The progression of the 4th greensite in photos

As the 4th greensite looked upon my arrival at the end of April 2007. The green was originally sited close to the forest which is just outside the left edge of this photo. The green was moved significantly to the right so it would get morning sunlight in the summer and more importantly, in the winter. If it had remained left, the green would have been a struggle to maintain, and been closed most of the winter.










Peat was found where the green was moved. It was about 1meter deep, and was excavated. In the process, and 8inch (20cm) pipe was broken. Rain soon followed, and a nice size pond formed. For a while the idea of an island green between the ponds (to the right of the one in this photo) was entertained. The green would have been smallish, had a lot of chipping area, and been surrounded by sand. It would have been a short, risk-reward par-5 of some 460 meters (500 yards). See Conceptual Illustrations at the bottom of this post.

















The buffer wall, almost 7-meters high behind the green, not long after the fill was stockpiled. Fill came from the excavation of a nearby lake.















Today. The drainage problem was solved, the area capped with about 2-meters of sand. The green has been shaped and floated out. There is still some work to go. The hill behind hasn't been shaped as it will be heavily planted with bush.
















The following is a small set of basic conceptual illustrations for the Island Green Concept. The green would have been surrounded by a fairly large chipping areas and buffered by sand that transitioned into wetland and water. The direct line of play is directly over the water (second sketch illustrates this), the alternate, 3-shot route comes from the left at a 20 to 30% angle. They're presented in the order they were sketched.









































































































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

Rain, rain Go Away!

It rained last night, and on the way to the site today it started pouring. Well it was a nice drive. Things were too saturated to do any work, so... here I sit, letting the site rest and updating the blogs.

It's to the point now that we can't do much of anything in this weather. Only wait.

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

Rootzone Mix Arrivals

We have had delivery of sand and peat moss for the greens mix. The formula will be 50% screened sand from our quarry, 50% screened sand from a quarry down the road 40 minutes, and 20% peat moss. Luckily the supplier is local.

We've ordered a dump truck with very low compaction tires to take the mix to the greens. then it'll be spread with a bulldozer or excavator. It depends on the green.

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

Putting it back; Part II

Yesterday topsoil was being spread on 18 fairway, and today it continued. The holes 1 and 18 are pretty much done, so now it's on to cleaning them up so the tractor hauling the Viking grader can do its thing.

The days have been long. We're cranking out 13 to 15 hours of work, but spirits are as good as the weather... which has been excellent.

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

Green plan sketches

Yesterday's thread hit on the greens production method and efficiency at Sand Valley. Today Ive posted some "Conceptual Illustrations" for the 2nd green... you can call it thinking on paper. Each hole has an array of such ideas. The last illustration shows how the green was eventually built. With these sketches I haven't put in elevations. I'm building them myself, so I'm feeling the situation as I go. Funny enough, I don't bring these into the field with me; instead i reference them before I leave and then let moment influence the end result.

With this hole we've put a bunker down the right side of the entire fairway. Play tight and the green opens to you. Play left and you'll have a shallower, less receptive target. That was the whole goal with this green. Even if we didn't put any bunkers left of the green, we wanted to have the golfer faced with a significantly more difficult approach.

In the end we added one small bunker, about 6 feet deep cut into the center left of the green, and two bunkers in front of the greenside bunker. The "two bunkers" create dead space, creating an illusion the green is closer than it really is.

Bottom photo: The green as it was constructed. It doesn't resemble any of the "Conceptual Illustrations" closely, but reflects the major ideas of a couple.

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

How the greens were designed and built

Except for the 8th and 18th, the two mammoth greens, the greens rest on several feet of sand. These sand based greens have no drainage. As the soil engineer noted, why put pipes in the green when the water will run straight through them? It's a method of green construction I've used in the past with excellent results. At first Kai was skeptical, but after learning how many excellent modern courses were built this way, he accepted the common sense reasoning.

Once the pile of sand was in place, the general direction of the green was staked... sometimes not even this was done. From there, I took general concepts for the hole... preferred angle of play, strategic bunkers, length of hole... what came before and after, and started crafting the green with the D6NXL bulldozer. Some greens took an entire day to shape, until I was happy with the result, others took only a few hours.

