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~The Making of The Quarry: The Giants Ridge Legend~
Planning a golf course is always
fun, but getting started in construction is always the ultimate “high”.
Its great seeing your ideas spring from paper (or from the computer
screen) into three dimensions. Construction
follows a predictable sequence, with certain operations necessarily completed
before the next begins.
After moving in, the first order
of business is to mark out all environmentally sensitive areas that must
be avoided totally – often putting up steel cable to keep bulldozers and
trucks out. Then, all tree clearing lines are flagged with brightly colored
tape; head high for easy viewing by machinery operators.
Use of several colors is necessary, especially when there are parallel
holes. I once came back after
lunch to find that the dozers had cleared the buffer areas BETWEEN parallel
fairways, while leaving the fairways wooded, all because they didn’t understand
the markings. It’s difficult to stand those trees back up!
Our plans provide a detailed clearing
plan, but clearing is best determined in the field by examining every individual
tree anywhere near proposed fairways.
We spend a lot of energy getting clearing lines just right, but I
didn’t realize how much until doing a course for a “veteran” project manager. He commented that his last architect simply wanted 200 foot
clearing, and flagged 100 feet either side of the staked centerline.
The whole process may have taken a few days, whereas he noted we
were getting only a few holes marked each week.
My assistant and I carefully delineated
gently curvilinear clearing lines, working in tandem.
If we found a particularly fine tree, which we did often on that
wooded site, we would rework the entire line.
The same was true if we found one that might influence the play of
the hole. Given their importance,
I always determine final clearing lines.
When trees are cleared in naturalistic lines that harmonize with
the topography, they can really add “character” to the backdrop of a hole
that a golfer notices, even if he can’t identify exactly why.
And I can say with confidence that I carefully considered the quality
and location of every tree on every course I’ve ever designed before “deciding
its fate”.
Early Scottish courses were built
on treeless land. Transplanted
Scot’s were not used to trees on golf courses, and when designing early
courses in America, and usually cleared them so wide that the trees became
merely backdrops. Gradually,
course adapted to the American landscape.
The use of trees for strategy is largely an American invention.
Trees do have one major strategic function that no other hazard can supply.
Ground hazards – such as sand bunkers, grass bunkers, mounds and
creeks, can suggest a shot pattern, only trees with a vertical dimension
can force a shot pattern.
When we desire a certain shot pattern,
we locate trees about 200 yards from the championship tee, gently encroaching
into the outer third (right side to encourage fade, left to encourage hooks)
of the fairway. Physics dictate
that the maximum curve of the golf ball comes 60-70% through its flight,
so this gives the golfer the best chance to negotiate the hazard. Where possible, its best if the encroaching tree is on the
“downwind” side of the fairway, so the golfer can use the wind to help his
ball around the tree.
Trees can be similarly placed 70%
of the distance from the landing are to green to affect the approach.
Trees can also encroach about 320 to 350 yards off the tee, where
they may affect the approach after a careless tee shot to the wrong side
of the fairway. And, since
they aren’t in play, the hazard they present is not always obvious to the
golfer – at least without experience or careful thought.
Other important considerations for
tree clearing seldom concerning golfers are the need to maintain sunlight
and breeze circulation for optimum turf growth.
There is a saying among golf superintendents – you can grow grass
or trees, but never both! Its
best to saves trees on the North and West side of the fairways because it
is most important to get the eastern to southern morning sun to the fairway
for turf growth.
Once, when interviewing for a renovation
project, I was asked if I could save a large, messy Cottonwood tree on the
southeast side of the fourth green.
Its roots competed for moisture, and its heavy leaves blocked most
of the sunlight – a sure combination for a struggling green, which now needed
rebuilding. My answer?
“Sure, just tell me where to stack the logs”! For some reason, I was not engaged for that particular project,
a victim of honesty, but I’m sure the club eventually took down the offending
tree, even if they found an architect to tell them what they wanted to hear.
The clever architect blends artistry,
strategy and sound turf management, accounting for all when developing the
clearing plan. Generally:
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· Tree clearing should favor the east and south sides to let in sun. North/south holes must be cleared wider than east/west holes because sun can hit them relatively fewer hours per day.
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· Clearing for wind circulation is just as important. We often cut “chutes” through the trees to allow in prevailing breezes, combining them with cart path clearing to disguise them, where possible.
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· Brushing also helps air movement. You know how you feel in a low are without breeze – well, the grass feels the same way!
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· Bunkers, fairway mounds and even cart paths are often located on the east side of the fairway to “take up the space” created by clearing on the east side.
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· Clearing width should match irrigation spacing - generally in 70-foot rows. A double row system waters approximately 150 feet effectively (which is narrow). A triple row waters 225 feet (which is medium width), and a quadruple row system waters 280 feet.
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· A golf hole can effectively combine double, triple and quadruple systems, to provide desired curvilinear, artistic tree lines.
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· Wide clearing provides play options for the accomplished player, and breathing room for the erratic one.
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· Wide clearing at tees allows golfers to start either a hook or fade, allows sunlight into the turf, and presents a good view down the hole. A narrow chute of trees is seldom as attractive as a wider one that provides a clear view.
The actual clearing needed varies
considerably throughout the United States.
At Giants Ridge, this is an especially critical issue as the sun
angles are considerably lower in the north. The fact that most trees are
pines, which don’t drop leaves, also makes clearing essential.
This really limits morning sun,
and in early spring can lead to frost induced delays. To minimize frost
delays, the early greens (1-3 and 10-12) will have especially wide clearing
so the early morning spring sun melts away frost and dew.
Greens that play later in the day have more time to warm up.
I hope we don’t have the same problem clearing we had on the first course, where a “squatter” with a hunting cabin in the woods chained himself to a tree, delaying clearing for several hours! Until next time.