Hole 1 Shaped

The fairway over the creek has been capped with sand, and almost everything has been shaped; only the bunker behind the green that flows into the pond need be done.

We still need to add topsoil to the fairway, add drainage, cover the green with rootzone (an 80% sand and peat (torf) mixture) before the painstaking task of preparing everything for seeding in the spring.

The sketch reveals approximately how the hole will look when completed.
















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

The Blanket of Love

Every project has terms or phrases that become popular, usually because they are so damn funny. Wherever the guys go, they are busy recycling them, spreading them amongst their colleagues.

"The Blanket of Love" is one such phrase Andreas brought with him, and I'm laughing about it as I write because it sounds so absurd, but in the golf course construction world... it's true. It refers to capping an area with topsoil, or in our case capping the 1st fairway with sand before capping it with topsoil... which is what we spent the entire frosty Sunday doing.

The top photo shows half the fairway covered with sand.



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

More Frost is Good News

Another productive day thanks to the frost.

The 3rd fairway and buffer wall continue to gain shape (photos left), the ditch cutting across the first fairway has been naturalized, and the subsoil for first fairway and bunker shaped. Now it awaits a blanket of sand.

The Andreas was off to the area for the constructed wetland in the afternoon to push off the topsoil and grass so the guys on Monday can begin driving the material to the buffer wall on the second part of the hole; past the tees on the Old 2nd.






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

Almost Perfect Weather = Big Day

This has been a productive day. We got a lot done thanks to the frost.

Andreas naturalized a section of creek yesterday evening and it looks great. Today he was off to the buffer wall left of the 3rd hole. Only a few days ago it was so soft you couldn't walk near it. Today Andreas was able to get a large portion of it rough shaped, and it is looking good with bold, flowing contours reflective of what you might find in the region... where it isn't flat!

To the left of the 2nd the material excavated from the creek has been shaped and covered with topsoil, and the 1st fairway was stripped of grass. You wouldn't believe all the balls hiding under the turf! It was like mushroom season.

The bunker before the green has material in place for shaping and 2/5ths of the fairway after the creek stripped of topsoil. We are removing the topsoil so we can add a blanket of sand to improve drainage. I recall it being like a rice paddy last winter. The new work should fix that problem.

Slowly this section of the property is starting to look like a golf course instead of a war zone.

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

Out of the Corner

Today we had some frost, which is perfect, but even with it, some areas a still a bit too soft.

Andreas was working behind the 2nd green getting the hill to tie into the back of the green. It doesn't sound like much but the hill there is of large scale and will be planted with bush.

The photo is Andreas working with his two machines behind and to the left of the new 2nd green.

Yes, where there are a couple puddles, is the bunker left of the green, soon to be expanded to a grand scale with some grass islands amongst the expanse of sand.

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

Walkabout and Finally Edging the Bunker on the 5th

Today we had Richard from the construction company Poetter, and Aqua Consult our irrigation company. We spoke about the schedule of work, design detail and the installation of the irrigation lines.

After that it was off to edging the bunker on the new 5th, soon to be the new 8th. The bunker has been edged, and the sand is soon to be installed. The photos with sand are hand made digital productions.





































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

Reshaping the Fairway Bunker on the Current 5th

With the new green built last year, the best angle to the hole is where the existing fairway bunker is. This would usually be a good thing, as bunkers should often be placed exactly where the golfer wants to go. This makes the game interesting and offers choices for the player. The golfer must think a little; should I hit it left, right, short or over the hazard.

One option was to take out the hazard entirely, but then every tee shot would be placed here without any thinking involved. Making the bunker smaller provides more options. By making the bunker smaller there is less chance of hitting into the bunker, which is fine, as the bunker serves as an occasional reminder that challenging the best line and not executing the shot can come with consequences. Once in the bunker, golfers will think even more the next time they stand on the tee.













It is no mistake the fairway swings left of the bunker in the new photos. I would like to see the fairway connected with the 4th hole, as a start point to eliminate the military look of the club's original, 20-year old holes. The 4, 5, 7 and 18th run parallel with each other with straight lines of trees dividing them.

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

Plantings Meetings

The site is still too wet to work, but it didn't stop us from having meetings about the plantings for the Buffer Wall along the street on Hole 3, the new par-5 of some 500-meters, and how to manage the constructed wetlands left of the new 4th hole, and banks of the pond... also known as Theo's Teich (photo left).

With the wetlands, that should come from seed in the soil, traveling through the air and brought by animals of all kinds. I have yet to see a wetland, or the banks of constructed ponds not grow with native vegetation in the north part of Europe.