Once the green was shaped, I dragged my foot around the green, searching for the outer form. Then, after we'd looked at it, we'd put in the stakes marking the perimeter.

This method is different from architects who provide plans and walk away for weeks. It's faster, and I can achieve results I'd never have dreamed of at the drawing table.

PETE DYE: ...I put together a B-4 or B-5 bulldozer, and that costs maybe $100. So, I go in there and... say look, you ought to do this, do that and say it takes him two days, so he spends $2,000. So if I spent $2,000 on every hole, that’d be $36,000 on a $6 million project. In the mean time, these guys that do drawings that are to the inch, they get so many stakes out there, it takes the bulldozer operator five times as long to get it done...

PETE DYE: So that doesn’t cost anything, I can change the greens, I can go in and change the greens five times for $5,000 on a $6 million project. On a bulldozer, if I go in there and say look, change the contour, takes them an hour, two hours, $200. If I’m responsible like that ... it all channel down and saves money.

Catch the full interview at:

http://jayflemma.thegolfspace.com/?p=782

Not only does it take "five times as long", but what guarantee is there that the builder will get it right when the architect leaves the site, not to be seen until the next distant "site-visit"? And what then? The investor gets an inferior product, construction drags on, or he pays more because the builder's built his green "according to plan" twice already!

Its faster and better to have the architect shape the greens... but most can't, and even if they could... most won't because they don't have the time. Time... the most valuable asset an architect can bring to his work.

It's also more cost effective to have the architect leading construction daily, and it's how you end up with the best golf courses.

By being on-site daily, leading construction the architect will be seeking to make the best of your land and budget... but you won't hear that from most in the industry because they don't work that way. They're into plans, stakes and the odd "site-visit". It's why most golf courses fall short of their potential. The visionaries simply don't spend enough time out in the field during the most permanent, critical and expensive design-phase... Construction.

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

Putting it back

Irrigation has been installed on the first, the lines compacted, and cleaned up with our tractor drawn grader. Some refer to it as a Viking, others TG, regardless... it's a great little bit of equipment.

With the lines in and cleaned up, we're replacing the topsoil on this hole. By the time this is done, the same will happen on 18, which connects with the first.














This shows the connected 1st and 18th. It's from a marketing map I'd created about a year ago, and the differences between this rendering and the finished product are interesting. The green on 18 is almost 3 times larger; 1600 square meters. There is a large hill to the left of the 1st green (Goat's Hill) with the only bunker, cut into the side of the hill flanking the left of the green (Goat's Bunker; it's blind). A Gorge cuts in front of the forward tee (Goat's Valley). No fairway bunker on 1, and three greenside bunkers on 18. We almost cut a tiny one into the back left of the green on 18, and skipped the three bunkers.

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

The expanding bunker on 8

We had a bit of a scare a week or so ago. We'd roughed out the greenside bunker on 8, placed the tees for the 9th, and then had the surveyors go in to mark the residential boundaries.

The amount of room we'd calculated was pretty easy due to natural markers; tree lines and the surveyed points for the tees, turning points and greens.

After the surveyors went through we were in shock, but there was one giveaway indicating the surveyors had erred badly. They did, and went back, redid their work, and all is as expected.

Today we expanded the greenside bunker on the 8th. We stopped until we had the precise boundaries. This bunker didn't start out with such scale, but we've kept going... expanding it, and now it ties into the fairway bunker. We just might call this thing "Gobi".

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

Sand is in for the 4th greensite

The sand is in, the green has been roughed out, and now it's on to the finishing touches.

The next step is irrigation.

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

Progression of the 9th in photos

Photos of the par-3 9th at different stages of development, with a sketch of how the area will look.
















Spring 2007

















Summer 2007. The Centerline is cut, and you get a peek at the greensite.


















Winter 2007-08. Virtually all the clearing is compete.















Today; Rough shaping completed. The green was shaped a couple weeks back.

















Finished product should appear something like this.

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

Two bunkers added on 5

Oops!

That takes the bunker total seven beyond the goal of 28.

