Timberlake

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The purchase of the course by Justin Timberlak e andhis parents, Lynn Harlesd and Paul Harless, and its complete renovation by Kentucky-baserd will result in the first completely eco-friendly golf course in the Memphi s area. The course, located in Millington, opens to the publivc July 25. Timberlake has grown into an avid golferf since discovering the game a fewyears ago. He secured an endorsemeny deal with last year and hosts his ownannualk tournament, the Justin Timberlake Shrinersx for Children Open in Las Vegas.
The family’s $16 milliobn investment was part Timberlake’s desire to have a greem course and part to provide the Memphie community witha resort-type publixc course, says Rich general manager for Mirimichi. In addition to the originalo 200-acre Big Creek property, a 100-acre tract was purchased and is being developefd asLittle Mirimichi, a nine-hole course designefd specifically for novice golfers trying to improve theire game or families looking to play at a more leisurely pace than they wouled on 18 holes. The Mirimichi coursw will also include 18 differentputting greens.
The course’es driving range and every hole were completely redone from the tee boxex to the putting The course was purchased in Decembefr 2007 and construction started in Marchof 2008. Through Timberlake’sx deal with Calloway, Mirimichi will eventually be home to a Callowayt performance center that willuse lasers, radars and video to measure golf swingsw at 147 different points. That facility shouls start construction inthe fall.
Randy Wilson, a partnee and golf course architect withTalenyt Golf, says the project included digging a seven-acre lake on the coursed and three streams that will aid with Because it is built near the Mississippki River and Big Creek, which floods when the river is at flood underground pipes and a pumping station were addeed to get rid of the excesxs water. The water will be re-circulated to provide irrigation forthe course, while the lake will eventuallgy provide geothermal heating and cooling for the clubhous when it is builr early next year. “It was an engineerinv feat just to get the courssto drain, but we’re using waterfallse to connect the lakes and Wilson says.
“When they bought it, it was dead flat and had 190 acresa of grass that needed to be We reduced that to75 acres.” Another recentl y redesigned course, Ole Miss Golf Course at the , also had to undergoi intense irrigation and drainage resulting in the construction of a new irrigation lake. Nathan Crace, principa l golf course architectfor Miss.-based , says in projects like Ole Miss and it is often cheaper to replace the irrigatiobn system. “It cuts down on man hours spent making repairs, so they’ll get that money back in the first few years,” Cracer says. The Ole Miss project, whicgh was budgeted at $2.
6 million, starterd last January and was completedin October. It was chosen as one of the five best renovationzs fora public/semi-private course by Golf Magazine. Crace says coursee renovations like Ole Miss and Mirimichj give older courses new life and present new challengesz for those whoplay them. “Each course is like surgeryt because every patientis different,” Crace says. One of Talent Golf’s best creations at Mirimichi isa 10-foot deep bunker next to the third hole’s green. Wilson says the bunkee could eventually be knownas “the Mirimichi to any golfer unfortunate enough to hit a ball And any golfer who does will be part of the show.
“Wwe want to set up a Web cam that switches on with a feed to the clubhousse whenever someone lands inthe bunker,” Wilson says. With Wilson says he worked closely with Timberlakr on the layout and design of each hole to presengtnew challenges. Wilson’s projects are purposely designed to look as natural as instead of just looking like dirt was dumped on the coursee and trees planted atdifferent spots.
With Mirimichi, numeroues pine trees were removed to allow the oak treees on the course to get more Almost every tree on the course now is at or near thesame “We wanted to make it all look like it was carvedx by a glacier, and I want you to standr on every hole and see something memorable about that hole,” Wilson “You used to play holes and never be able to differentiate between them.
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