Pat, thought about it some more and I will answer your questions since they are viable questions.
-Who owns Sandpines ? Originally it was a Japanese developer, but I think he has since sold to locals.
-Who was the developer ?Quite obviously it wasn't Ken Bakst or Mike Keiser. I think this says it all for you developers out there looking-in. Try to copy their modus operandi. It has value and substance when it comes to the high art and spirit of the Game.
-Why did they pick Rees ? Couldn't answer that one for you Pat. I know I wouldn't have, but that's me. Also, I think the finished product speaks for itself. They obviously made the wrong choice. At least for a development in Oregon.
-Where is Sandpines ? Sandpines is in the city of Florence, Oregon, some 45+ minutes west of Eugene. It is a wonderful little coastal town, like so many others on the undeniably beautiful Oregon Coast. From Bandon Dunes, it is just about 55-65 minutes tops, and only because you have to reduce your speed through some of the little towns and villages along the way. My entire family has been going to Florence every year for many, many years, long before there was a Sandpines. We always stay at one place, on Siltcoos Lake, at some small fishing cabins that have a character all of their own. Since I don't really fish, I golf. I find Sandpines so depressing, and to see this perfect site for golf, taken for granted....Is really not a good feeling. This is exactly what Rees did here--he took the site completely for granted.
-Are the holes pictured par 3's, 4's or 5's ? The holes pictures are holes 16, 17 & 18, and they play as a par 4, (not a bad hole, actually one of the better ones.) a par 3, and a protoypical par 5 Cape that could be placed in a Palm Springs backdrop, and still look it fit the bill of mass earthmovement, like most facilities in the Desert. In truth, the three holes remind me of something Perry Dye did, trying to emulate his Father.
How do the holes pictured play ? I don't know how to answer that one Pat, because usually I'm so pissed-off about the waste of this place, the last holes add insult to injury. The prevailing wind is coming from the southwest, cross-cutting the 16, so it is sort of in the strong winds. The left fairway bunker is one of the best bunkers on the course, but that is only because the superintendent rebuilt it differently after the wind kept on blowing the sand out of the protoypical Rees-bunkers throughout the course. I have been told by architects and well-seasoned construction people that this was simply because that style of bunker will not work in really windy areas, and you have to realize that is one of the main characteristics of the Oregon Dunes--wind. Now an argument could come from some that building the containment was to shelter the fairways from the wind, but I think this is a prime spot for an architect to get himself in a lot of trouble design-wise. You simply cannot fool Mother Nature or even protect it because Nature finds a way to create a dramatic havoc for anything that wants to be uniformed, sharp-edged and neat. Nature isn't perfect and that is what makes it SO perfect. \
All of the shaping--more specifically--those mounds do not reflect the natural characteristics of what is going on and around the magnificent Oregon Dunes, The routing has to be just as bad, characteristically, not because it is situated perfectly below the clubhouse, but because simply anyone can see through simply study that it was done from a desktop/workstation, rather then a map and spray can in hand.
There is not one spectacular/interesting natural feature that has been utilized. It has all been dozered away into an oblivion. (Trust me, I could go on and on about this one and still not be close to finished.
-Are the mounds outside an angle of 15 degrees from the centerline of the fairway ? Pat, is thisome sort of prescribed form of measurement devised by Clonaid? I'm not Raelian, so I don't know, but I can say that I have never seen more cloned mounds in all of my travels. Its really kind of haunting.
-I think style and strategy have to be seperated and judged independently. I know that you think that.
Pat, to close, I think that from the tee, Sandpines, with the incredible width of some of its fairways, prescribes to all types of play. Its just that the Game should have more meaning and character when in such a unique site, especially for such rank amateurs like myself.
When in such a beautiful place like the Oregon Dunes, beauty should be one of the most important factors, and if the architect did his job right, he would have been utilizing NATURAL features that could have further ensured playing options that quite possibly have never, ever been seen before.