The two bunkers add to the interest of the short, sometimes drivable par-4. One bunker is added to the collection you have to carry. It's deep box of a bunker. The other is to the left front of the green. It's bail out territory, and will be an afterthought for guys gunning for the green. It will catch them sometimes, and leave one of those irritating mid length bunker shots to a green that slopes away for the most part... and the back falls away to a deep valley.

Should be a fun hole.

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

And then it'll be zero greens

Today the drainage crew put in a drain line in the hollow behind the 4th green.

This place has been a tough one.

The greensite was originally placed too close to the tress, so it would have struggled in the winter. In fact it would have been closed most of the winter because it the sun was blocked by forest. I moved the green to a sunnier locale, had Captain (of the sunken excavator) strip the greensite of peat 9 (the only place on the course with peat), and upon doing so he busted an old German drain line...the peat was that deep; about 1 meter. He didn't bust just any drain line, but a major artery. That caused nothing but problems during our wet summer.

Only a couple weeks ago we managed to drain the area, filled the excavation with sand (See Tex's receiving the Order of the Captain), then let it dry and harden, and now we are ready to start pushing in the 1000 cubic meters of sand for the green and to cap the surrounds.

This has been one bugger of a greensite. It would have been almost as easy to cut down the entire forest!

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

The Monument comes to an end...

...the glob of material the previous builder left us between 8 and 11 greens had its final form. Yesterday we drove in... yes we drove in a bunch of material. In doing so we extended the monument and connected it back to the fairway. It is a flat top mound, some 70 meters long, with smooth banks. You could play volleyball on the top with no problem. Its shape fits with the geological forms on-site and in the area. A rounded mound or mounds would have looked... for lack of a better word... "dumb".

I'd never have planned this form on paper in a million years, what I called "The Monument to Stupidity", but it was there as a gift to deal with from the previous builders... and now it looks pretty damn good. Almost as if it had been there a million years.

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

Into the last 20%

The following was posted yesterday for the crew.

"So often the bulk of the construction project is performed in good order, but the "finishing off" phase is poor. Therefore, the overall perception of the project becomes tainted. Almost every contractor can get 80% of the job completed; however, it is the exceptional companies that finish the last 20% with the same dedication applied earlier on. In many cases, the contractor is anxious to get to the next job and simply does not have the staying power to finish the job properly. This really separates the top-notch building contractors from the rest of the pack... Remember, any work the contractor fails to finish properly will have to be completed by the existing maintenance staff. These added tasks take unnecessary time and money out of the budget."

Couldn't be more true... so guys... let's get it done once and get it done right.

Somewhere along the way I picked up the quote above, but can't find the source. Apologies to whoever it's lifted from... but it's 100% a bullseye.

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

"Déjà vu all over again"

Today we ripped out the last of the previous construction company's offenses. The subgrade of the large practice putting green; about 1000 square meters in size. Like the 3rd, it was built primarily of topsoil and had chunks of wood in it.

We trucked the topsoil to the range for capping the clay. We will have to run the cultivator lightly over the range, followed by the spike harrow, and have a small army of guys following... picking out the offensive extras for at least a day.

The range is 90% capped in topsoil, and the remainder of capping material should be in place late this evening. Only a bulldozer has to spread it out... and just in time. It started raining today.

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

golfclubatlas.com... Discussion about the 9th...

... can be seen on the greatest discussion forum on golf course architecture. There is nothing else like it. View points from across the globe... laymen to professionals... what ties them together and drives them is a love of golf and golf architecture.

Be prepared, they sway wide of conventional wisdom, and have formed a conventional wisdom of their own (which some see as unfortunate).

It is a site I believe all investors should take a look at. It is a most valuable resource... and it's FREE!

I've been a participant since the late 1990's.

The link to the Sand Valley thread:
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,35000.0.html

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

Memories of the 3rd

I sometimes wonder if I've gone overboard criticizing the previous builder, but I look back at old notes or photos and think... No.

Yesterday I was reminded of their deviousness. The company had piled material for the subgrade of the 3rd greensite, and it was awful stuff; clay, topsoil, and mixed in were large and small chunks of wood debris.

