The entrance to 10 green is complete

Now Chechek can jump on the grader, and get everything smoothed out. Once this is done the irrigation boys can come in, make their mess, clean it up, and replace the topsoil.

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

Drainage Ahoy!

We are using two green construction methods at Sand Valley. By chance, the 8th and 18th, the two monster greens are build upon clay and here we will be using the 2-layer method (some people falsely call any 2-layer method USGA Greens).














The drainage pattern is not "herringbone". The "laterals"... lines off the mainline are at 90 degree angles; to ensure the water gets into the pipes as quickly as possible.

The remainder of our greens are built upon at least 3 feet of sand. As our Dr. Dirt, Anton Morbach advised, no drainage is required in the greens. The water would run straight through the pipes.

Today the trenches for the green are being cut, and we are using Tex and his CAT 315. Instead of digging box shaped trenches, we will use a method we're familiar with from the past. Tex will tilt the bucket and scape out "V" shaped trenches. They are less prone to collapsing. Once the trenches are cut, gravel is placed in the bottom, pipe installed, spotted with piles of gravel, and then covered. The base of the green should be as smooth and clean as when they started.

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

15 Tees and surrounds

We started working here, ringed the tees, stripped out the topsoil (surprising how much) let it sit a while, and now have gone back in after having some time to think of the what would be best.

Now we've gone in, ripped out some of the soil banks that were filled by some clever farmer years back. With them went some basket willows too. Then bunkers were gouged from natural locations.

This area has received a lot of good reviews before this work... now it looks even better. We aren't finished yet, as we'll go in and expand the area past the tees.

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
















Construction photos do no justice. This is from behind the Member's tee on 15.
Below a sketch of the area.

4 Bunkers on 4

Today we had 4 bunkers cut on the 4th. One just off the tee in a natural location, a few in the landing area.

Initially we wanted to have a bunch randomly scattered about, and call the area The Bomb Garden. Who knows we just might end up with one.

While pushing some dirt around while Tex was cutting the bunkers, I stopped the dozer pretty quick, and jumped out... I know he was thinking... Oh hell, what now. He crawls out of the machine and was surprised when I told him... no more work on that bunker... it's done.... the rest will be completed by hand. Just didn't need him to go on polishing a really good looking rough form.

I'm not going to insert a photo because many will think... what's the deal?
Trust me.

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

Greenside Bunkers on 18

The previous construction company... too bad their name didn't produce an acronym like C.R.A.P. ... it would be so much easier to say... C.R.A.P. Company...

Anyway, C.R.A.P. ...the previous construction company pushed all the clay and topsoil from the bunker that was supposed to buffer 18 green (but is now where we placed the green) down the bank from 18 to the front of 10 green... a 100 meter plus push by bulldozer... and making a huge mess in the process. With time, and all the rain the banks eroded pretty good. But... destruction can offer opportunity, and these eroded areas did just that. We are going to convert them into bunkers.

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

Drainage crew off to the dreaded 4th

We cut a large pond here, and used the fill for the 7 meter wall behind the green. We're not sure where it's going, but it isn't going to be where it was staked before I got here. The green wouldn't get enough sun in the spring, autumn or winter. We're moving it to a sunnier locale.

It all could have been so easy. Where I'd wanted the green, a nice sunny area (I didn't have a whole lot of choices), I'd found peat moss. This was the only place on the property with it, so I thought there wouldn't be a whole bunch. I learned otherwise. I told the operator at the time (now long gone), to excavate it out. He did, and in the process busted an old German drain line. We had a small pond on our hands, but nothing some new drainage wouldn't fix.

What's the drainage crew doing? Draining out this pond and lowing the water level in the larger lake-pond. Then we'll expand the lake-pond and push in sand where the peat moss once was.

Thanks... and have fun boys.

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

Donater of the Marek Trophy visits the site

Was on-site with one great guy. He hadn't seen the project in a while and was amazed at the progress. What a stretch of good weather can do.

We walked through virtually all of it, shot some photos, and then took the rest of the day off.

BBQ time.

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















Marek, standing at the front of the 8th green, and some Texan by way of Orlando at the back.

Drainage in the Gorge

Before we get any rain, the drainage drew went in and cut a drain line, inserted perforated pipe and filled it with pea gravel. Now when it rains, the water has an escape route.

Tex was along the edges of The Gorge flopping out material for Chechek to push into Goat's Hill right next door; the two tie into each other.

The idea behind Goat's Hill is to have Kai soon to be collection of 97 goats on the hill adjacent to and overlooking the 1st green. From there they can go into the gorge cutting across 18... through a tunnel, and into the expanse between holes 18, 10 and 17. Just don't hit your ball into The Gorge. You'll be in company with Kai's buddies... 194 steely eyes.

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















Looking from the South. The Gorge before shaping. First the bottom will be elevated, banks slashed, gouged... shaped, and then the drainage installed. There will certainly be some shaping after the drainage is installed too. Stay tuned.














