22 ENVIRONMENT New landscape for landfill site ASGCA Past President Greg Martin has renovated Settlers Hill, a public course built on landfill in Illinois, to address issues relating to the site’s stabilization as well as the course’s drainage and playability. Settlers Hill is a public golf course in Batavia, Illinois, built in 1990 on a landfill site in the Forest Preserve District, near the Fox River. Since then, the course has experienced issues relating to settling, compaction and drainage. In 2015, ASGCA Past President Greg Martin was brought in to develop a renovation plan that would address these, as well as improving circulation and playability. Wadsworth Golf Construction started work on Martin’s plan in 2020, rebuilding bunkers, reshaping fairways and greens, and regrassing tees, fairways and greens. The project also included a realignment of the layout so that each nine returned to the clubhouse, which included the introduction of two new par threes. A critical aspect of the project was the importation of around 80,000 cubic yards of clean, free, off-site fill. This was shaped to allow for Settlers Hill imported around 80,000 cubic yards of fill, which was shaped to drain the site effectively Photo: Charles Cherney
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