Last year when the topsoil material was scraped off the greensite and trucked to the back of the range I did not watch it get loaded out truck for truck (I had more important things to do than babysit every load of dirt) but today as I pushed out the stockpiled material to cap the very back of the driving range I saw the full effects of the previous builders shoddy efforts. Not only was it awful stuff for building the subgrade of a green, it was pretty contaminated (roots, stumps etc) for capping the range.

The topsoil in itself is good quality, but it is not the stuff you build the subgrade of a green with... and the added chunks of wood are a no-no on their own.

On Monday this section at the back of the range will be run over with a spike harrow, and a group of hand-workers will rake out the crap. Should make a nice pile. (No pun intended.)

Amazing.

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







From behind the 3rd green. A view of poor material stockpiled by the previous builder for the 3rd green in April 2007. Hiding in its mass is topsoil, clay and chunks of wood.

















Before reconstruction; A view of the 3rd from the tee in April 2007.
















One year later. Sand replaces the gunk of the previous builder. The hole has been reduced from 185 meters to 140 meters.

It's been a long time coming

We had the Driving Range ready to put topsoil on last year, and just as it was prepared, we got rain, after rain, after rain. The soils on the range are clay, and when driven or walked over when wet... react like mashed potatoes. We couldn't get topsoil to the range regardless of how badly we wanted to.

We've had about 8 weeks of good weather, and have all the big grading and shaping behind us, there are no further threats from frost, and the clay on the range is as hard as rock... so it's time to cover the range in soil; about 10cm thick (4 inches).

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

Irritation team down fairway 1

They're putting in the lines for the first, and after that should be on the 18th which parallels and shares some common acreage.

The fairways at Sand Valley are a throw back in many ways.

1. They are wide, just as they were before irrigation systems made them smaller and smaller. 60 meters won't be unusual.
   
2. Some fairways are connected with another hole, creating huge expanses; 1&18, 2&4, 6&7, 15&16 fit this description..
3. Because of their width, bunkers (about 33 formal bunkers in total) are placed within the fairways or eat generously into the fairways. They will make golfers choose lines of attack.
   
4. The fairways are a blend of fescues and colonial bent, and will be maintained for optimum playing conditions first, not color.
5. There will be no short cut rough alongside the fairways. In fact, the ownership will not be purchasing a sit-down rough mower. The few areas to be maintained as short rough will be done with lawn mowers.

All together, this will be different on many fronts.

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

Tex on the Goat

Tex is cut the Goat's Bunker today. We walked through how the bunker would work, how Goat's Hill would tie into it, and how Goat's Hill would be shaped... with a ledge.

Following our routine, I took off to let Tex work in peace and awaited his phone call. Once he'd made his pass through the area I'll show up and edit what had been built. This time it was a little deepening where the bunker comes in tight to the green; not much more. It pretty much resembles the conceptual illustration.

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

Irritation team down fairway 2

The guys are making their way down the second fairway. We have an access road cutting perpendicular through the fairway so we can access the 4th greensite. There is just no other way of getting to that corner of the property.

To protect the irrigation lines from being crushed during the delivery of rootzone material to the 4th green, we've covered the lines with 1-meter of sandy soil.

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

Education & Over Polishing

I'd worked with Tex, our guy for excavator work... shaping the smaller bunkers and putting the rootzone on the greens & tees (though he really is a first class dozer operator) 12-years ago. I'd promised him we'd work together again, but never expected it to take so long. He's come to this project as we're putting it to bed, but I'm thrilled he's here. It's a change to communicate with someone in my native tongue.

Tex has worked in the Europe and the US for some big name companies and spent his entire 30-years on heavy equipment trying to get everything nice and clean. It's been a bit for him to get used to slashing, gouging and ripping areas and leaving them for the hand workers or sand pro, but being open minded and creative... he's gotten over the hurdle pretty quick.

Though it's been quick, and he's fully on board with the concept, it has taken a fair bit of communication and editing to get the point across. Something you just can't do employing the "formal-normal" method of building golf courses... drawing plans on paper, handing them to the builder and walking away for days, weeks or months at a time.

