This was only my third to time around with my sticks, although I have walked it a few other times, and what really jumped out at me was the contour of the greens. I have seen a lot of modern courses with truly wild rolls and dips and I believe many architects would point to the Old Course as precedent. Sure, the contours at the The Old Course are crazy but for the most part they are on the outside edges of the putting surface. The actual area where the pin is most likely located is actually quite tame. I had a case of the lefts that day which left me with lots of long putts from the wrong half of the double greens. It was rare if I had a putt that broke more than six inches. (more commentary and video after the jump)

I know Mark Parsinen and Gil Hanse closely studied this phenomenon and incorporated it on the greens at Castle Stuart. To me it makes perfect sense especially on a site as windy as Castle Stuart where there are worries of balls moving on the greens. It creates interesting recovery shots for errant approaches and rewards stellar shots with makeable putts. Many modern greens are so rumpled that making putts is almost a crap shoot. By keeping the most extreme contour to the front, back and sides an architect can produce greens that are interesting visually and strategically without totally sacrificing playability.

This week is Open week, so we are all Scotland all the time at PB Golf. Here is a little more material about Castle Stuart, which opened this week on July 13th. It is a stunning looking course and I am sure it plays as well as it looks because it is the product of the collaboration between Mark Parsinen and Gil Hanse, two gentlemen with a track record of producing thoughtful and inspiring courses. For some of the distinctive features of Castle Stuart, check out this additional  video on the course’s website.

While PB Golf will soon feature Colin’s review, we would love to hear the thoughts of anyone lucky enough to have played the course.

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.

The first of the six short video clips from Castle Stuart. These were mostly filmed and edited back in 2007, during the second year of construction. The first clip is narrated by Mark Parsinen, the principal owner/developer as well as co-designer. He quickly introduces the project, which will officially open this coming July 13th. I had the privilege of spending 32 weeks on site, participating in the construction of the project. It was a fascinating opportunity to see an extremely complicated, intricate, ambitious project. To me the key line here is “we’re building a course, from our standpoint, is one we would love, and we would love to play everyday.” Mark has the retail golfer in mind when he made each of the several thousand small decisions that led to the final product. Just like most people enjoy Kingsbarns’ playability, Castle Stuart will possess many similar elements that challenges the golfer, yet avoiding him/her from getting overwhelmed by thick rough, gorse and narrow fairways.

The next two videos are after the jump.

In the second video, Gil Hanse explains the origins of the bunker methodology. I have to admit this was a very clever contribution from him. In the fall of 2004, during an advance team gathering, Gil arrived with a copy of Horace Hutchinson’s British Golf Links. (From a publishing standpoint, it remains one of the best reprints in recent memory.) The book includes dozens of profiles of the leading British links at the end of 19th century, backed with remarkably clear sepia/black&white images of the courses. From St. Andrews to Hoylake to Sandwich, there is not one single riveted bunker anywhere in the book. Instead, the bunkers looked ragged and rugged with no clearly defined edges, which made them appear vulnerable to the elements. They were often collapsing in on themselves with yawning brows and occasionally they were buttressed with railroad ties. It is also incredibly attractive looking style, as well as visually intimidating and best of all, they clearly played as real hazards. (Not that riveted pot bunkers don’t.) Gil suggested we return to this concept, which he called “broken ground”, where bunkers took form where the turf and sandy ground could not hold itself together. Mark Parsinen and project manager Stuart McColm loved the idea and as they discussed what to do along the areas that connect to the “tight mow,” it was resolved to use the more modern riveted style as well. So their exists a spectrum at Castle Stuart, from the fully contained riveted pot bunker in the middle of fairways to the 19th century “blow-out” style. In a handful of key instances, they incorporated both elements within the same bunker, beginning with a riveted area along the edge of the fairway and devolving into the blow-out look further from the playing area. In spite of my obvious affinity for (and affiliation with) the project, I think this combo represented one of the most original bunker schemes in modern design.

I filmed this third clip in the back of the Defender while Mark and Stuart were discussing the seventh hole on Halloween of 2006. This, as Mark mentioned at the tail end of the clip, is the hole that he always dreams about. Probably the one handicap hole, it’s a long par-four that may play directly down wind, or directly into the wind, depending on the two prevailing winds. I was probably 20 minutes into filming their discussion about the sequence for cuts and fills and shaping when Mark digressed about the options for the third shot. I knew immediately I had captured a very concise statement of his core architectural beliefs. Mark, about a 12 handicap at the time, admits that older he gets, the more the third shot is “what it’s all about on a par-four.”  A friend of his from St. Andrews first introduced the concept after years of playing the Old Course. Mark is like most of us, he misses more greens than he hits. And he gets easily bored by courses that present the same type of recovery shot: “a lofted pitch from somewhere short of the green.” Castle Stuart will feature 18 greens where the golfer will have all sorts of options to get up and down, or in his words, in order to ”solve the problem and have a put for par from 10 or 12 feet.” To me this empathy for the average person is missing from so many PGA-Tour designers who speak of “playability for the average golfer” with condescending and patronizing undertones.

The fourth hole at Castle Stuart being hydroseeded in late July, 2007. The pure-fescue mixture, along with a tacifier and special organic fertilizer (chicken manure) were applied with the help of most of the construction crew. The music, taken from “Fallout From the Phil Zone”, is a gesture to course archtiect Gil Hanse.

The ninth at French Creek

French Creek Golf Club in Elverson, PA is often overlooked when people discuss Philadelphia golf. Located across the street from Stonewall, the course occupies much more difficult terrain than its neighbor. Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner did a clever job of routing the course to create a fun, playable course. This video (after the jump) includes Wagner discussing the course and how they decided on its rustic look.

[vimeo width="530" height="340"]http://www.vimeo.com/1969756[/vimeo]

The idea of genteel neglect is one that needs more exploring, especially in these tough times. It doesn’t mean just letting things go, but rather a conscientious effort to not worry about clean edges and perfect lies. We may be seeing this more and more in golf, not by choice but out of economic necessity and that is not at all a bad thing.- W.S.

This video was taken in April 2008, when I was there doing a few touch-ups on some bunkers.

I really like this video by Geoff Shackelford about figuring out the land plan at the Prairie Club. It was great having Geoff, Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner out in Valentine for at least part of the summer. Their final product, the spectacular Horse Course, interacts with the canyon in way that highlights the unique setting and is quite different from the way Graham Marsh used it on his course. It will be a great place to drink a few beers and goof around with friends after a round or two on the larger golf courses.

The Hanse Design team, including the Scottish trio of Ross, John, and Neal who did a lot of the labor in the hot Nebraska sun, should be very proud of the incredible beauty of the bunkers on the course and the way they tie into the canyon. The wide variety of shots that can be played over this small bit of ground will make this one short course that you will want to play over and over.

Let’s hope that Geoff produces at least a Volume Two about the Prairie Club.

Bruce Cadenelli took over as head greenkeeper at French Creek Golf Club, in the fall of 2007. I was there in April of 2008 doing a few touch ups on a couple of bunkers for Jim Wagner and Gil Hanse. Bruce was excited about the potential of the golf course and was hard at work getting it to play as firm and fast as it was designed to play.

Bruce is one of those old school supers who don’t spend a lot of time in thier offices. He was constantly on the course, checking up on a number of projects or even grabbing a broom and helping his crew brush sand into recently aerated greens. I did not get back up to French Creek last summer to see if all his hard work was paying off, but I have no doubt that it did.