Full Redesign

Early efforts included Welling redesigning two greens encumbered by wetlands and other issues. But the scope of the project expanded dramatically after the pandemic, as golf surged in popularity.

Around 2022, Welling started to put together a full 18-hole redesign plan for Stowe Country Club, which had long been a welcoming and community-focused public course. It was popular in a hybrid community of sorts that brought together a diverse mix of year-round residents, seasonal residents, and tourists – whether for ski season or during the spring, summer and fall (peak leaf-change season) months.

When the work started on the first nine holes in 2024, the breadth of the project continued to grow, becoming much more than new green complexes.

Today’s finished product includes complete reconstruction of all greens and tees, a reshaping and regrading of all fairways, modernization of the bunkers, upgraded irrigation and drainage systems, and a full re-grassing of premium bentgrass across greens, tees and fairways.

Several holes were changed significantly, notably the 13^th and 15^th holes, and a new comfort station – the Sugar Shack – has been added between the 5^th and 14^th tees. Hundreds of non-native pine trees were removed from the course itself, with about 150 new ones planted on its perimeter. The removal of the interior trees opened views of the surrounding mountains, including Mt. Mansfield, and the addition of waving fescue grasses to replace them helps better frame the holes.

For Welling, the overall focus was on improving playability, variety, strategy, and aesthetics.

“It feels like the sort of classic Northeast golf course, with rolling topography, distinctive bunkering, challenging greens contours, fescue grasses,” said Welling. “The environment feels classic and special to me.”

A secondary club logo, a flying cow, is a nod to the property’s history.

An Artistic Process

For Gaines, who’s worked in private equity and real estate for well over a decade and was accustomed to executing strategic plans with little deviation, the artistic process of an evolving golf course redesign was something he said he had to “hold onto my seat” for. Especially if it involved the relocation of an entire green complex. He joked that part felt “a little bit building the airplane while you’re flying it, but it’s also pragmatic problem solving. And that’s what you’re after.”

The initial response to the course changes and broader project have been overwhelmingly positive.

More than 200 new members have been added at Stowe Country Club and The Club at Spruce Peak, many of them coming from the Boston and New York areas.

And for those looking to travel to Vermont for golf (and any number of other outdoor activities) rather than skiing, Stowe and The Mountain Course are both accessible through stay-and-play packages in guestrooms, suites and private residences at the luxurious Lodge at Spruce Peak.

While the Mountain Course remains a wild ride, climbing and diving across elevations of about 1,800 feet, Stowe Country Club in the valley is drastically different – and now better than ever.

“For the most part, we left the topography the way it is, because it’s naturally undulating,” said Gaines. “There are golf course developers who will pay $40 million to end up with this result. The only difference is they start with a flat site.”