A fresh vision for Florida club
Fazio Design is undertaking a project to improve the playing experience of the Joe Lee layout at Interlachen Country Club.
N ot to be confused with its Donald Ross-designed namesake in Minnesota, Interlachen Country Club in Winter Park, Florida, opened its golf course in 1985. Designer Joe Lee moved over 1.5 million cubic yards of earth in the process of excavating lakes and creating contour for the club’s 270 acre site.
The club turned to Tom Fazio, ASGCA, to reimagine the layout. Fazio has many friends at Interlachen and has played golf there often with his wife, Susan. He wanted a member-friendly round that is visually bold and holds player interest with variety in green shapes, angles and contours. ASGCA Past President Tom Marzolf of Fazio Design has been working on site with Fazio, club superintendent Bryce Gibson as well as Fazio Design colleagues, and ASGCA Past Presidents, Rick Phelps and Michael Benkusky.
The team have been replacing aging infrastructure, upgrading irrigation and drainage, and reimagining course features. “The land the course sits on is very gentle and relatively flat,” says Marzolf. “We listened to the members, who asked for dryer, firmer conditions, on a site prone to seasonal hurricane flooding and slow-to-dry soils.” Delivering that vision meant overcoming significant site challenges. “It has been a tough assignment,” says Marzolf, who has extended the existing lakes to provide the fill needed to venue Adare Manor in Ireland, among others. Together they have integrated agronomic best practices into the design. This included a full peer review of agronomic specifications, material evaluation and laboratory testing oversight in partnership with Kansas-based Turf & Soil Diagnostics.
“We completed a review of the construction specifications and grass species selections for the entire course,” says Adam Moeller of “The design produces a predictable bounce on approach shots to a front pin and reliable rollout on recovery chips” reshape the layout. “It required a massive amount of earthworks to lift the course’s landing areas, improve surface drainage and gain separation from the water table.” The project has seen Marzolf reunited with agronomic consultancy Turfgrass, who he worked with at 2027 Ryder Cup Turfgrass. “We also provided a grow in plan for all sprigged and sodded areas, developed and executed a thorough quality control program for all sands and gravel used for the project, and made agronomic site visits to assist the golf course superintendent with fine-tuning the grow-in and construction processes.”
The course has been regrassed with TifTuf bermuda, with fine textured TifGrand approaches and surrounds. The expanded greens, now averaging 7,000 square feet, feature TifEagle. Turf health has been further improved by installing 400 catch basins to quickly intercept surface water and move it underground via pipes.
As construction nears completion, Turfgrass has continued to support the club. “Our role will then focus on helping the club navigate the typical challenges with determining when the course is ready for play, setting expectations for year one, and developing the operating budget for maintaining the new course,” says Moeller. Design changes are also shaping a new playing experience. Extensive tree removal has opened up views and allows more sunlight to reach turf areas. “We removed trees, shrubs and ground clutter to let the sun in,” says Marzolf. “Pine straw will be used extensively along the property edges where trees remain. Turf now plays a more active role in strategy, rather than forcing players to hit through dense vegetation.” Bunkers have been repositioned to challenge longer hitters, with each hole redesigned for strategic interest. Large, bold, flashed bunkers now pinch landing areas and sit inside dogleg corners. Expansive sandscapes frame fairway corridors and new sand-screenings cart paths give the layout an ‘old Florida’ feel. Firm, sandcapped approaches encourage the ground game, supported by low-mow surrounds for short-game variety. “The design produces a predictable bounce on approach shots to a front pin and reliable rollout on recovery chips,” says Marzolf. Routing changes have also been made. The eighth and ninth holes have switched pars, to create a long par-four eighth that doglegs left and a par-three ninth that now plays into the expanded clubhouse lawn.
With vegetation cleared, golfers and spectators can now enjoy a wide view from the patio. From land shaping to strategic redesign, the work at Interlachen positions the course for decades of enjoyable play.