Final Touches on Sand Valley's New Hell Bunker

Before.









After.
A rainy November 8, 2010, the new "Hell" bunker is completed.











Before.










After. The soil pile to the left will be spread about in the coming days.











Hell Bunker in its ancient unraked form. Notice the left is lower than the right; ours is reversed.














Hell Bunker in 1950.















Today, Hell Bunker is a barely recognizable from its original form.









Today I was up a little earlier, 05:00... and on the course setting the grass clumps in place an hour later under the lights of a utility vehicle. Not long after it stared raining again, as I was trying to get some shots to document the conversion.

I think it looks pretty good, and adds another dimension to the hole... entering the player's mind on the tee shot. One thing is certain... nobody will be losing their balls here anymore.

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

Final Day of heavy lifting at the New Dune Bunker

The bunker is completed, the grass clumps placed about the bunker and atop the sand. Tomorrow I'll set them in the sand and make any needed adjustments.

I had no idea exactly how this bunker would turn out, but it looks a little like a version of Hell bunker at St. Andrews Old, but in reverse. It wasn't planned that way, like everything else at Sand Valley, it simply evolved.

We cut slabs of sod from the bank of the 7th fairway extension and used them for the back of the bunker and one small section of bunker face and drove sand until noon. Then I let the guys go, figuring I'd tie-in the back of the bunker to the fairway before calling it quits too. Just as I was going to tie-in the outer banks, the bunker rake died, so I took some pieces of sod stockpiled during the first days and placed them about the bunker.

Later I joined some members for a few holes and got to look at the bunker with fresher eyes, and thought the grass clump placement looked pretty good. Tomorrow I'd set them in place.

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

Sand, Sand and Rain

Where we started from in the morning. A layer of new sand can be seen in the distance.







Where we got to before it was too dark to continue. This photo was taken the next morning.








Today we continued driving in the sand. Unfortunately the dumpers couldn't get close to the bunker, even though the fairway is 1.2 meters of pure sand, so the loader had to make 200 to 250 meter runs.

We drove all day, and once it got dark at 16:30 called it a quits... as I couldn't see where to spread the sand. We got most of it installed and it's starting to look like a bunker.

Getting sand up the 3 to 4 meter bunker face was fun...

Thanks Guys... great job.

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

More heavy lifting on the Dune Bunker

Sketches to Tomek, the excavator operator on how to tie the bunker into the Hillock.











Tomek working on the area illustrated. This is the last bit of scraping before sand is driven in.




Today we finished the scraping out of the bunker, and in the evening began driving in sand.

Funny, but at 18:20 the loader died again, and well, it seems the battery was weak and with so much electronics in the system, the lights sapped the battery's energy and we were all left in the dark for a second night.

So it wasn't the soccer game after all! :)

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

Grunt Work at the Redesigned Dune Bunker

The bunker as it looked after Day 1; Day 2 just underway.



Today was a day of heavy lifting. We're using a loader to drive material out, luckily the soil is going a short distance for the extension of the start of the 7th fairway.

It was a miserable day, pissing down pretty much the whole time, but lucky for us it never turned into a heavy rain. Strange though, at 18:00 the loader died on us... just in time for the EUFA Cup soccer game. Guys!?











Scraping out the bunker at night.




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

Returning for Some Refinements.

The original Dune Bunker as it looked after the course opened.

Today we started peeling away the "Dune" before the 6th green in an effort to convert it into one big bunker.

The problem is this dune had grown too thick and wasn't the easiest to maintain. Being on the line of play for those who bail left from the tee, it swallowed many golfers shots, and resulted in lost balls. So... enter a bunker.

I'm not sure how the bunker will look like in the end, but I know it'll be big.


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