The Project 2021 - Update #15

 "As the essence of golf is variety, it would not be wise to be too didactic as to what does constitute the ideal golf course, but my suggestions for it would be very much on the lines of what I wrote twenty years ago, and as I can hardly improve on that, I set it down here as it was originally written.

General Principles

1. The course where possible, should be arranged in two loops of nine holes.
2. There should be a large proportion of good two-shot holes, and at least four one-shot holes.
3. There should be little walking between the greens and tees, and the course should be arranged so that in the first instance there is always a slight walk from forwards from the green to the next tee: then the holes are sufficiently elastic to be lengthened in the future if necessary.
4. The greens and fairways should be sufficiently undulating, but there should be no hill climbing.
5. Every hole should be different in character.
6. There should be a minimum of blindness for the approach shots.
7. The course should have beautiful surroundings and all of the artificial features should have so natural an appearance that a stranger is unable to distinguish them from nature itself.
8. There should be a sufficient number of heroic carries from the tee, but the course should be arranged so that the weaker player with the loss of a stroke, or portion of a stroke, shall always have an alternate route open to him.
9. There should be infinite variety in the strokes required to play the various holes - that is, interesting brassie shots, iron shots, pitch and run up shots.
10. There should be a complete absence of the annoyance and irritation caused by the necessity of searching for lost balls.
11. The course should be so interesting that even the scratch man is constantly stimulated to improve his game in attempting shots he has hitherto been unable to play.
12. The course should be so arranged that the long handicap player or even the absolute beginner should be able to enjoy his round in spite of the fact that he is piling up a big score. In other words the beginner should not be continually harassed by losing strokes from playing out of sand bunkers. The layout should be so arranged that he loses strokes because he is making wide detours to avoid hazards.
13. The course should be equally good during the winter and summer, the texture of the greens and fairways should be perfect and the approaches should have the same consistency as the greens."

(Alister MacKenzie - The Spirit of Saint Andrews pp.41-42)

Golf Course Design

There is a big difference of taking care of a golf course and building one. Equally different is the building of a golf course and the renovation of a golf course. Some golf  courses,  like a home, have great bones, are built on a phenomenal piece of land in a wonderful area in the world, but just need a few little tweaks that can take it to an entirely different level. I have always held  we only needed to get the turf right to take this property to the next level. I dont believe I was wrong, but lacked the insight into what can really take this course to the next level.  Now that I am seeing the transition of what is being  done here at Granite Bay, I am equally excited about the course design revisions as I am about  the conversion of turf varieties.

An analogy for this  or any renovation process would be like comparing the work to a classic symphony or piece of classical music. The original composer's of Granite Bay were Mark Parsinen, Dave Cook, Jim Fitzpatrick and Robert Trent Jones II with his lead designer at the time, Kyle Phillips. The revisions  to the piece, are now being composed by Jay Abbott & Salvador Rodriguez who have built and remodeled over 400 golf courses between the two of them. The conductor of this symphony is the lead shaper Steve Page. Steve's baton or paint brush is a D5 caterpillar and and eye for shaping golf courses that extends 31 years.

Steve Page, Granite Bay Golf Club 4/22/21

Steve is a third generation golf course builder and shaper who has worked on five continents including 7 years in Asia, 4 of which were in China. He has worked on close to 50 projects for golf course architects like Jack Nicklaus, Brian Curley, Tom Fazio, Perry Dye, Robert Muir Graves, Tim Jackson & David Kahn, Arnold Palmer, Tom Weiskoph, & Chet Williams. 

Steve fine tuning the shape and movement of #2 green in early April 2021.

The aforementioned Dr. Alistair MacKenzie – the mastermind behind Augusta National and Cypress Point and known as the “course doctor,” – died in 1934 before seeing his vision for the The Ohio State Scarlet Course in Columbus come to fruition. He completed the original drawings and supervised the work of contouring the greens, but what the course eventually became didn’t feature his distinct design traits. "To get a better understanding of a bunker style that MacKensize would have developed," "lead shaper, Steve Page went on a tour of the remaining West Coast golf courses that still show the MacKenzie influence. During that tour, the "what would MacKenzie have done" or the new Scarlet bunker style was developed." 

In 2004 Jack Nicklaus sent Steve on that trip to study Dr. MacKenzie's work and bring it back to both Muirfield Village and The Scarlet Course at Ohio State University where Steve simultaneously worked on the shaping of both courses renovation's, both for Jack Nicklaus.  It goes without saying  that Steve is a student and  big fan of Dr. MacKenzie, and has brought his skill, experience and admiration of Dr. Mackenzie to Granite Bay. Jack Nicklaus told Steve once "you know Steve, not every bunker has to be a masterpiece. Sometimes a bunker can just be a bunker." And Salvador Rodriguez upon gazing at Steve's renovation of GBGC's #1 bunker said, "well Steve, you'll never build a better bunker then that.", and I said wait until you see #2,  which after seeing Sal said, "Steve, you'll never build a better bunker then that."  

