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GREENSBORO - For many Triad golfers, Bryan Park's Champions Course is a municipal golf course in name only. It's a place where weekend duffers can snag a tee time that same morning. A place where they can play a demanding round of golf on a drop-dead gorgeous course that's equal to or better than those pricey country clubs around town.

And now Greensboro's quaint "muni" course is even better.

Bryan Park officials have re-opened the Champions Course to rave reviews after a $1.25 million renovation. Bunkers have been cleaned out and carved out to their original size. An irrigation system has been added to all of the green complexes. Cart paths were rerouted around greens to encourage golfers to stay off the grass. And, like any golf course renovation these days, officials made the Champions Course longer. The par-72 course plays 7,265 yards from the tips -- 110 yards longer than last year.

Course officials had been planning the renovations for a few years, but accelerated the timetable after learning they had landed the 2010 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship.

"We wanted the course to be ready and healed by then," said Kyle Kolls, Bryan Park's director of golf. "When 2010 comes around, we want people to say the course is as close to perfect as we can get it."

To make the renovations, Bryan Park officials closed the Champions course the day after Thanksgiving 2007 until mid-March. The park took a bit of a financial hit, given the mild winter was a boon to golf courses hurting from last year's drought. But Bryan Park's loyal followers say it was well worth the wait.

"It's very subtle changes as far as I can tell, which is nice," said Michael Woodward, who lives in Browns Summit and plays the Champions Course once or twice a month. "I was worried because I love the course just the way it is. They haven't changed things. They just improved it."

Indeed, park officials said they were careful not to mess with a good thing. The most noticeable change is the addition of four bunkers:

l The ninth hole now has a bunker along the right-front green.

l Two bunkers were strategically added to the landing area around the par-5 11th hole.

l A trap was added to the left side of the green at No. 11.

Course officials also stretched six holes an average of about 20 yards each. The decision to lengthen the course was made, in part, after Bryan Park officials consulted with the USGA, which runs the Public Links tournament.

The Public Links is one of 13 national championships conducted by the USGA, which also runs the U.S. Open. Unlike the Open, however, the Public Links brings with it no massive merchandising tents or sea of spectators packing grandstands -- just 156 golfers and a smattering of their closest family and friends.

But it does produce its share of quality golfers. Masters champion Trevor Immelman won the 1998 title, and Brandt Snedeker, last year's Wyndham champion, won the 2003 title.

"When you're going to have some of the world's best amateur golfers playing your course, you want it to be in top shape," Kolls said. "You don't want to leave any stone unturned in doing that."

Contact Robert Bell at 373-7055 or rbell @news-record.com