Sand Valley Construction Progression Hole 5. Ridge Agolfarchitect.com Version 1

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LEADERSHIP DRIVEN GOLF COURSE ARCHITECTURE

Sand Valley GolfPasłek, Poland

Construction Progression5th Hole: Ridge

[email protected]

sandvalleygolf.blogspot.comtonyristola.blogspot.com

Architect’s Time On-SiteDuring Construction

Typical Tony Ristola 0 to 6% 100%

VISION AND LEADERSHIP ARE INSEPERABLE



For the Record

This project began with an EIGCA architect’s detailed plans, and specifications book. He was scheduled to make

the industry standard infrequent “site-visits” during construction. The golf course builder was selected on the

strength of their previous golf course construction work.

For 10-months, the builder was permitted to repeat one fundamental construction error after another, and 11-

months after ground breaking I was brought in and the project started anew. Before the restart, the entire

property was photo documented, and an 11-page status report identified 14-holes of construction

mismanagement. Two seasoned engineers confirmed my analysis.

The grading, greens and strategy plans of the previous architect were disposed of, as were the construction

specifications for greens, tees, and bunkers. The previous architect’s generic construction specifications were

replaced with those tailored to this specific property, and the valuable opportunities available.

Construction errors noted at the start of the photo sequences represent the state of the project upon my arrival,

and “My Starting Point”. What evolved is the product of 5,500 hours on-site, personally leading and sculpting the

transformation of the landscape.

Near the completion of the project, the owner made this persuasive statement in the book Golf Architecture, A

Worldwide Perspective Vol. 5 (2009), about the value the architect leading construction on a daily basis brings:

Specifically, (the owner of Sand Valley) clearly sees how daily involvement by the architect is a tremendous driving force, especially in an

emerging golf nation and continent where golf course builders are a scarcity. He believes an architect leading construction daily provides“something really valuable for product quality” because continual assessment and improvement of strategic value and the creation of

special details makes “stuff look just stunning, yet does not cost all that much to build; details just not possible on a turn key project”.

Rescuing Sand Valley, A Lesson for Investors

Golf Architecture, A Worldwide Perspective Vol. 5, 2009.

www.fullswinggolf.com.au

If you have any questions, please contact me at [email protected] and please visit the daily blog of the

project, the first daily blog of a golf course under construction at www.sandvalleygolf.blogspot.com



My Starting Point: Hard to believe, but true; this fairway, along with the 1st, and 18th were stripped of their high quality topsoil and was used as fill for

the start of the buffer wall.



The buffer wall is where we drove all the stumps, badly stockpiled clay from the greensites, the organic strippings from fairways, cuts from the drivingrange and clay from what I liked to call “The Monument to Stupidity” on the 8th hole.



The buffer wall cut off the natural drainage flow, so the rainy summer made this area untouchable at times.

Drainage channels were cut to assist moving the mass of water.Sand for the green is stockpiled.



From the right of the fairway: Drainage installed, fairway and buffer wall shaped, and now being capped with topsoil.



The green has been shaped, but on second thought I had sand trucked in to widen the right side.Part of the sand pile, looking like a pyramid, awaits its fate.



View from behind the green as the right side is widened. The front quarter of the green slopes towards the player, the remainder slopes away, and is

split with the left side higher than the right. The two piles of topsoil behind the 1st green and are left over from what I had inherited. Planned as materialfor greenside mounds, I instead used them both to cap as much of the 1st hole and 5th fairway as possible.



Capping the lower section of fairway with topsoil begins.



Getting ready for seeding.







Sand Valley Golf & CC by the Numbers

• Total Schedule: 543 days. This includes Saturdays and Sundays.

• Number days I worked: 517

• Number of hours worked per day on average: 11 hours (includes Sat. & Sun.)

• Total Hours: 5500+. My work day started on average at 06:00, and I was usually the last to leave the construction site.

Responsibilities

• Golf Course Design: The golf course was designed in the field on a daily basis. An EIGCA architect began the project, buthisdesign was abandoned. The EIGCA architect’s general routing was used though modified.

• Construction Supervisor: The construction team was largely locals.

• Lead shaper: shaping all greens, all fairways and larger scale bunkers.(Caterpillar D6N & D6R) No “detailed plans” were used to create the greens, hazards or fairway contours. In fact, no grade stakes

were used!

• Daily blog about the construction of the golf course: www.sandvalleygolf.blogspot.com

• Finish work on greens in conjunction with another finishing expert.

• Painting for marketing and promotion

Original: 60cm x 25cm (Acrylic on canvas)

• Marketing material assistance.





At all of my projects I have either worked with a general contractor, or a crew of workers selected from the local community, saving

bundles of cash since a company claiming to specialize in golf course construction is more expensive than hiring a local crew of qualified

and conscientious operators.

Sand Valley was largely built by people that had no concept of golf… none! The same was done at GC Emstal, where I worked alongside a

conscientious regional general contractor to create a project ranked among the best golf courses in Germany by Golf Digest.

BUND (Bund für die Naturschutz Deutschland) the environmental watchdog group gave this far-reaching endorsement:

Outstanding Integration of a Golf Course Along the Ems River

We admit this: We made a mistake. What stands now is a golf course which fits in excellent harmony with the landscape of the Ems

River valley. What stood one year before was an area of 50 desolate hectares dominated by intensively cultivated cornfields. Within a

few short months this was transformed into a project which is now a model for the integration of a sports park in a protected area.

My service does not stop with the end of construction.

The reason this is such a far reaching endorsement? When golf is in question, one usually expects the direct opposite response fromBUND. They actually buy land to stop golf projects!

The best golf courses are the product of a cooperative effort between the architect and owner/superintendent to ensure the course is set

up and matures as the architect envisioned. Great courses are a labor of love, and greatness is unlikely if the designer, owner and

superintendent play only the opening round together and never see one another again. For these reasons, my services do not stop at the

end of construction. They continue for the life of the project.

For each golf course I design, I write a book documenting its architecture, construction and maintenance practices. It becomes a

comprehensive short and long term guide for the members, guests, etc., but most importantly for the superintendent and board

members. This work provides a historical record that assists in the continuing evolvement of the project, with the goal of ensuring the

design intent is never compromised, that club funds are not misspent on doing and undoing work detrimental to the design.



Feel Free To Distribute This Information Provided the content and links remain intact, without editing, and that proper credit and attributions are made to the author

and his website, you may and are encouraged to freely distribute this document in part or as a whole. Translations are also

encouraged, and any such translations of this material can be sent to the author’s email address above.

Otherwise, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or

mechanical. Any unauthorized use, sharing, reproduction, or distribution of parts herein is strictly prohibited.

Copyright © 2009

+1 909.581.0080

Tony Ristola

agolfarchitect.comLeadership Driven Architecture

...Because Vision and Leadership are Inseparable

[email protected]

Design and construction are not separate jobs, but different parts of the same job

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Sand Valley Construction Progression Hole 5. Ridge Agolfarchitect.com Version 1