Sand Valley Golf; Design and Construction Blog: The Progression of 16 in Photos

Short Project History; The Good and Bad

This blog reveals a snippet of the daily challenge of building a special golf course. The only value in something like this for future investors and golf architecture aficionados is to tell the truth; warts and all.

Before arriving at Sand Valley the project was being constructed according to the "detailed plans" of another golf architect using a "golf course construction company" that had built a number of courses. They broke ground in June 2006. After 10-months the builder had proceeded to rape 14-holes and was fired.

I have been brought in to fix the problem, using locals to build the course. In the process all plans except the general routing scheme have been abandoned. The current course is being designed in the field, seizing every opportunity to improve the course as we go. That's the value of time. You can see the project from all angles, in all conditions, you have time to think about the problems and come up with the best solutions, and then refine them with the guys doing the building... in real-time. This is how many of the great courses were constructed. It only makes sense. More time, more input, more communication produces the best possible result.

That's why Sand Valley, though it had a rough start (using the "Typical Method") should have a fantastic finish.

Friday, July 31, 2009

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.