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

Another Sunday off

This is getting to be a habit... but instead of working in the field I spent all day catching up on office work.

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

Piecing together Nr. 4

This par-5 of 530-meters has been a lot of work. It's in a low area, was wet... probably not in its original state, but for some reason the original plans called for lowering the fairway. This was done according to the design of the previous planner, and executed by the previous builder. What resulted was breaking of the old German drainage lines ...and a series of wet spots. Added to the situation... domes of dirt were strewn here and there. These piles had small tree stumps, trunks and branches within; useless material for shaping.

The hole has been rerouted to take advantage of the higher ground, the old cuts where the German drainage was broken... filled in and drainage repaired. Basically the land has been restored similar to what it once was, with the addition of a pond-lake where the old fairway was planned.

The tee area was a lot of work too... but another story.

Some days ago we cut four fairway bunkers. Then converted one medium sized bunker into three bunkers. Now we have the "Bomb Garden" in the landing zone of the tee shot.

Drainage had been installed to control the level of the lake-pond on the second shot, and additional drainage installed. The greensite has had sand pumped into it.

Now we are spreading topsoil over the landing area. Then we will cut a waste bunker the length of the lake-pond (about 200 meters).

The hole is coming together.

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

Hole 1

The first green is shaped, the outer contours tied in with the exception of the Goat's Hill Bunker. It's a rolling green which sets the tone for much of what is to come.

The hole is about 310 meters (335 yards), downhill, and in the right conditions and line some sluggers could reach it. The further down the fairway you hit it though, the less visible the green. The further back you lay it up, the better the view. Hit it right along the ridgeline and you'll also get a view. Depending on where the hole is cut will determine the best angle of attack.

We have plans to build one additional tee adding some 25 to 30 meters.

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

















What I saw upon my arrival to Sand Valley. April 2007.














With the exception of the Goat's Hill (left) and the Goat's Hill Bunker, the hole is shaped. There are two piles of topsoil stockpiled in the background; one green (right), one light brown (left); these will be spread on the 1st and 5th holes.

THE ORDER OF THE CAPTAIN

During times of war, men and women are presented medals for heroic feats. During construction, our guys are also given an award for memorable feats.

The Order of the Captain was created for the operator of a 6-week old, 250,000 Euro Cat 330 Excavator who plunged it into the lake. Hence his machine looked like a Yellow Submarine, and he its Captain. He was not supposed to be in the lake. He was on the wrong side of the lake from where he should have been working. He was "hot-dogging"... don't ask me why. I have no idea. As I told the guys after he'd completed this memorable feat, and his nerves and humor had been restored... sometimes hotdogs get burned.

His machine was burned: engine, hydraulics, computer... shot.

Captain never was awarded his "wings", as he left us for more oily shores.

Today though we celebrated a memorable feat, one worthy of The Order of the Captain; Only one wing... not two.

Yesterday Tex managed to get two dozers stuck in the same spot (something he said he'd never done in 30-years of construction... hence the qualification). Instead of waiting for an excavator to haul him out, he opted for a little hot-doggery of his own... trying with another dozer. We have no photos, but we do have three witnesses.





















Tex in full Order of the Captain regalia.

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

Goat's Hill... Goat's Bunker

Left of the 1st green will be a hidden bunker... separating Goat's Hill from the green, and aptly named Goat's Bunker.

Below is a conceptual illustration of what could be (field sketch) and photo of the raw setting from a slightly different angle.

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

Skinny Dipping Anyone?

We are expanding the pond-lake on 4, and while doing so Kai came up with the idea of creating a secluded place behind the large mound... for members to go skinny dipping (if you like) and a sand beach.

The sand from this excavation will be used to fill in the greensite.

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

Editing the bunkers on 18

All of the greenside bunkers on 18 have gone through some editing now. They all look better, though I keep eyeing the big one for future editing. Time will tell.

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

A Day off

It's Sunday, and we've been plugging away at a pretty good pace. After all the rain last year I'm still shell shocked (I heard it rained all of 6 days 2-years ago... nice contrast), and have been trying to get as much done as possible.

It's been about 6 weeks of go, go, go.

Time to catch up on other stuff.

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