I had staked a new section of meandering creek that runs from between the 6th tees and 7th green in a large area that isn’t used by the golfers, but is visible to them. The original operator ignored the stakes that made the creek weave back and forth because the end product was pretty much a straight line. How he accomplished this feat I’ll never know.
Today I had our new operator slash the banks and get the creek weaving back and forth. Not only that, I wanted him to make the banks rough and uneven, and to do it as fast as he could. At first, he looked a little dazed, as it is not in the normal repertoire of instructions given to guys in construction. Having learned to make things flat, clean and smooth they find it hard to believe that someone would desire something gouged and slashed; like a rookie operator who had consumed a bottle of vodka before climbing into the machine.
He got the feeling, and did a fine job, and he did it fast. After the banks have grown in, I’m sure people will believe Mother Nature, the forces of water cut the path, not a guy sitting in a 20 ton machine.
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.
