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
