Featured Golf News
Jacksonville Landfill to Become Golf Greens
Following a groundbreaking ceremony in August 2002, work is underway on a new $22-million golf project in Jacksonville. What makes the project different is that the 225-acre site is the former Sunbeam Road landfill. Earlier in July 2002, the city approved a zoning change to allow Brownfield Properties LLC of Atlanta to convert the former dump site into a field of dreams for golfers.
The par-72, 6,810-yard golf course was designed by Roy Case of West Palm Beach. The golfing grounds will be augmented by a practice facility, a small clubhouse and 134 ranch-style condominiums priced from $130,000. The project’s price tag involves $7 million for the golf course and $15 million for the housing units.
The landfill was previously owned by Waste Management. In early August, the company sold the site to Brownfields Properties. In an article in the Jacksonville Florida Times, company president, Dane Cates, reassured readers that their environmental concerns are natural but unnecessary. He added, “There are residential properties closer to the landfill right now than the ones we’re planning to build.”
The landfill was closed in 1986 and is currently covered with a 3-foot-deep cap consisting of a mixture of soil and bentenite, a virtually impermeable concrete-like substance. The cap keeps rain and surface water from soaking through the cap and into the ground. Only 51 of the site’s 225 acres were used for storing the garbage and waste. The housing will be positioned about 1,400 feet from the perimeter of those 51 acres. The front nine will be built on a parcel adjacent to the actual dumpsite, while the back nine will be arrayed over the landfill. Because of the cap, Cates said golfers will not be exposed to any waste material.
Cates said the front nine will be representative of Florida’s golf courses, while the back nine will be quite different. “The front will be typical Florida, (with) ponds, water, sand,” he said. “But the back will be very unique to this area, because of the landfill elevation. It will have a North Carolina feel to it.”
Cates cited the 610-yard, par-5 18th hole as an example. After the drive and second shot, he said the approach to the green will involve a 70-foot drop in elevation. “There should be a lot of fun shots on the back,” he related to the Florida Times. “I play golf, and I’m looking forward to getting out there when it’s finished.” If all goes well, that could happen as soon as December 2003.
