Tees on 7 are being floated

Floating is the process of taking the bunker rake with a box attached and driving in circles or a circular fashion to make everything flat and smooth.

The challenge of finishing work is getting the transition area from rootzone to native soil compacted.

Tools of the trade:














All-wheel drive Smithco SuperStar bunker rake, showel and rake.















A great blade with a leading edge of hardened steel. It's manually operated... no hydraulics here.















The rake. Under the blades are screws with bolts which help pull out weed and break up the soil.















Cultivator. This really loosens the soil. It's also good for knocking down small piles. The teeth are normally straight, but I've used it in a couple areas with rocky soil, hence the bent metal.















The "box". Homemade, this fills in depressions when driven in a circular fashion. It can also strengthen of soften slopes. Softening when driving down the slope, steepening when driving up the slope.















Early in the floating process. The connection between the soil and rootzone hasn't been worked too much. That's coming next.

We'll be using a tractor with TG Grader with laser in the near future to get the grades nailed down faster, followed by the sand pro and hand work.

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

Flattening out stockpile dirt

It's amazing how knocking down dirt piles changes the perspective of everything. Views open up, space is created where it once seemed confined.

We don't have much left in this department, only by 17 green do we have stockpiled material, and once the greens on 1 and 5 have rootzone can we rid ourselves of these monsters of dirt too.

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

2nd Cut

The short course greens have been cut for the second time, and the course itself is being cut with regularity.

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

The last of the barrier for Dr. Noise

Dr. Noise was Kai's first nickname.

Due to proximity of the Warsaw-Gdansk road, which will be moved in the coming years, Kai was hell bent on reducing the noise as much as possible. I obliged, creating a pretty massive wall that is camouflaged to look like a hillside.

We're finishing the last bits of the barrier, and should be done in a day or so.

Some before and after shots.

















End of April 2007.















The height and width of the wall are drastically different today.
The green section of wall just in front of the tee requires a little work and will be done after the gravel blanket and rootzone are installed in the tees.

















April 2007.














Again, the dramatic change in the wall is evident by the trees in the background. It will be planted with bush, making it appear even higher and helping further to hide the artificial work.





























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

That's it

All the tees have rootzone in place, with the par-3 9th and back tee for the par-4 9th being the last such jobs.

For those that are new to the blog, the 9th is designed as both a par-3 and par-4.

There is a discussion about this hole on golfclubatlas.com:
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=972444c822a8c77b3fa6e61f14589b57&topic=35000.0


















Sketch of the 9th from the par-3 tee.
The green is on the plateau framed by the gap in the trees.

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

After the rain

We're busy cleaning up some areas after the rainfall.

One of the tasks is for guys to clean all the silty buildup around the catch basins so we'll be prepared for the next rainfall.

Hey! When are those hay bales coming!?

These square bales will be placed around the catch basins to prevent silt from clogging the gravel.

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

A look back

The sketch is from May 11, 2007. I'd been on site for a couple weeks.

The tees Sand Valley are largely rectangular or box shaped, but my thought was to have tees interconnected so the angle of play would vary more and would be easier to maintain. Hence the "Continuous Mowing Tees" caption for the sketch.

With this concept the tees could be mown with a minimum of lifting the cutting units.

With the material we had at hand would have been easy to construct, and virtually ideal for the concept.

The tees on 8 are surrounded by sand, but certainly don't resemble this sketch... though their banks will.

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

CNBC TV Shoot.

The CNBC crew along with some of our staff.

Yesterday the course was looking great, but last night and into the morning it rained cats and dogs and the course is saturated, nonetheless... the TV crew was here shooting footage of the project, doing interviews with the owners, the Mayor of the town and yours truly.

This coming Friday the show will be aired on CNBC.

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

Slashing out the bunker on 2

Tex and Tattoo in their large excavators were busy ripping out one section of the long waste bunker that runs just about the entire right side of the 2nd fairway.

We had them pause for a bit as we were expecting the arrival of the TV crew filming a segment for CNBC. They didn't get here on time... Friday traffic and all, so the Tex and Tattoo went ahead and got the job done.

We have to leave a section of bunker open because the only service road to 4 green runs through it. Once the rootzone is in the green, we can close the road and finish the bunker construction.

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

Some More: The 12th Sod work completed

This is what it looked like when I arrived. A quarry turned garbage dump.















