"Much Better Than Expected"

A little more than a week before the finish of construction, I was walking the new holes with club president and retired engineer Theo Beisenkotter and had the following exchange.

TB: It's very good.

TR: You didn't expect it to be this good?

TB: I thought it would be good, but this is much better than expected.

A similar sentiment was expressed at every project I've participated in. In hindsight the funniest story is related to GC Emstal, where I told the then club treasurer that we would build one of the finest courses in Germany from the then flat cornfield. He laughed. Today the course is ranked 17th in Germany by Golfmagazin, and it could be much better, as it has lost some of its detail and luster during the past 14-years.

But that's the goal of being on-site daily. Exploit every opportunity, stretch every penny, attend to every detail and help the builder understand the vision and be proactive with adjustments to the design, not an editor after the fact. It's the finest protection plan for the client's investment.

Excellent golf is about quality, variety and interest of the holes, the craftsmanship during construction and then the superintendent maintaining the course along the guidelines of the architect. Money is necessary, but not everything.

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

How it Will Look

These Sketch-overs aren't exact, but will give a very good idea of what awaits the golfers on the new holes.








































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

The Last Bits

Here Andreas is shaping the hillock left of the first fairway (I'm standing on 2T). After this there isn't much left to do until the soil warms up and we can get the difficult, painstaking task of the "finish" work accomplished and seed in the ground.






































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

Was ist das?

This is soon to be a "catchment-basin", or commonly referred to as a "catch-basin". I don't like them, and call them bathtubs, because that is how they work. The vertical pipe is set in a low point and the water flows in through the top, like the drain in a bathtub.

There are times these drainage solutions are necessary, but my dislike for them is they destroy the natural look of the landscape, and at worst the intake pipe is often where the ball will end up. I've seen it too many times around greens on courses I've played, and then you get an area full of little divots around the pipe. Not nice.

This is the only catch basin we constructed and it will camouflaged on the outside of the fairway in the semi-rough so most golfers will never notice its existence.


























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

A Look at Hole 1

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

And 5,000 More Plantings

These are all going along the road by Hole 3, and there are probably more to come.




















































































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

Tree Planting Day

A number of Hazlnut and Oaks were transplanted today.























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

Photo's of the 5th with Sand Finally Installed

The first two photos are from the blog on January 25th, 2011 (Click back: http://guthahuesgolf.blogspot.com/2011/01/reshaping-fairway-bunker-on-current-5th.html). The color photo is before making the bunker smaller. The Sepia photo is a Conceptual Illustration of how it could look like after the changes to the small bunker in the foreground and the larger in the background. I never brought the illustration in the field as a reference, but am pretty surprised at how similar the result is.





Before










Conceptual Illustration













Today










The guys hard at work spreading sand































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

Obvious Change of Direction

As some have noticed, the bunkers built last year, and those constructed this year are taking on a very different character. The old bunker forms were provisional. The idea from the beginning has been to create a collection of bunkers and details that reflect the design style of the Golden Age of Golf Course Architecture (1900-35). If you haven't seen anything like it... Great! It means we are on our way to creating a unique identity in the area.

The bunker work is just one part of the new direction to make holes more interesting, memorable, fun and beautiful. The goal isn't to make the new holes look like the old holes, but to have the new holes drive the new direction, and slowly but surely rework the old holes so each has its own individual character that ties into the new general theme. This way the course develops it own truly unique identity from the courses in the region and from the 750 courses in the country. And it's such courses people are willing to travel to to play. If it's the same course as everywhere else... why bother?

The B&W photos are of some bunkers from the Golden Age, and they reveal how the art of excellent, natural, artistic bunker creation has been lost in modern times.














































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

A Bunker Right in the Middle

It doesn't look like much now, but straight down the middle, on the optimal line, 200 to 230-meters (the Men's tee is 30-meters long) from the tee is a central bunker for the 4th hole. For the ladies it is 145-meters from the tee.

Some folks might be asking, why put a bunker exactly where the golfer would like to go? Because it makes the tee shot most interesting, and with the width of the fairway, it offers all manner of options; going left, right, playing short or carrying the bunker. For most golfers, they won't reach the bunker, so it should be an easy carry with their second shots.

The key to keeping this interesting is maintaining the fairway all around the bunker, as narrow fairways make for boring golf. If the fairway left of the bunker is turned to rough, that option is taken away. If the fairway is narrowed, other options are taken away. So the key is keeping the fairway mowed wide so there is flexibility, options, and room to maneuver!


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

They're Baaaaaaaaaaaaack!

The irrigation crew is back to install the mainline ring for the new holes.

The trencher cutting the mainline, followed by the crew rolling out pipe and cable.


















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

16 Minutes of Tee Grading in 4 Minutes Part II

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

16 Minutes of Tee Grading in 4 Minutes Part 1

But first the still photos.

Andreas is using modern technology to level the large tee on the 4th hole. No need to have someone check grades, his on-board equipment controls the blade.






















































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