and No. 12 and the church pew-like bunker on No. 14 being extremely unique.”  No. 12 - Courtesy of Interlachen Country Club Similarly to how Green strived to make the golfer think through the strategic positioning of the bunkers, the expansion of the greens resurrected the shot options that had previously diminished in a period where Interlachen had been described as “one dimensional.” “The approach on No. 12 is intimidating for all players,” said Ollhoff. “Andrew thoughtfully connected the 12th green to the 13th tee with fine turf, which makes the approach shot play significantly longer than it appears from the fairway.”  No. 9 - Courtesy of Interlachen Country Club If the period between the 1930 U.S. Open, when Bobby Jones won the third leg of what would become his Grand Slam, and the 1935 U.S. Women’s Amateur, when Patty Berg finished runner-up, is considered Interlachen’s golden age, then Green masterfully restored Interlachen to an acclaimed era that hadn’t been seen in ages.
“We poured our heart into this project and we couldn’t be more pleased,” said Ollhoff. “To have an old, but new golf course that challenges the highly-skilled player, while being enjoyable for every member is truly incredible.”
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