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CNN Sunday Morning

Woman Builds Golf Course on Top of Landfill

Aired April 27, 2003 - 08:54   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I don't need to tell you that one of the many problems facing the United States is too many landfills and not enough golf courses. So in Georgia, north of Atlanta one enterprising woman found a way to bring the two together. Get rid of the landfills and feed the desires of an awful lot of the golfers.
Our Sean Callebs tells us about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): You think golf is hard? Try building a course on an area that for years had been a wasteland. A county landfill. Such is the case of the Blue Heron. A few miles north of Atlanta.

KAY BROADDUS, EAGLE GOLF VENTURES: I was looking for something that would be challenging. This was it.

CALLEBS: Kay Broaddus, a former Coca-Cola executive dreamed up and funded the executive course. She approached a number of architects, most wanted no part of turning this into this. But Mike Riley jumped at the chance.

MICHAEL RILEY, GOLF COURSE ARCHITECT: Here you're taking something that was really undesirable and turning it into a golf course. And now when people come out here, they really almost can't tell that it was a landfill.

CALLEBS: It wasn't easy. Let alone the power lines and underground gas pipeline, designers couldn't move and mold the earth.

BROADDUS: A landfill requires three feet of a clay cap and what that does it keeps the smells in, keeps the methane in.

CALLEBS: But that methane buildup needs to be vented. So a half a wedge away from the second green is one of many methane vents. Believe it or not, a site like this is becoming attractive. Here, it's a landfill. But it could be an abandoned factory, strip mine, gravel pit. Cheap land near people who want to hit golf balls.

BILL LOVE, GOLF COURSE ARCHITECT: I afforded the opportunity to develop what we call alternative golf facility. Which may be a driving range, or a three-hole learning course, or may be a nine-hole short course.

CALLEBS: An upgrade in area from an eyesore to a place that's just a chip shot away from perfection.

In Marietta, Georgia, I'm Sean Callebs.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired April 27, 2003 - 08:54   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I don't need to tell you that one of the many problems facing the United States is too many landfills and not enough golf courses. So in Georgia, north of Atlanta one enterprising woman found a way to bring the two together. Get rid of the landfills and feed the desires of an awful lot of the golfers.
Our Sean Callebs tells us about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): You think golf is hard? Try building a course on an area that for years had been a wasteland. A county landfill. Such is the case of the Blue Heron. A few miles north of Atlanta.

KAY BROADDUS, EAGLE GOLF VENTURES: I was looking for something that would be challenging. This was it.

CALLEBS: Kay Broaddus, a former Coca-Cola executive dreamed up and funded the executive course. She approached a number of architects, most wanted no part of turning this into this. But Mike Riley jumped at the chance.

MICHAEL RILEY, GOLF COURSE ARCHITECT: Here you're taking something that was really undesirable and turning it into a golf course. And now when people come out here, they really almost can't tell that it was a landfill.

CALLEBS: It wasn't easy. Let alone the power lines and underground gas pipeline, designers couldn't move and mold the earth.

BROADDUS: A landfill requires three feet of a clay cap and what that does it keeps the smells in, keeps the methane in.

CALLEBS: But that methane buildup needs to be vented. So a half a wedge away from the second green is one of many methane vents. Believe it or not, a site like this is becoming attractive. Here, it's a landfill. But it could be an abandoned factory, strip mine, gravel pit. Cheap land near people who want to hit golf balls.

BILL LOVE, GOLF COURSE ARCHITECT: I afforded the opportunity to develop what we call alternative golf facility. Which may be a driving range, or a three-hole learning course, or may be a nine-hole short course.

CALLEBS: An upgrade in area from an eyesore to a place that's just a chip shot away from perfection.

In Marietta, Georgia, I'm Sean Callebs.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com