Wakulla County is located in northwest Florida along Apalachee Bay. The area of more than 33,000 residents is growing and it’s anticipated to see continued growth in the coming years. Wakulla is home to natural springs and plenty of water activities—kayaking, boating, fishing, snorkeling, and more. However, this geography also lends itself to over-saturated lands and unique sanitary challenges.

Following the retrofit of the Otter Creek Wastewater Treatment Facility to advance wastewater treatment processes in 2022, Wakulla County recognized, due to the already heavily saturated ground conditions, it needed a place to distribute effluent that wouldn’t cause flooding or irrigation problems. To accommodate the need for a disposal site, Wakulla County purchased a privately owned golf course and hired our team to not only redesign the course, but develop a solution for transporting, storing, and discharging the effluent.

Creating an Effluent-Holding Pond

With 14-17 feet of sand throughout the golf course site, the porous ground lends itself to heavy saturation. We designed a pond on the 18th hole that holds seven million gallons of treated effluent, which is pumped from the Otter Creek Wastewater Treatment Facility. The primary use of this water will be for the grow-in and continued maintenance needs of the golf course. If rains are heavy and the pumped effluent isn’t needed for irrigation of the golf course turf, seven acres of rapid infiltration basins throughout the property will take in the water, thereby reducing flooding concerns for the surrounding community and allowing the facility to continue dispersing effluent and recharge the aquifer.

To accommodate the need for a disposal site, Wakulla County purchased a privately owned golf course and hired our team to not only redesign the course, but develop a solution for transporting, storing, and discharging the effluent." Dan Schlegel and Justin Ford

Designing a Community Golf Course

When Wakulla County purchased the golf course, it needed quite a bit of work. The redesign of the course involved rerouting more than half the existing golf holes to make more efficient use of the property and solve existing safety issues, like players hitting balls over the corner of adjacent residential properties.

Now, construction is complete and the course is being grown-in for use. The new Wakulla Sands Golf Club, which is expected to open in fall 2024, features a new 18-hole course playing to 6,850 yards, a brand new irrigation system, a short-game practice area with a large practice bunker and fairway area that will accommodate pitch shots of up to 70 yards, a 12,000 square foot practice putting green, and a tee line surrounded by netting for full swing practice. In the future, Wakulla County plans to construct a clubhouse with a pro shop, but for now, golfers can find a concession stand with restrooms, and water refill stations at the cross-over of the first, ninth, 10th, and 18th holes. This area is also home to a large oak tree, offering plenty of shade where food trucks can set up and provide golfers additional dining options.

Having the opportunity to redesign a golf course to solve effluent challenges isn’t something either of us had anticipated working on in our careers, but it’s created a unique opportunity for a collaborative approach to solving a challenge for a client while providing additional amenities and recreational resources for the community.