The Progression of 16 in Photos

The 16th is a short and treacherous par-4. At its longest it can be stretched out to 300-meters (330-yards), about 250-meters for members. The fairway is huge, some water left, there aren't a whole lot of bunkers, and none around the green... but the green is what gives the hole teeth.

Beyond locating the tee, turning point and center of the green (which was moved), not one bit of plan was used to create this hole. It was here that a group of visiting superintendents from Hamburg, Germany remarked about the absence of grading stakes. I'll admit, I did use stakes, but only to mark general positions of bunkers and the green as reference after studying the land for weeks and months; not to nail down precise heights.

The green was an evolutionary process, like all of them. It started with an idea, and after some shaping I wasn't very happy with what was produced... it looked like a tee. Then another spark hit and the front of the green with its severe slope was added, the back of the green widened and then a further back section added. (Photos from the front of the green are at the bottom of this post.)

I think this hole will be a lot of fun.


















The start; The center of the green, marked by the post, was moved 20-meters closer to the tee.

















Some forms are scraped out in a depression we created. Material from this hole was taken to 15 greensite.














Taken yesterday morning.















The following were taken yesterday evening.




























There is still a little work to be done to the right of the bunker collection in the distance.











































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

Kleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen

Bunkers are being cleaned and sand should be going in right away, but we're waiting for delivery... coming soon. Then they'll be part of the maintenance team's ever growing program.






















































































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

From Edging to Cleaning

We've gone into Goat's Valley to get the spoils moved and create a walkway... Team Koparka (Excavator) has been assisting our loader to get the nooks and crannies cleaned. There are easier jobs.

Later on I went in and edged a couple more areas... to improve the aesthetics.

Next step is to bring in the sand.











































The Team Salute. Good job guys.

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

Cleaning the waste along 6 fairway

After using the cultivator, ripping out the weed, it was brought in today with the sand pro and Team Koparka (Excavator)... the shovel and rake brigade and the loader.

Together we got rid of the growth, cleaned the spoils from the edges and started smoothing out the sand and bringing it tight to the banks.

Now the maintenance team has to do somewhat regular maintenance in the area to keep it somewhat weed free.

The goal isn't to have this area perfect, but to have the odd clump or clumps of native vegetation establish itself.















Some of the bunker sole was cleaned in the winter and sand added, but the banks hadn't been edged, or cleaned. Now we're getting to cleaning the spoils along the edges, and bringing the sand to the bunker's edge.

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

Cultivator Ahoy

Today was spent spinning around the large waste bunkers on 6 and 13, ripping out the weed for the last time.

Once cleaned they will start their standard maintenance program.

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

Edging the last Witch on 4

Edged this bunker today, the Witch furthest from the tee.

This bunker was holding a little water, and as it is built on fine sand I didn't install any drainage.

Figuring the bunker surface was silted over I'd few days ago I dug a couple of holes, and sure enough... the water drained away.

Before we install sand we'll build a couple dry wells and fill them with gravel, to ensure the water moves faster through the surface.

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

In the Dunes

A couple years ago I visited this area and wrote a blog about it. Today I returned and shot some photos of the eroded areas in the dunes.

Our bunkers are a creative exercise of such areas, and have to say I was pretty pleased with what i saw and what we are doing.











































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

And they're off

Today Timo Hulkkonen, The Chief Hulkonnen of the investment team was out with his buddies, Jussi Huttunen, Antero Pailamo and Keijo Pöyry gave the course a test drive, getting a head start on learning the local knowledge.





























Timo















Jussi















Antero















Keijo.

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

Going into Goat's Valley

This was a slash out of the landscape when I in arrived in April 2007. It was the first place we began working, and was supposed to be a long cut up the 18th fairway. Well, as anyone reading this blog knows by now... the original plans were trashed, and the scheme for this hole too.

We moved the green, we moved the tees, and the long cut never materialized. Instead I took the start of the cut, and turned it into a wild, rugged canyon, called Goat's Valley. It's called Goat's Valley because the plan is to have the goat's on the hill near Green 1, and in this valley which connects to it.

