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
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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
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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

Clip from CNBC on Sand Valley

From CNBC while the project was under construction.
Yours truly at the 3:26 mark.









A view of Nr. 12, The Quarry, a short par-5 of 485-meters.


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

The hands of a true Hands-on Golf Course Architect

One of the most abused claims in the business is "Hands-On" golf course architect. The term now has been dumbed-down to the point where a few site-visits during the project, driving around in an air conditioned truck, and barking out design changes to work completed according-to-plan is hands-on.

It used to mean the architect spent months on-site and was actually involved in the construction, making improvements to the course as, or even before features were being built.

Below are the hands of a true hands-on architect... yours truly. The product of long days with my girlfriends... the shovel and rake, creating the individual bunker forms that set Sand Valley apart.

The left hand looks like it used to when I hit a couple hundred balls a day as a tournament professional... so I've included the right hand too... which has the same three mountains of calluses... which I call Mt. Everest, K2, and Zugspitz.
















Back in the old days as a tournement professional my left hand used to look like this from hitting hundreds of balls a day.





















But not the right hand... unless I had hit hundreds of balls left handed on a daily basis.
Now these calluses are the product of crafting special golf courses... building them one-at-a-time, being on-site all-day... everyday... in the old and fullest meaning of "Hands-on".

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

Links Golf? Not so fast!!!

Just to be on record, Sand Valley is not a "Links Course" or an imitation links. Elements from the links have been stolen, that is for sure, but what was taken from the links is the heart and soul. Not the aesthetics.

Honestly, I cannot tell you what type of golf course Sand Valley is. She is schizophrenic. Has multiple personalities. There are holes through forest, in open rolling spaces, along the river, paralleling the rail line, holes with wetlands, with ravines, along ledges, in an abandoned quarry, and through river dunes.

You tell me... anything but Links... please.

Is she modern?
Is she classic?
It will be interesting to hear the opinions.

The following format is from another course I had designed and was written about in 2000, it has been adapted for Sand Valley because it fits here too:

Links Golf? Scottish Golf?

This course is not meant to be a Links-type course. To call it one would be a severe misrepresentation of fact, as most courses marketed as Links-type are.

This course is designed in the spirit of those timeless inland designs from the Golden Age commonly found in America, Canada, England and Australia. Like the Golden Age designs and architects, elements and ideas were adapted from Links Golf; the heart and soul, but not the cosmetics. Modern construction equipment has allowed us to take some liberties in land alteration at Sand Valley that wasn't so easily executed 70-years ago, but the ideas we stole from Links golf are:

1. Wide Fairways. This allows all classes of golfers to enjoy the game, and if the course is hard, fast and windy, the most interesting conditions to play golf, there is room to play. It allows for a whole spectrum of strategies, and as the hole location changes, firmness of ground changes, wind changes direction... often the case at Sand Valley, as there is no prevailing wind, the line of attack changes too. This keeps the game interesting... ideally mystical for years to come.

2. Random, natural bunkering. Placing bunkers for "better players" looks artificial, is a modern occurence and sucks the fun and interest out of the game for many. Ours eat into the fairways, and as some fairways are huge, double most modern courses, bunkers are placed towards the middle.

3. Interesting greens and surrounds. The short game is over 65% of golf. A short accurate hitter with an excellent short game can beat a long hitter with a poor short game on this golf course... guaranteed.

4. Hard and fast conditions are the hallmark of Links golf. By good fortune the native soils are suited for these conditions. It truly is a gift of nature. Some courses have paid millions and do not have the optimal conditions we enjoy... naturally.

5. Greensites which allow bounced in approaches. Our firm fairways permit this, and this allows the weaker players to attack the holes using the ground. Most golfers simply don't hit the ball high enough, or spin it enough to play loft-and-drop golf.

The better players at times will have to choose between bouncing their approaches in, or trusting an aerial attack. It is something sure to cause indecision for them, which is great... anytime you can get between the ears of the expert and cause indecision, you've accomplished something.

6. Affordable maintenance practices. True Links are cost effective to maintain (something faux Links usually aren't), and so is Sand Valley. Do not expect Japanese Garden conditioning, this would defeat the design-intent. Expect the golf course turf to be managed for playing conditions... not color... just as they do on the Links.

This doesn't make Sand Valley a Links Course, anymore than piling up dirt alongside the fairways and building grass-faced or sod walled bunkers qualifies a course as "links-type"... but it does mean Sand Valley has some of the best qualities of the Links, minus the most visual aspect... the sand dunes.

If you would like to read the full length version of the document used as the template for this post, click here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/5039150/Understanding-Der-Golf-Club

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