Yocha-De-He Golf Club at Cache Creek Casino Resort

Challenges
Create a new championship 18-hole golf course on a 190-acre site, set partially within a floodplain, with other areas in rolling hills, with picturesque water features that include ponds, cascading streams and two lakes. Amenities include an 18,000-square foot clubhouse with multiple-level patios, event lawns, 75-space parking lot, two 60-foot span bridges, driving range, chipping green, on-course comfort station, and maintenance facilities adequately served with potable water, wastewater collection and a combined fresh and reclaimed water irrigation system. Turn an unimproved dirt road into a scenic, all-weather access road through hilly terrain. Assist the owner through the approval processes of multiple local, state and federal regulatory agencies.

Solutions

We provided civil design and construction engineering and land surveying services for the project, working with Tribal leaders and the golf-course architect for site grading of more than 1.2 million yards of dirt to build a challenging golf course that takes full advantage of the site's beautiful setting. Engineering included designing potable water delivery and wastewater removal systems, storm drainage collection and detention systems for storm water quality management, and design coordination for an irrigation system that meets about half of the course's irrigation needs with high-quality reclaimed water from the Rumsey Rancheria wastewater treatment plant. The reclaimed water is pumped to the course's 16-acre lake where it is blended with surface water from Cache Creek. Water from that lake is pumped uphill to then cascade down a boulder-strewn stream. The cascades can be seen from the clubhouse and course, adding to the scenic beauty while providing aeration for the lake. We also provided engineering services to transform an existing dirt road on steep topography into a gently sloping two-lane golf course access road about three-quarter mile long. Care was taken to preserve the existing beauty of the roadway terrain. The roadway was also designed as an utility corridor for water, wastewater, electrical and low-voltage utilities that serve the golf course.