Silver Spruce golf course gets spruced up Published Sept. 14, 2010 By Monica Mendoza 21st Space Wing Public Affairs staff writer PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- Five construction and landscape projects at Silver Spruce Golf Course on Peterson Air Force Base aim to make the course a world class venue. Beginning in September, visitors to the golf course or the club will notice the landscaping project along Glasgow Avenue. The road leading into the golf course has been sided with dirt since last summer when most of the parking lot was lost to new construction of homes in the Tierra Vista Communities, immediately to the golf course's northeast side. Some improvements to the golf course were made at the time the new houses were built, including a bigger and better driving range and a larger, more modern cart barn, said Trace Kea, Silver Spruce general manager. These latest improvements fall under the base's Facilities Excellence Plan, which outlines guidelines and standards for the base facilities and landscapes. The plan requires that all roadways and parking lots be paved for safety reasons and encourages the use of low-water landscaping. "It will be a dramatic change," said Fred Brooks, 21st CES civil engineer. "We will be giving the golf course a better facility and in the end provide more capacity. We ask that the golf course patrons and base community be patient with us during this construction season." One of the major improvements at the course is an additional parking lot, to the south of the club house. The new lot replaces the 90 parking stalls lost to the housing project, said Mark Dobbs, 21st CES landscape architect. Crews will also restripe the parking lot in front of the club house, changing them from angled parking stalls to perpendicular (or 90 degrees), for a 15 percent increase in the number of stalls. Also, the road to the new parking lot, driving range and cart barn will all be paved. The additional parking lot is highly anticipated, said Mr. Kea. More than 32,000 rounds of golf are played each year at Silver Spruce, together with the more than 100 tournaments that are hosted throughout the year. The landscape and construction projects have already begun and, depending on the winter break, could finish up by spring, Mr. Brooks said. At times, Glasgow will be reduced to one lane, however, the hours of operation at the golf course will not be affected. In addition to landscaping the northeast side of Glasgow, crews will build a sidewalk from Malmstrom Street, down Glasgow Avenue to the club house. "I think the walkability and integration of pedestrian traffic to the golf course is a big key," Mr. Dobbs said. "The landscape improvements will really create a nice front door to the golf course and invite people in."