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

Conceptual Illustration of Greenside Bunker Left of Hole 2

This bunker will work from the greenside to the ditch, and some 30-meters from the front of the green towards the tee, but on an angle towards the creek. The green on this short par-3, to the right of this bunker is some 45-meters deep.

The following is one of several conceptual illustrations.















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

Conceptual Sketches Naturalizing the Creek on Hole 1

A Conceptual Illustration for the creek naturalization on Hole 1. I created four such illustrations for this section of the creek. I'm not too sure about the bunker, though a this slash of sand for the entire length just might work.






The good thing about conceptual illustrations is it lets you see what things can look like before building, and make design changes before dirt is moved.

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

Drainage on the 7th Hole

Not only are new holes being built, but winter is a good time to get project like this done. Along the 7th, Bernie is installing new drainage to help dry out a couple wet spots.














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

Views of the 3rd

Stripping topsoil has begun on the par-5, 3rd and was brought to a halt when the weather warmed and rain fell. We are waiting for a dry, cold spell before starting again.

This photo is of the 3rd greensite from the area of the new 4th tees. The hills in the distance are drying out and will take on a more natural form in the future.













Looking back towards the 3rd tees from the second landing area on the par-5, 3rd.













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

Floating

Floating is what one does to smooth the surface of greens before seeding, and when the subgrade of the green is workable material. Because our greens are constructed upon a foundation of sand, these have been floated too.

Below: Tools of the trade. A bunker rake with a blade in the front, and a box. The box gathers sand by slicing off higher spots and then fills in lower spots.














Below: The 2nd green floated.









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

48.12

48.12 and the idea surrounding it is a number that has been discussed often in the past weeks. It represents the level of the lake at the moment, and is the level it will be maintained most of the year.

To maintain this level a pipe between the lake and the old 2nd and 3rd holes must be installed.

There was an option to exit the pipe into the ditch crossing the 1st hole, but this would have required elevating the water level 50cm to 60cm. Concerns with too large a water fluctuation has meant installing a longer section of pipe. It is precision work, as there is little fall between the lake and where the pipe exits.

It has taken 2-weeks for the lake to reach its intended level.














James and John installing the pipe from the lake and across the 2nd fairway. In the first photo they are cutting through the fairway bunkers on the old 2nd hole; bunkers that will be removed. The lower photo is in the direction of the foot bridge over the creek on the left side of the old 2nd hole.
































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

Flood City

Not in Australia, and nothing near the disaster the Australians have been facing, but we have had flooding here too. As I traveled around the region, fields are under water. The problem is the ground is still frozen, the snow has melted and it travels on the surface to the ditches and rivers with little resistance. With the mass of snow melt and rains we have had, the rivers are overflowing their banks.

Update: The following photos were taken Monday after the water level had dropped more than a meter. Sand is strewn over the banks and int the surrounding landscape. The base of the trees, usually above the waterline are still submerged.







































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

A Day Free

The site was frozen on Wednesday, and with the rain Wednesday night, the area is a mess. No chance to work, and tomorrow is a write-off as well. We are hoping for better weather to come along, but the forecast is for spring like weather.

We have been lucky up to now, with long periods of cold that have turned the fairways to concrete, and allowed us to get the lake dug out and material transported to the wall without destroying the fairways.

Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good, and this was certainly one of those times!

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

Just Flopping Around Today

The weather turned for the worse, so there wasn't much to be done. One job to do though was flopping sand excavated from the lake to higher ground as the water level has been rising.














Photo taken a day before when the weather was still good.
Sand piles once on dry ground become part of the pond.

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

Greens 1 and 2 Shaped. Notes on Green 2

Started shaping the 2nd green yesterday afternoon and had the it largely roughed out a few hours later as darkness fell. In the morning I returned, refined a couple parts and then headed to the green on the 1st hole.

Only the putting green surface contours and some of the outslopes connecting to the fairway and bunkers have been completed. The ground is a little too wet to be backing the bulldozer into the subsoil or topsoil, so these will be accomplished at a later, drier date. The problem is dragging mud onto the clean sand and contaminating it.

The contours of the 2nd green turned out different from the dozen or so sketches I'd made. There are bits and pieces of some sketches in the green, and at 45-meters, this green is longer than expected.

With the subgrade of the greens are sand based, so we won't be using any subsurface drainage pipes. To ensure the greens function exceptionally, the contours are strong, so water sheds quickly from the surface during heavy rains .

More about my greens construction method can be found here:
http://guthahuesgolf.blogspot.com/2010/12/how-i-design-and-build-greens_20.html




















A few thumbnail sketches of many.
These were drawn almost a month ago.

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