Today we're in Goat's, edging the forms, hauling the spoils and getting it ready for sand.















A view of Goat's from left of fairway 1 before edging has begun.















Starting the edging. Looking from 17 fairway.















Looking back from 18 fairway.















Tattoo at work in Goat's.

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

Sods are Us

It's that time, and we've got a 2-man crew at it.

The course has grown in to the degree where we are going back to sod the washouts on the fairways.

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to fix them as the course is growing-in, especially when there isn't a whole lot of them and they aren't too deep. Better to let the course grow, wait until there is grass to slow the flow of water, and then go back with sod and fix them... which is what our guys are doing.

After a week, it's difficult to see where they've done their handiwork.

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

Clean-up on the way

Most of the bunkers have been edged, and now it's time for guys to go in, shovel out the spoils and cart them away. On the larger bunkers we'll use the mini excavator to load the material out... saving some back-power.

Once this is done, the sole of the bunkers will be smoothed to perfection and 10 cm (4 inches) of sand installed. Which means more shoveling and raking.

Of course, I will tinker with some of the bunker lines a little... as they are being cleaned.

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

The Three Bears

Edging this cluster of bunkers to the left of the par-5, 4th hole tee shot occurred today. They are three small and nasty little places to be. None really provide a good option for a long recovery. To the right of them are the Two Witches, equally undesirable, but with a little better option of moving the ball down the fairway.

The options are to either hit your tee shot down the right along the birch tree which can bring the Witches into play, or try to place your tee shot between the Three Bears and the Witches. The final option is to play shot of all the trouble, but take yourself out of position to go for the green in two.

There is a ton of fairway, must be 70 meters of it, so the final option might be to aim for the Witches, knowing you won't hit it straight, and play on from there. See bottom photo.















The raw material















Mama Bear and Baby Bear have been edged.















Done. Now to take out the spoils and fill with sand.





























How they appear from further out. Baby Bear is hidden.















To the right are The Witches, yet to be edged... with a worker to the right of them. It gives an indication of the massive fairway made more interesting by the Bears and Witches.

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

Too Hot for Toi Toi

For those unfamiliar with the term "Toi Toi", it's the European term for Portolet... Portable Toilet. The mini excavator looks like one on tracks.

Our mini excavator has found the heat of the last couple days not to its liking, and while scraping out the spoils for the large bunker fronting the 17th green... it died. Seems like a fuel pump related problem. In any event, some warning signal kept screeching too, the damn thing sounded like a McDonald's frier... telling us the French Fries were ready... or as they call them here... Fritki.















Toi Toi Kaput

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

Beginning the bunker fronting 17 green

This is a pretty large bunker set about 15- meters back from the front of the green, and is a prominent feature on the golf course. There's no screwing up this baby. It represents the dying out of the the long sandy waste running through the middle section of the golf course.

So the edging began today by hand, first picking off the easy forms and then working to find the connections for the remainder.

The process here is to edge some, go back and look, edge some more and go back and look... the same as most bunkers. I didn't finish edging the bunker today, nor did I want to. I wanted the chance to sleep on what has been done, and go back with fresh eyes tomorrow.















The bunker on the par-3, 17th before edging began. Had we not built the bunker to the right (part of Goat's Valley) the hole would have had some bail-out room. The hole reminds me a fair bit of the par-3, 4th at Riviera CC in Los Angeles, though it wasn't my intention to replicate the hole. Fact is, our bank to the right of the green, past the bunker, is more effective at kicking balls into it than it cousin in LA.

I've called the bunker "Carry Me", because you have to. It doesn't look too imposing in the photo, so next time I'll get someone standing in it.

To the right is its sister bunker, with no name at the moment (perhaps "Screw You" is fitting) which will undergo its own edging program simultaneously. I'll hop from one bunker to the other... to give me time to think about the work being done to Carry Me.


















