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Babe's Golf Course: Something Old and Something Newby Richard Lord (Tampa Tribune 8/16/74)A golf course that combines the old with the new and places the emphasis on shot making, not tape measure drives, will be awaiting golfers when the Tampa Sports Authority's Babe Zaharias Golf Course is dedicated next Thursday morning. Opening day festivities include a press tournament and dedication ceremonies, with a ladies invitational tourney set for Tuesday, August 27, a men's invitational the next day before opening to the general public on Friday, August 30. Rebuilt and redesigned on the site of the old Forest Golf and Country Club in North Tampa, which closed in 1962, the picturesque layout has been renamed after the late, great female golfer and all-around athlete, who once owned the club in its heyday. "I think we have succeeded in saving the beauty, style and charm that was Forest Hills and combined it with modern course design," explained 29-year-old golf architect Ron Garl. A Tampan and former University of Florida golfer, it was the enthusiastic Garl's job to redesign and, with contractor Stan Cruz rebuild the course. What he came up with were six brand new holes and 12 redesigned from the old layout. The cost of building the course, clubhouse, equipment, salaries and irrigation has come to $621,000. The contract with Garl came to $271,000 of that. Both figures are about half of what it normally costs to get a course off the ground. "There has been nothing I have ever seen in the field of golf where so much has come out of the money spent, Garl said. "It will be the best public facility in the area." The course's youthful pro, Bobby Stricklin echoed Garl's sentiments and added, "Ron is a very logical and talented course architect. He has a good engineering understanding of what it takes to design a good hole in an economically feasible manner and that's what he did for us." Both were quick to commend the city, TSA and workers for making it possible to have the course ready in a quick 10 months. Now what about the course? What can us weekend hackers and scratch players alike expect when we play? Well, the course can play from 6,000 to 6,400 yards depending on where the tee markers are placed. The par is 71. I'll let architect Garl and pro Stricklin fill you in on the rest. "It is the kind of course that will challenge every level of player," Garl explained. "There are a moderate number of traps, placed strategically for tee and approach shots. It is fairly tight, but not as much so as many people think. The course should be one of balance. It is designed so a player will hit as many long irons as short irons during a round." "In short, it's a course built so you have to be a shot maker, not just a long hitter. A good shot will be rewarded, but if your shot is off line you may find trouble, Garl added. Stricklin emphasized that the old flavor is still there, "with those big beautiful trees still here and the greens mounded and raised, something which many new courses have gotten away from." The variety, the combo of old and new, is illustrated by a brief look at the par threes. "All four par trees are unique," Stricklin said. "On one there is a lateral water hazard, another you have to hit directly over the water, a third is in the old tradition. It has no traps, just a high elevated green. The fourth is a typical modern par three, with a well-trapped green and a rolling putting surface." The press tourney on Thursday will have 8:45 and 11:00 shotgun starts with the dedication at 11:00. Women with entries for the ladies' tourney are urged to return them soon.
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