Today the transformation is almost complete. It only needs grass on the fairway.

























































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

Another day on 12 plus overseeding

We're close to finished the bunkers on 12. I expect tomorrow will be the end of the line for the work here. It's looking really good. We'll be finishing the work in the middle picture and then we can call it a day for this section of fairway.











































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

Still on 12

We're still on 12 sodding the banks and bunker faces with big thick slabs of native grasses.

The pieces of sod we are using are about 2 meters by 1.5 meters and 20cm thick. We've perfected the method of jiggling them from the bucket of the loaders, and even if they break up, it's a good thing as it help provide the raw, natural look we are shooting for.

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

Working the Quarry: Before and After

A bunker on the left side of the quarry takes on a new shape.














The rough form has been pegged and is ready for action.















This detail requires a fair amount of handwork, and care during construction. It isn't something you can draw plans for.

A look at some bunkers on 16

The 16th is a mere 265 meters from the member's tee, and about 300 from the back. It is short, but don't worry, the green drives the strategy for the hole, and will give you fits.

There are no greenside bunkers, so that reveals a little bit of its severity.

The bunkers below are about 40 meters from the front of the green and are part of a larger open sand pit.

The grasses are a dunes type grass found throughout the property and were transplanted during the spring. Their evolution will be interesting to follow.















Photo of the 16th taken on the 12th of this month

Camouflage

The rain has hit us pretty good, so we've begun doing some sodding work for the quarry.

It's an unusual process. The quarry has grown in with native grasses along the spoils banks and left a series of "natural" looking bunkers.

To seed everything and have a stark contrast would make the manufactured work and the original quarry work too obvious.

By using the native grasses, cut with our 15-ton excavator, transported and placed by loaders should help camouflage our artificial additions.

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

It's been raining today...

... but we have been busy. Now is a good time to work in the sand quarry and get some odds and ends ready for the conversion of this pit to a fairway. Once the rootzone is mixed and where it is supposed to be... in the green and tees.

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

Rootzone in on 5, 6, and 10 tees

While others were cleaning along the edge of the fairway on 13 and 15. Running along the river, these holes are bordered by a dunes grass.

The previous company left us with a mess, but we have cleaned it up, created and maintained a clean transition between the golf course and dunes grass. The crew was doing a super job tying the two areas together.

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

Sketch of the clubhouse area

A sketch from May 3rd.

This really wasn't meant as a forecast of things to come.

The center point of the green had been moved 50 meters so it runs along the edge of the ridge. This allowed the clubhouse to be moved too. The sketch was to see how tees, greens and clubhouse would fit together.

Click on the photo and you can see the relationship between the old 18th green and new.

The 18th green is 50 meters deep in this sketch. In reality it's 65 meters of rolling fun with about 2 meters of fall.

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

Around 13 Tees.

Today part of the hand workers crew was cleaning around 13 tees. Wielding the roto tiller, rakes and shovels, they got the area looking clean.

Now is the time the hand worker brigade will be in high use. Weeding, raking, shoveling... getting the fine work done for seeding.

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

The last of the tees

We're just about at the end of the line with tee production. The tees on 9 and 10 are getting their gravel-sand blanket. Then it's only a matter of capping the tees with rootzone.

Rootzone is the material we grow the grass in for the tees and greens. In short, it is 90% sand (2mm and smaller) and 10% peat moss. It is designed to drain quickly, yet hold just enough moisture... allowing a very firm but fast surface.

What remains is the finish work. Getting the tees flat, and getting the connection between the rootzone and outside soil to fit together seamlessly.

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

Before and After; 13 Greensite

Name for the hole: Old River Bank








Standing on what was to be the center of the green. The green was moved just under where the group of thorn bush is blooming. We trucked in some sand to create the pad of the green so it looks like an extension of the bank running through the fairway. The river turns just near this point, so the form of the green mirrors the land.






The green is an extension of and fits into the "old river bank" that splits the fairway into upper and lower levels. The putting surface tilts sharply from the golfer's right to left, leaving a tricky approach for those playing away from the river to the safe "high side".















A view of the bank that separates the hole into a narrower and lower fairway, and a sloping, wide fairway above. It was part of the original topography; we just built the strategy of the hole around it.