Enjoy some pictures of Steve's work below both here at GBGC and elsewhere.

New bunker #5 at GBGC 

New bunker #2 GBGC. Form following function, the ribboning texture to the edges are of course a design feature but are functional as well with the main finger in the center of the bunker providing easy functional access  into and out of the bunker from above.

New bunker #1 GBGC. Same easy access design feature in the middle of the bunker

Steve Pages work and photography in New Zealand for Jack Nicklaus

New Zealand for Jack Nicklaus

Costa Palmas Mexico for Robert Trent Jones II

 Steve Page's work and photography, Singapore 2021

Singapore 2021

The Project 2021 - Update #10

 "On many courses there are far to many bunkers. The sides of the fairways are riddled with them, and many of the courses would be equally interesting and infinitely more pleasurable if half of the bunkers were turfed over and converted into grassy hollows."  ( Alister MacKenzie - The Spirit of St. Andrews p. 57 by Alister MacKenzie)

Bunker Renovation - Shaping

We've settled on a way of cataloging "The Project 2021" course updates using the  labels of   this online format, which are to the left of this update. This way a Member can click on the label and the  content that has been written on any given part of the renovation will be available as a group. 

Todays update focuses on Bunker Renovation. I mentioned the particulars we are utilizing in our new bunkers in a previous course update entitled  Renovation Decisions & Philosophy We will be installing a Better Billy Bunker drainage system and installing Idaho White Sand, the details of which will be covered under the label "Bunker Renovation" as we progress. What we wanted to share today is the particulars on some of the re-shaping of the bunkers that is underway as well as the re-shaping of their associated green surrounds. Below are a series of pictures along with some narrative that show the work in progress. 

This aerial view encapsulates some of the design philosophy that Jay and Salvador are incorporating into the renovation. This is the replacement of the right hand fairway bunker on #9 fairway. The bunker was built right on top of the old bunker and moved seven yards closer to the landing area. Notice the large cut of earth out of the fairway directly in front of this bunker. That cut was made mainly to expose the front edge of the bunker as the land form previously obstructed your vision. Design Philosophy: "...opening up sight lines to make all features visible to competitors." In order to achieve this feature on this bunker GCM had to remove irrigation heads, line & wires which will all have to be put back.

This is the newly added bunker on the left hand side of the fairway on #9. This was added exclusively for the low handicapper while teeing off from the new tournament tee creating the risk reward this caliper of player craves.  Design Philosophy: "Create a fun and rewarding experience for the mid to upper handicapper, and a challenging and rewarding experience for the low handicapper."

Low handicappers will have to hit it 270  from the new tournament tee level to clear this new bunker on the left hand side of #9.

Above is the redesign of the greenside bunker on #1. The bottom of this bunker is 12" higher then it was but the design feature I like the most is the finger coming down in the middle of the bunker separating the right portion from the left. The size, shape of this finger was indeed form following function as players can enter or exit this bunker from above easily. Design Philosophy: "Make subtle adjustments to the course to enhance original design and make the course play like it opened today without losing the integrity of the original design concepts." 

Another view of greenside bunker on #1.

Another view from the landing area.

The beginning of the new greenside bunker on #4. This shape begins with the lead shaper on a 
 D-4 Caterpillar.

View from afar of the same bunker taking rough shape along with the rest of the green surround and approach.  

Diamond Golf's finishing crew beginning the finishing process of the new greenside bunker on #4.

Obviously there is allot more work to go on just bunkers alone not to mention the rest of the course and I'm looking forward to sharing more as we continue to progress phase to phase all the way around the course. Thanks as always for your support!

The Project 2021 - Update #7

 Renovation Decisions & Philosophy

"Granite Bay was conceived as a place where the spirit of golf, the absorbing fun of the game could flourish." (Jim Fitzpatrick - forward in "Golf  As It Should Be", 1996 by Mark Parsinen)

In August of 1993 Mark Parsinen, inspired by The Golden Age of Golf Course Design, had a vision of "Golf As It Should Be". With the help of Dave Cook & Jim Fitzpatrick, this vision was realized with Granite Bay Golf Club. Golden Era architects like Alister MacKenzie, A.W. Tillinghast and H.S.Colt influenced the design of the course and their namesake is reflected throughout the club at the MacKenzie Grill,  Tilley's Pub and the Colt rooms.  The stories that preceded the club are as numerous as they are interesting and Their context interrelate with Granite Bay's next era, beginning with our present-day renovation. As we progress through the renovation of the golf course and send regular updates, we will share some of these stories from the early days of Granite Bay Golf Club.