For comparison purposes, the 215 meter, par-3, 4th hole at Riviera CC in Los Angeles, host of the Los Angeles Open on the PGA Tour, and former host of the US Open and PGA Championship. It is a course I've been fortunate to play on many occasions.

More than a decade has passed since I last teed it up there, and as noted, the hole wasn't used at a reference. It really didn't register as we built our hole. Memory being what it is, I totally forgot about the bunker to the right;, and what's also interesting is the ugly cart path to the left of the hole. We have our main maintenance road to the left too, but it is largely out of view, and will be maintained as a waste bunker.


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

Edging the Beast

From about 100 meters from the green and leading into it we've begun edging this beast of a bunker.

It will be a process a lot like sculpture; edging, evaluating and going back to refine... until happy. It's nothing you can draw on plans; someone has to be on-site leading the way.

















































The fun has started.

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

A look down 1 Fairway

Building this hole was fun.

When I arrived here after the previous builder was fired and the project started anew, the landscape looked like a war zone. There was no topsoil for this hole, the adjacent 18th and 5th in the distance. There was a lot of erosion, old drainage was busted, and inferior material was stockpiled for the greens and fairway contours.

All the crap was taken away, used in the buffer wall, as we started to repair the damage left by the previous inhabitants.

I didn't use detailed plans to build this or any hole, green or bunker; we had ideas and built upon them... seizing opportunities daily to improve the concepts as we went along.

It's a faster way to build than following sticks and waiting for the infrequent site-visits of an architect. It's not only more faster, it allows all the opportunities to improve the product to be seized.















The first hole in the evening.
The place is starting to look like a golf course.
The hole looks bunker free, but Goat's Bunker awaits behind Goat's Hill to the left of the green.

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

Rain

Well, we've been pretty fortunate with the weather. I know other parts of central Europe have been getting rain for the past couple weeks on a regular basis, but we've been nice and dry... until yesterday. We really got hammered. In fact CNNi gave a weather warning for Tuesday... rightly so as trees were toppled here and there, but none on the golf course.

Today we had rain in the morning, and it poured buckets at noon while working on the bunkers in the vicinity of green 15. We trudged on, completing the work and coming in like drenched rats... then called it a day.

Would have taken pictures, but would have needed a waterproof camera.

All in all, the course needed a good thorough rain. Now there is no question whether we have moisture in the ground for the young grass growing in.

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

"Design and construction are not separate jobs, but different parts of the same job... and that is Design." TR

Building the Wee Bunker on 15 in Photos

The Wee Bunker has had little growth, so to help things along it was constructed today... one of several bunker jobs on the go.














Have to admit, the beginning doesn't look like much... more like a mess.















But the finished product looks a hell of a lot better.
In fact this little devil has character... and that's our goal. To create bunkers with a common thread, yet chock full of individuality.

Not something the architect can do by simply shipping plans to the site, making the odd visit and walking away.
















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

Scraping out the greenside bunker on 7 then off to 15

The greenside bunker on 7 has been scraped free, and in the next days sod will be added to refine the raw forms.

We've got a river dune near the 15th green we're doing some edging and bunker work on too. It 's a fair bit of heavy lifting, as we're sodding the fairway side of the bunker running along the base of the dune.

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

Sunday spent Edging

Today, another hot one, was spent edging the greenside bunker on 7.

This is a big bunker that blends into the wetland/lake running along the right of the hole.
The job here is to edge and look, edge and look, edge and look.

After the soil and excess grass has been scraped away, there will be more edging, and finally sod added to enhance the forms.















Rough forms have been staked, but are by no means the final form.
Once the forms have been edged, the excess material will be scraped away, and then looked at from 180 degrees. Then the refining process of edging will and island creation will continue.
















Hand work, to be followed by the mini-excavator.















Edged and ready for the excess to be scraped away.
It's not the easiest or fastest manner to finish bunkers, but if you want individuality and harmony, there is nothing like spending time to labor over them and reflect upon them... just like anything of value.

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