Looking from the North. The Gorge has been gouged... rough shaped. Now we have to wait for some rain to soften the material so we can rake it out. The hollows, ridges, spines will be converted to a mix of sand and grass. Below is a conceptual illustration.

Evolution on 5

As we pushed off topsoil over the 5th hole, and the manner I'd shaped the hillside, an unforeseen opportunity arose. There is a ledge (hidden under mounds of topsoil until a couple days ago) that could be used as fairway. This wasn't in the scheme, but offers an opportunity to better the hole... providing more options. Hit an iron or fairway wood to the high side short of the bunkers, and gain a great view of the green, or bail left and have a poorer angle of attack.

Time will tell how this will end.

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

Another Holiday... for some

The crew is off today, Kimmo the irrigation designer is here, so we had the morning on-site and the afternoon playing golf.

While he was wandering around, the Dynamic Duo pushed soil over The Wall on 5. Amazing to watch the orange clay behemoth get covered in brown soil. A lot of memories floated through my head as we covered it. All the driving, stockpiling, pushing, slop and water...

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

The Gorge

When I got here, the first job on the list... because of the limited machines we had at the time, was to rip out material from in front of the forward tees on 18. The planned cut was to go just about to the landing area.

We worked on this for a couple days, and as we got our machines, we went straight to work on building service roads and holes 6 and 7. The cut on 18 was pretty much forgotten.

Now the idea has changed and I'm converting the gorge into an eroded looking series of bunker styled washouts. Some will be grass, some flashed with sand. Before than happens though, we have to stabilize the bottom (fill), and put in a drain line.

Hey Tex! Guess what?

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

18 Green... A Whopper... without cheese

I'd roughed it out, got it clean, had the grader take it to the next level and then decided on a couple minor alterations.

I'd looked at it with Kai, and in the end the green is going to be a rolling beast of 65 meters in length, and 25 meters wide at its widest; some 1800 square meters. The green falls from left to right, so anyone coeing in from the left of the fairway will have to feed the ball off the slopes. The outer shape isn't finalized, but most likely it will be pear shaped.

We really didn't plan on it being any size of huge... it just fit the area and the contour, offered a lot of interesting play, so why not? I'll be curious to see how big it is in 30-years.

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

Loooooooooooooooong Day

It was 15 hours in the field today... without dinner. Most this spring have been 12 to 13 with dinner.

There was urgent work needed at the pump station and the guys involved... The Two Martins, Jin Ling and Tex didn't leave until it was done. Tex takes his hat off to Martin the Mechanic for a job well done.

I was down the fairway shaping the entrance to 10 green... watching the guys plug away. Sometimes it's better to watch... especially when matters are in good hands.

No dinner... just a shower and straight to bed.

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

Sunday

Sunday's are always a light day of work. It rained lightly last night, so the site is workable.

Today the dynamic duo worked the remnants of The Monument, and cleaned up the shaping on 18 fairway... which is all but done.

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

Bunker on 8 Evolution

The sketch has been expanded upon. Originally I'd planned a second smaller bunker just before the one cut from the bank. Now the bunker has been extended to connect to the sandy expanse by the monument... some 40 meters away.

Later the bunker will curve behind the bank, and stretch down to the residential development. About half a hectare of new bunker.

It all looks chunky now, but when it's raked out, growing with grasses, and edges... it will look impressive. On a scale to match the cut and the green.

INSERT PHOTO

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

Shaping 18 Green

Yesterday I'd started shaping the 18th green. It's perched on the edge of the ridge, overlooking holes 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 6 and 7.

This is going to be another mammoth sized green... the 8th is about 1200 square meters and shaped like a boomerang. This green will be larger... somewhere between 50 and 60 meters long, and connecting to the forward tee for the 10th hole. The yardage doesn't include the forward tee.

The green will be an extension of the fairway, and mirror its rolling character... on a smaller scale.

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

The bunker by the 8th green

We have a bank, a product of the excavation that produced The Monument, and from the remnants, and the way the hole plays it seemed a good location for a bunker.

It starts with this sketch... let's see where it'll take us.

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

Heavy Frost

Last night there was a pretty heavy frost... we hadn't seen frost for a good long while. They say after May 15 you can expect to have frost free nights.

Problem with such a frost is if you've seeded and they've just popped... you could lose all the young ones. Start over. That's the problem in Scandinavia. They have harsh winters, can lose a good portion of their greens, and then have to fight through the spring and the frosts that can cause problems with areas that have been overseeded.

This reagion of Poland doesn't have such problems. Their courses are in better condition in March than most Scandinavian courses in late June.

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

Academy Days

You haven't heard much about this place during the past year.

This is the short course... 6 holes. It was pretty much completed by the time I got here, and is the product of the original designer. He has full credit for the short course, whereas I'll be taking credit for the 18-hole course.

Today they've been driving rootzone to the greens.