ClubCorp's Senior Vice President of Agronomy, Jay Abbott, is the project manager for the golf course renovation. Jay has contracted  with Salvador Rodriguez the founder of Diamond Golf International to complete all construction of the project. 

Jay started his 40 year career in golf course construction working for such greats as Arthur Hills, Tom Weiskop, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio, Pete Dye and Lanny Wadkins. Jay is also a second-generation Superintendent who has worked all over the country. From growing up and working on golf courses in Michigan to PGA West,  Disney, Escondido & Dancing Rabbit. Jay joined ClubCorp and led the renovation of Brookhaven the original ClubCorp 54 hole facility. He then moved to Kingwood CC as a Regional Superintendent overseeing 90 holes at Kingwood and supporting  30 other clubs in the region. In 2019 Jay accepted the role of SVP of Agronomy for ClubCorp and now oversees golf course maintenance operations and construction projects on all of the over 200 courses in the companies portfolio. In Jay's career, he has hosted over 15 PGA Tour Events, 6 Senior PGA Tour Events & 5 LPGA Tour Events. With his experience he has a full understanding of what a championship golf course should look and play like. 

Salvador Rodriguez has built over 220 golf course's for designers like  Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, Tom Fazio , and Robert Trent Jones II, all of whom were inspired and drew from the architects of the Golden Era.  Sal brings an unmatched level of experience in construction and design of golf courses. Sal and Diamond Golf are held in high regard throughout the world of golf. With Sal comes some of the best golf course shapers in the world. Diamond Golfs attention to detail is impressive. 

Jay and Sal's vision for Granite Bay is to take a great golf course, make a few tweaks to make it even greater. Their overall philosophy is : 

• Make subtle adjustments to the course to enhance the original design and make the course play like it opened today without losing the integrity of the original design concepts.
• Create a fun and rewarding experience for the mid to upper handicapper and a challenging and rewarding experience  for the low handicapper.
• Restore the Greens to their original design while opening up sight lines to make all features visible to the competitors.
• Lengthen the golf course from the Tournament tees to over 7000 yard's while adding and relocating forward tees to help make the course more enjoyable for Juniors, Seniors & Ladies.

Putting Surfaces 

The greens will be restored to their original width, depth and elevation. Over time putting surfaces commonly shrink due to growing challenges on the perimeter and become elevated from years of topdressing. A future course update will explain in detail this "greens restoration" process. After they are restored they will be seeded with Dominator 007 / 777 Creeping Bentgrass.

Tee Boxes, Fairways & Roughs

Many of the tee complexes will be expanded and all will laser leveled. Additional teeing levels will be added where appropriate. The grass varietal on the tees will be Santa Anna Hybrid Bermuda. Tournament tees will be added on #4, #9,#11, #12 & #16.  Minor tweaks will occur in fairways to improve landing areas on #10 & #16 for  example.  Additional tweaks to improve surface drainage on #6 and #15 for example and to improve open sightlines to putting surfaces and bunkers. The fairways will receive a sand cap and be grassed as well with Santa Anna Hybrid Bermuda. The rough will be enhanced with fescues and bluegrass that will tolerate shade and Granite Bay summers. 

Bunkers

The bunkers will feature a Better Billy Bunker liner system which is the leader in golf course bunker drainage and playability. The sand will be  Idaho White ( Best Sand 900) which is highly rated by the USGA naturally meeting all their key bunker sand characteristics. There will be various changes to the shape and size of the current bunkers. The high flashing faces will be softened and when possible all edges of the bunkers will be made visible from the tee or landing area. The bunkers will also have more "texture" to the edges. Some bunkers will be removed and others added with the idea of not to overly penalize the mid to upper handicapper while challenging the low handicap golfer. Look for several future course updates detailing the bunker restoration process.

Practice Area

An additional putting green will be added near the driving range. The upper putting green will be flattened and enlarged. The putting green at Tilly's will see significant enhancements to foster the camaraderie and fun you have enjoyed so much over the years. The green will be enlarged and new lighting will be installed. 

We will continue to share regular updates of the renovation as well as design principles as the renovation progresses. Be sure to check out the Granite Bay Course Update, Instagram @ granitebaygcm, and  the clubs Facebook page. 

As always, thank you for your support and patience.