In anticipation of opening day on the 13th of July….
The fourth installment of the Castle Stuart series is narrated by Jim Wagner, the lead associate and excavator specialist for Gil Hanse Golf Design. Getting to know Jim (during the process of sharing a small farmhouse with him for weeks at a time) was one of the really pleasant experiences of the process. While he takes his craft very seriously, he’s also is one of the funniest people I have ever met. His powers of observation, mixed with humor, sarcasm and humility make for a never ending laugh-track. Jim describes an artistic process of bunker construction handed down to he and Gil from Richie Valentine Sr, the long-serving head greenskeeper at Merion. It is a wonderful technique that instantly delivers the weathered look of a bunker collapsing onto itself, or as Jim described to me, “like a wave at the top of its crest.”
Two more after the jump.
In this piece, Paul Olson narrates the story of the heather program. Mark and the team are especially proud of how mature the “landscape mosaic” will be on this Monday’s opening day. The course won’t have that brand-new, still-growing-in look. The heather will have been through its third year, along with the fescue and gorse programs. Paul does a good job connecting the quintessential Highland look, the purple, heather covered moorland hills with what we achieved in portions of the course. As a hazard, it works much better than long fescue rough. The ball can be easily found (usually), but the shot is very tricky to judge. It can jump out as easily as it might come out dead.
Construction Manager Stuart McColm narrates the viewer through aspects of the short par-three 11th hole. He goes on to articulate the team’s decision to locate the hazards around the green. The bunkers that do exist–to the left and back right of the green–are there to catch the errant and aggressive play, but the majority of visiting golfers who do miss the green will likely be somewhere short of the green in the rumpled contours of the apron. While that may not be the easiest up-and-down, it’s a shot that golfers of any skill can handle. This option to use “Valleys of Sin” in liue of bunkers represent a critical element of Castle Stuart Golf Links’ identity.
For more videos on Castle Stuart, click here.
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