That was a message from the prolific architect Donald Ross, and the practice used to build the holes to date.
This morning I set about staking the par-5, 4th fairway, the wetland and long waste bunker that runs the last 220 meters of the hole, and the waste area that separates the left of Hole 4 and left of Hole 2. I have spent countless hours exploring the land and thinking about the possibilities, so my collection of sketches were in the office as I set about finding the form of the hole.
It took a couple hours of staking and reconfiguring, and in the end the one section of sloping land on the 4th is used to maximum effect. As the fairway is pinched, the land tilts, so everyone will have to walk through and experience this sloping section, dispelling the feeling of flatness. Some will have to negotiate the effects of gravity and the surrounding hazards; even the better players who find a hazard off the tee (in an area blind from the tee to be known as the Bomb Garden). Originally the hole was routed in the flats, now the hole uses all the advantages provided by nature; Low wet areas turned into a massive wetland, forest on both sides, sandy soil, and a vast corridor. The hole will have scale, will be wide for the most part, and will challenge from tee to green.
It will be a par-5 that doesn’t ask the golfer to just slog the ball, but to think and choose lines of attack on every shot; from tee to green.
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Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
+1 (909) 581 0080
Tony Ristola
- www.tonyristola.com
- A rarity in golf course architecture: Working with the builders, crafting the details of my designs in the field on a daily basis.
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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.
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.
