In The Dirt EP 3. – “Finished Product” – The Rebirth of Golden Gate Park Golf Course

After years of discussion and ten months of renovation, Golden Gate Park Golf Course is set to reopen on Feb. 2, 2024. In part 3 of a series on Dan Burke, Jay Blasi and Josh Lewis reimagining this San Francisco city asset, you get eyes on hydro-seeding, you hear feedback from locals as they get preview play and you get a tour of the before and after of Blasi’s artistry.

For more visit: https://www.firepitcollective.com

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/firepitstories
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/firepitcollective
THE FIRE PIT SHOP : https://firepitcollective.com/shop

Josh we have grass we do have grass how exciting is it to see this place come to life uh it’s nice it it’s almost like the project goes in phases right demo dirt shaping and then grph so it’s kind of how we turn a Page [Applause] [Applause] After years of talks and Concepts the resurrection of Golden Gate Park Golf Course broke ground in March it’s a great little course I’m going to miss it for the next seven a months coming off one of the wetest months in over a decade the team of Jay

Bloy and Josh Lewis got to work peeling back the top soil and unearthing the sand carving out blasi’s master plan nobody likes to lose their place to play golf the city and the first te have done a great job of putting together other accommodations and whatnot but so far uh

People have been excited about it in April and from up above it looked like a scene out of the children’s book good night good night construction site excavators bulldozers dump trucks and skid steers working in concert to bring a new course to life from My Lens having

Been a lifetime of golf this will probably be the best nine-hole par three course in America when it reopens uh that’ll be open for everybody right this is a communitybased project and anybody and everybody played here before we did this project anybody and everybody will want to play here when it’s done and

That’ll probably grow by a factor of 50 uh when we reopen by May most of the shaping was done executed by three talented contractors called in from and off other projects around the country they were Robert Nelson Brett Hawkin and Justin Carlton I’ve did a lot of stuff behind

Private Gates it’s going to rank up there with one of the better projects I’ve ever been on not long after the Shapers were done and a state-of-the-art irrigation system was in place May was also the month Lewis got started Hydro Seating Golden Gate Park’s future they went with a four-way blend of fine

Fescues on the fairways and the greens are a 50/50 blend of two different types of bent grass with a good agronomic plan in place it should be next to no chemical use out here and the water should be extremely limited me as it relates to this with the deep sand soils that we

Have and then the fine fescues will rout 18 to 24 in down after raising 2.7 million in private funding by the end of August Dan Burke’s dream was becoming a reality certainly a ton of excitement you know um just from the visual aesthetic of looking at the proper as dirt and then

Sand um and looking at that moonscape for several months you know consecutively now seeing some grass which gives it a completely different aesthetic look visually where you can start seeing some of the Contours that are part of the design and it’s starting to actually look and feel like a golf

Course I would say excitement is the number one you know emotion uh coming out here almost every day to get the job itself was a big win for bloy but while standing on new grass it was clear he was bracing himself for the best part of his job unveiling their

Work to the public for me there’s kind of different milestones in the process when you kind of are first routing or first figuring out kind of where everything’s going to go that’s an exciting part of the process and then when you get approval to do the project

And we get started that’s uh exciting when the grass goes down that’s exciting and then when you open so there’s kind of these kind of four different thresholds but it’s we’re at a great point right now meanwhile the clubhouse has remained an issue beyond the control

Of Burke bloy or Lewis there has been supply chain issues and bureaucratic speed bumps what once was an early October opening has been bumped back to February 2nd we’re in communication with the city and the contractor they’ve hired to do this building and we’re trying to sync that up cuz it would make

Perfect sense to open the new Clubhouse and open the golf course simultaneously from Logistics from Community I mean all reasons would point to try to do that and it’s right now it’s aligned pretty closely I mean if it gets skewed off a week or two weeks on one way or the

Other you know we’ll have that discussion of whether the golf course is ready to go and the clubhouse isn’t do we want to open does it make sense to deal with tough Logistics and the parking lot and where would we have people check in and things like that

Nature um you know uh right now it’s looking like it could be synced up pretty good but if it doesn’t you know we’ll try to work with the city to make a good decision in November you could say the course was done and although the fine Fescue was still patchy in places there

Was limited preview play for a few industry insiders and loyal locals Gary gabini has been playing Golden Gate Park since he was five original impressions are I think that if you had to put the redesign in a word it’s brilliant uh the the course it’s self with all the

Dramatic changes that Jay has implemented you know the clearing out of the course the the the visuals that you have from all the greens they’re extraordinary right now uh holes themselves while they shouldn’t be measured by the yardage on the scorecard the action and the excitement

