Photo for the Mirror by Ken Love The Sylvan Hills golf course has several improvements, including revamped sand traps and tee boxes.

HOLLIDAYSBURG — Anyone driving along Route 36, through Hollidaysburg, over the past six months could certainly see that a major reconstruction project was well underway.

The construction project was actually two-fold, the first phase being a long-planned restoration of the Brush Run stream that bisects the Sylvan Hills golf course, and the second a concerted effort by Sylvan Hills’ management to revamp the club’s sand traps, tee boxes and landscaping.

Restoration of the Brush Run stream was actually in the planning stages for several years.

Overseen by the Blair County Intergovernmental Stormwater Council (ISC), the project was chosen for its potential to improve flood-plain ‘reconnection and restoration according to Chelsey Weyant, Blair County Conservation District’s stormwater coordinator.

“This project was funded by a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant which is federally funded,” Weyant said. “The ISC contributed their own funds for the costs the grant did not cover.”

Actual work on the stream began last October with a goal of widening and “curving” the stream, changing the flow from a basic straight line to a more serpentine flow.

The intended result would promote a “back and forth” flow of the water as it meandered through the golf course, Weyant said.

(On an ironic side note, a local newspaper article from November 1924 mentions work being done on the Blairmont Course to eradicate the curve in this brook to allow the water to flow in a straight line.)

In order for the ISC to accomplish its work, and limit potential flooding concerns, contractors widened areas of the stream and actually buried massive amounts of logs under the creek bed to achieve the desired, meandering flow.

In recent weeks, as work neared completion, some finishing touches included the planting of native grasses along the stream to help stabilize the groundwork. Anyone who now walks along this area of Brush Run can see the impressive work that’s been completed.

Along with the major stream restoration, club officials also undertook a significant improvement project on the Sylvan Hills course itself.

Beginning in October, course superintendent Chris Packard began rebuilding all the sand traps on the course, excavating out old sand, installing a stone base, along with new drain pipes and fabric liners before adding new sand to each bunker.

This work, in addition to improvements to the course’s tee boxes have made a world of difference, according to golf club manager Bruce Baldwin.

“The ownership here has made a commitment to invest in this golf course,” Baldwin said. “Over the past six months, we’ve taken on several improvement projects that have made our course significantly better. We’re also expecting that much of this work will reduce the wet conditions and cart-path only restrictions we’ve experienced in the past.”

Baldwin also noted that several older, dying trees were removed during the offseason, and that much of the shrubbery that obscured the view from the fifth hole’s tee box has been removed.

All in all, the improvements will surely enhance the experience of all golfers who visit Hollidaysburg’s historic Sylvan Hills golf course this summer.