Women’s needs haven’t always been a concern at private clubs, but female golfers have come up as definite winners in the current work being done at Penobscot Valley Country Club in Orono.

A new clubhouse is under construction and Phase 1 of the golf course renovation is nearly ready for play. Work is expected to be completed in early July.

A major part of the course renovation, which dealt mostly with the back nine, has been the addition of new tees for women.

“It’s going to make a world of difference,” said club member Nancy Hogan. “It’s going to make the par-4s more equitable.

“I’m really excited about getting on the new tee boxes.”

Colin Gillies, the club pro, said of the layout before the changes, “It was an LPGA Tour-quality course.”

With the changes, he said, “The women will really benefit.”

Hogan doesn’t think it was designed that way to accommodate anyone’s specific concerns. It was done because the membership includes women.

“I think the club itself is tuned in to how women feel,” said Hogan. “To me, decisions are made for the benefit of the club as a whole.”

The new tees will shorten the holes for women, and in some cases, senior men, by as much as 60 yards.

“The general consensus is that it’s going to play easier for women,” said Hogan. “I don’t think so, really, but it will play fairer.”

And playing fairer, for everyone, was one of the factors behind the remodeling of the course designed in the 1920s by renowned architect Donald Ross.

A lot of trees have been removed, according to club president Bob Collins. Bunkers have replaced the trees in some cases and added in others.

“Sometimes you’d be in a bunker and have trees right in front of you,” said Bruce MacGregor. “You’d have no shot. Donald Ross would never have done that. He would not have two penalties [for one misplayed shot].”

What Ross did or did not intend was a major consideration since his original plan was what the club wanted to get back to, as close as possible.

To determine that, Ron Forse, a Pennsylvania architect who specializes in Donald Ross courses, was brought in.

“We were so impressed with his knowledge,” said Gillies.

It was also helpful the club still had a lot of the original drawings and an aerial photo of the course from the 1940s.

One of the problem areas turned out to be the greens. They were no longer up to original specs. Many of them were small and round.

“When Forse told us he could tell it was a Donald Ross course,” recalled Gillies, “we said, ‘Oh, because of the round greens?’ and he said, ‘No. Donald Ross never built round greens.'”

The greens had shrunk over the years because of mowers being too careful not to trim the fringe to green height, killing the grass. That caused other problems.

“When they shrink, you lose areas to put the cups, and the rest becomes so well-trafficked that it gets hurt,” said Gillies.

They’re starting to mow them back out to where they should be, said Gillies. There will be areas that look skinned for a while, but they will come back eventually.

“It takes years,” said Gillies, “but it has to start somewhere.”

Work started last fall with the demolition of the clubhouse and the maintenance crew removing some of the trees and other work. Zona and Henderson Co. did the work on the bunkers.

“The new bunker edges have been sodded,” said MacGregor. “It looks like they’ve been there forever.”

The rest of the work will follow in the coming years.

“Whatever money is spent, it has to be according to the plan,” said Gillies of the long-range plan Forse came up with. “The plan takes all of the amateur opinions out of it, including me. That’s where this is invaluable.”

The clubhouse had to be rebuilt from the ground up because the old one needed so much work to be brought up to code that it made more sense to start from scratch, said Collins.

The old house and barn had about 28,000 square feet, but only about half of it was usable, according to Collins. The new clubhouse covers about 16,800 square feet, but the floor plan’s much more open. It will be able to handle the large gatherings the club occasionally hosts that it couldn’t handle as well before. The space was there, but it was chopped up into small rooms.

Originally, said Collins, only the clubhouse was going to be redone for $2.7 million. That proposal was approved in April 1998. Some of the members who only used the golf course, though, thought that wasn’t fair and brought about a vote to reconsider. The proposal was turned down the second time in July 1998.

When a new $3 million proposal – with the clubhouse scaled back from 24,000 square feet and $300,000 put into the golf course renovation – came up for a vote last year, it passed.

“Some people are not here for the social aspects,” said Gillies, who is also the general manager. “They’re here for the golf course.

“There had to be a compromise. It wouldn’t have happened otherwise.”

Everyone appears to be happy, said Collins.

“You don’t hear any grumblings now. It’s a win-win situation,” said Gillies.

Dave Barber is the NEWS golf writer. The Golf scene will appear each Wednesday through September. He can be reached at 990-8170 or by e-mail at dbarber@bangordailynews.net.