Sand Valley Golf; Design and Construction Blog: OH S**T!

Short Project History; The Good and Bad

This blog reveals a snippet of the daily challenge of building a special golf course. The only value in something like this for future investors and golf architecture aficionados is to tell the truth; warts and all.

Before arriving at Sand Valley the project was being constructed according to the "detailed plans" of another golf architect using a "golf course construction company" that had built a number of courses. They broke ground in June 2006. After 10-months the builder had proceeded to rape 14-holes and was fired.

I have been brought in to fix the problem, using locals to build the course. In the process all plans except the general routing scheme have been abandoned. The current course is being designed in the field, seizing every opportunity to improve the course as we go. That's the value of time. You can see the project from all angles, in all conditions, you have time to think about the problems and come up with the best solutions, and then refine them with the guys doing the building... in real-time. This is how many of the great courses were constructed. It only makes sense. More time, more input, more communication produces the best possible result.

That's why Sand Valley, though it had a rough start (using the "Typical Method") should have a fantastic finish.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

OH S**T!

Today we continued ripping out the remainder of the lake on Hole 7. We were using two excavators; one to rip the material out to the desired depth, the second to pile the slop on the banks to dry.

All was going well until after lunch.

The brand new 30-ton CAT we leased (value of the machine 250,000 Euros) with an operator ended up in the lake, covering the engine but not the exhaust. Efforts were made to haul it out using our Volvo excavator and our D6R bulldozer, but no luck. The 4cm thick cable snapped under the pressure.

Tomorrow they will try again.

Before lunch the operator showed me photos of the machine in the lake. Why he was there I have no idea. After lunch he went right back in?! His work was on the lake's edge on the other side. Now he's stuck. Here the bulldozer and excavator tried extricating the machine from the lake. They snapped all the cabled in the attempt.

Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
+1 (909) 581 0080

Tony Ristola

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Short Project History; The Good and Bad

Sunday, July 29, 2007

OH S**T!