Once the water's pumping through the veins of the system, it'll be seeded and turned over to Tomek, the superintendent.

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

Turning Worm

We've had some pretty good weather, and have been able to knock down piles, piece holes back together, and install irrigation. Bit by bit it's looking more like a golf course than a collection of piles.

The blog up to recently has been a daily report of what goes on or through the mind when building. So much of it was weather related, illustrating what a big part that plays and has played here. Now that we have something to see and compare, I'll go back through certain holes and explain their evolution. And all these holes have evolved. Greens have been moved, tees shifted, fairways created on the fly, greens crafted with ideas... not strict plans. The reasons for these changes are as numerous as the changes as we have been working with ideas and not plans.

All this reminds me of the golf course superintendents visiting from Hamburg. They marveled at the lack of grading stakes, and relayed a story of a project using GPS. They were impressed by it obviously. Well, GPS... technology is nice, especially if you're blowing down the side of a mountain, but having the architect on-site armed with ideas and visions... communicating them in real-time (and using a laser to check tight grades) is miles better... and faster.

Why?

You can spot an opportunity and seize it that moment. How can you do this with GPS and an absent architect? You can't. And there are scores of such "opportunities" to seize everyday. Tons of things to communicate personally. Daily communication, working with the builders in real-time trumps GPS because GPS cannot speak... cannot take personal feedback... cannot clarify the smallest details. It's like slicing roast beef with a dull axe.

It's no wonder the best courses are crafted in the field daily with an architect leading the effort.

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

Shaping 8 Green

This greensite is the one that produced all the material for The Monument (to stupidity).

If I had the raw, undisturbed land to begin with, the green would have been placed high atop the ridge and left it at that. There would have been strategy galore thanks to Mother Nature, and a fraction of the work. I didn't have that chance, so now I've got a cavernous gouge to convert into something functional and beautiful.

Concepts for this green have been all over the map. From huge, to medium sized and back to huge. Today I started roughing out contours, thinking about the attack from multiple angles, fun shots, interesting putting, drainage, and beauty. When I'm done, I'll do what I've done with all the greens to this point... drag my foot around the perimeter seeking the outer form of the green. Then I'll stake the form. It's a hell of a lot faster this way, and the greens fit into the land better.

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

Replacement Dozer

A few days ago our CAT D6N XL committed suicide. Well, the starter did. I was shaping the 13th green (omen?), turned off the machine to speak with Kai, turned it back on 30 minutes later, pushed off some piles of dirt on my way to the base, parked it... and all was fine.

In the morning the engine wouldn't turn over. Looked inside to find the starter caught fire. bIZZArO.

Today we got a replacement, another D6N XL.

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

Getting the Driving Range ready

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This is one big clay monster. Get it wet and you don't want to go near it. Chechek is out on the grader smoothing the beast out. Next comes irrigation for the target greens, compacting the trenches and cleaning up these areas one more time. Then we'll cap it with topsoil, and Chechek can do his magic again.

Have to say it looks good.

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

Ringing Tees 2

These tees will be buffered by sand on 2 to 4 sides. Tex is out there with his excavator doing the work. Like everything this will be the first salvo... we'll go back and refine them after the rootzone is in the tees.

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

Before and after Greensite 6

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INSERT SKETCHES

This greensite is along the river.

The previous builder stockpiled clay for the greensite. Because it was poorly stockpiled it held water and certain parts of the piles just oozed when moved. The old greensite material was converted into a mound.

Initially we planned to create a version of an old dyke wall left of the green, but this changed as we had mountains of organic material from stripping the fairway before sand was to be driven in. The piles we converted to mounds; not the round, dome shaped mounds you often see. Instead I pushed, slashed and squeezed the material, and then had guys hand rake them. Now we're trying to make believe that these are river dunes. Having worked on a river project with such dunes in the adjacent property, I think ours turned out pretty good.

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

Cleaning up around 18 Green

The previous construction company built the 18th green from topsoil, so we, like on all other areas where they'd started something, went in and cleaned up their mess. First we stripped out the existing greensite, which was too high, had lumpy mounds tied into it, blocked the view of putting surface and the holes in the valley below.

To the right of the original green was a large boxy cut for a bunker. We've cleaned this up and are going to use this former bunker as the area for the greensite. Chechek is out there cleaning up the area, piling up the crappy material.

INSERT PHOTO BEFORE AND CLEAN UP

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

Summary of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of May

Couldn't have had a more perfect timing for the guys to have a long weekend.
It rained, and today it's clearing, warm and drying.

The non-socialists even got a couple days off due to rain.

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

sOCIALIST hOLIDAYz

It's May 1; a socialist holiday.

I'd told the workers that I'm surprised the government still honors this day from Communist times. I'd have eliminated it, and perhaps replaced it with Independence Day.

Not being a socialist, I was out there working.

The crew has today off, and on the 3rd it's Constitution Day. They're having a nice looooooooooong weekend.

Enjoy guys :)

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