Another view of the old river bank separating the fairway into higher and lower sections. The ideal line is to be on the lower, flatter section. If you hit it to the safe, high right side, away from the river, you'll be faced with a green that slopes away from you, and is thinner. Playing straight on from the low section, the green is deeper, and tilts from your right to left.















A view from the front of the green back to the fairway. The green growth to the right of the photo is the bank for the dead-arm of the river that meanders back into the golf course.

There are no bunkers on this hole, unless you count the quarry which buffers the entire right side of the fairway. But with a fairway 60 meters wide or more, it will take talent to find it. But... I'm sure some will.

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

The 5th; Before and After

Name for the Hole: Ridge










Taken last April from the turning point on the short par-4 5th.









Now it looks a little different.

You see two bunkers cut into the hillside to the right. There are actually three. The third, just before the higher bunker is about the size of a divot; OK the size of the hood of a car. Nasty little bugger. If you take on these bunkers, you'll have to fly them. If you manage to you'll get a turbo kick that could send you ball onto the green, or to a nice little bunker short left of the green.

As the comparison between the two photos reveal, we have moved a huge amount of material to create the faux hillside that rises up to 7 meters (21 feet). It's primary job is to kill noise from the highway, but it also has a great influence on the strategic choices from the tee.

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

Making a list, checking it twice...

Merry Christmas!

Ok, back to reality.

We've got a 7-page list of tasks to be done. It doesn't include some of the obvious stuff like putting rootzone into the greens. It's mostly small stuff; lots of hand work. Projects that will get the place clean and tidy as we await pressure testing for the irrigation system.

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

Nae Wind, Nae Golf

Nae Wind, Nae Golf. (No wind, no golf.)
An Old Scottish saying.

Today it was howling. The winds were as least as strong as during the Open at Birkdale just a couple weeks ago. And with those conditions on this course, it would be a whole bunch of fun.

Most courses with their ever narrowing fairways would have the golfers spending most of their time extracting themselves from the rough and trees. Not here. The fairways are wide, huge by modern standards... the bunkers eat into or are within the fairways. You'll have room maneuver, but you'll be forced to make tactical choices.

The ground is firm and dry so you can keep the ball low for the most part, and attack the hole by running the ball onto the green. Ours is not a "Links course", but we have the heart and soul of links golf here:

• Dry
• Wide
• Rolling
  
• Allows the bounced in approach
• Hazards that play larger than their size due to the slope of the ground and the firm conditions.

We borrowed the important stuff, and it will make playing here fun in all conditions.

Bring it on!

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

The 12th & The Quarrymen

Name for the hole: Quarry

Yesterday we took an overview of this area, today the photo's close in on the details; it is a series of photos of guys cleaning out the Quarry bunkers.

These were hidden in all manner of debris, but during my first walk through knew they would be a vital part of this hole. We've basically gone about trimming back vegetation and cleaning out garbage.


























































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

Before & After; Ridge Landing Area on 12

The end of April last year. The Old Quarry was a combination of garbage, young birch trees, and basket willows. Hiding among the debris were a series of native bunkers that drove the theme for some of the course and this hole.









This July. It was a huge effort to get the place cleaned up, the fairway elevated another 40cm, and we're not done yet.

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

A look up the 1st

Name for the hole: Tumble

This is a view looking over the 2nd tees, and up the first fairway.

It's been difficult to get a good photo illustrating the heaving ground of the first, but this gives you some feel. Can you spot the "flat tops"?













The green is out of view to the right. The tee by the truck looks pretty sad right now, but later it will look like a wild island surrounded by sand on three sides.

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

Flat Tops

Most mounding on golf courses are of the blob type; They have a high point, and look pretty much the same from all angles. I call these mammary mounds. Let's say I'm not a big fan.

At Sand Valley we have created a lot of slash and gash mounds. Basically we made a mess with the bulldozer and then dragged them off or raked them out by hand. We've also created a number of rolls or mounds with long flat spots. I called them our "flat top mounds".

If you get out on the course, you can look at an area, and then look in the distance, a kilometer of a handful if possible and you'll find the contours often mimic what is in the distance. Much of the area has long flowing hills with a straight profile at the top; the inspiration for our "flat tops". By following the immediate and distant surrounds, our shaping is in harmony with the region.

I'll post a photo tomorrow.

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