Comes when uh you get up around the greens and you miss the green or you have that 50 55 60t but there no guarantees despite the you know relatively Short Lane to hear from somebody who spent uh decades out here and a lot of time and and money invested

Into this place say that he thinks it’s brilliant that he loves it that he wants to come back and continue to play it means a lot Haley Moore has been playing Golden Gate Park for 20 years I do live like I said around the corner so walking

By peeking through the fence and I think it’s outstanding I love the undulation I love the bigger greens less trees I think it’s going to be fabulous to hear that uh she’s been able to come out and uh she can notice and embrace all the little refinements that we’ve

Made and can see how the golf course could be more fun and more playable for for her group and other groups it it makes you feel good Joe Karan has been working at Golden Gate Park for 10 years and is currently the general manager we always knew this place had great

Potential and it was always like a Hidden Gem and I think um Jay and Josh and the team have really just tapped into that and have really taken advantage of of what what we have here it’s always been a a a cherished part of the community so to to watch people

Who’ve been here who have loved this place for years and years come back and say wow it’s still the Golden Gate Park that I knew and loved but it’s even better it’s more exciting there’s more interesting shots to hit uh the vistas are are amazing and things like that to

To to us that’s really satisfying cuz we feel like we struck the right balance meanwhile as the project comes to a close not unlike bloy Josh Lewis is wrestling with mixed emotions good news is we’ve got to the at least close to the finish line on a really successful

Project for a great group of people and I think the golf world is going to love it um bad news is this has been a pretty great place to come to work for 78 months so um you know it’s tough when you kind of set a precedent with a site

Like this and a location like this and you know go somewhere else to work I think you know Jay and I are talking about a project in Minnesota that I’ve got to work in in the winter you know it’s like going to love it it’s going to

Be awesome but it’s going to be uh it’s going to be a little cold so this is uh this is out all the all the feels for sure one of the exciting points in the process is right now when it’s time to kind of hand it over and let people come

Out and I love to to just spend a day or spend a few days and just kind of find a find a tree or find a little uh a little Nook and park myself there and just watch people and you know at the end of the day it’s golf which is our

Livelihood but you know there there are more important things in life but to watch uh Fathers and Sons or grandfathers with their granddaughters come out and put their arm around each other a group of guys or gals come out and you know they’re making memories and

To think that you played a small part in memories that will last a lifetime is uh is pretty satisfying so it’s an exciting time for sure the whole project I think is is a wonderful and successful collaboration between the city and again first te and it is it’s exciting and I

Think a lot of people are going to recognize the dramatic changes the thoughtfulness that uh that Jay put into the course design and uh the success he had with the overall project well well versus before I felt like it was pretty straightforward you know your goal is to hit a very before

The greens were posted St so small and I feel like here the greens will be more challenging because they’re so big and undulated versus you know okay I have to hit this little tiny spot you have a little more flexibility but I think the putting will be more difficult probably

The spot that pops out the most is that high point where we have a t for number two a t for number five and a te for number seven that’s a spot where you can see the ocean you can see all the way across the whole Golf Course uh you can

See parts of the city itself and so that and that was all kind of covered up before by a lot of the vegetation that was here so I think that that’s a spot to maybe take a moment uh again hopefully maybe grab a beverage and toast with your friends and and and

Enjoy the journey from that spot the special part about this for me is I feel like we’ve set this property up for many many decades to come come infrastructurally and so what we’ve done here I think will stand the test of time the architecture is is timeless and the

Project itself sets the golf course up really well um for the city of San Francisco for you know outou of richment outter Sunset the first tea um as far as a spot on the property I I really gravitate to the eth T I think it’s a

Neat spot to see kind of the property in reverse and then the way things have opened up listening to the ocean you know the even though maybe there’s not kids playing the golf course at the time you can always hear the kids down on the

Soccer field so it kind of you have that connection you know you know what’s what’s coming this is a win as far as I’m concerned I mean the the whether you live in San Francisco or a citizen of the city or you’re a visitor this is going to

Promote golf in the city and not only golf you have all the first tea kids coming out here what a wonderful venue and satellite to uh the facility over at TPC I mean for them to come out have an opportunity to play something that’s manageable for beginners Etc uh it’s

It’s it’s invaluable and and it’s a it’s an asset that’ll be here for 50 60 70 years we’re so excited I have a core group of ladies that I met here playing they started a ladies League there were always women that wanted to play nervous to play by themselves or play with other

Men they started a ladies league and us four women are now best of friends we talk almost every day we have monthly dinners we’re at each other’s homes and now we’re just like let’s get back to Go [Applause] [Applause]