Thankful

[Tim Liddy]

I have a lot to be thankful this year and I owe a much too many talented artists. They sacrificed time away from their family and came to the Dukes golf course in St. Andrews to help on this most important remodel project of my career.

Thanks:
James Duncan
Jeff Mingay
Mike O’Neil
Dan Proctor
Garth Hughes
Bryan Caesar
Kye Goalby
Kyle Franz


How could a golf course be bad with these guys?

[RJ_Daley]

Wow, talk about an all-star lineup!

[Jeff_Mingay]

I think the eight of us are also very thankful we had opportunity to live and work at St. Andrews for an extended period, thanks to Tim.

My visit to the Auld Grey Toon was certainly the highlight of 2005.

Tim's made dramatic improvement to the Duke's course. So, if any of you are at St. Andrews in the new future, make sure you head up the hill to the Duke's.  

[Brad Klein]

How'd you manage to go through so many, Tim? Did they all get fired?

[Jeff_Mingay]

Brad,

Duncan quit. I got fired  

Don't know what happened after that!

[Tim Liddy]

Brad,

They are all busy, in demand guys (except for Mingay).
It was great working with them during the day and talking architecture at the Jigger in the evening.  All made sacrifices to help me and the project (either in time or hard physical work).

[ed_getka]

Tim,
   Its cool to see an architect acknowledging the help of others. I look forward to hearing some feedback from the treehouse on the work you all have done at Dukes.
   What was the overall scope of what you worked on there?

[Jeff_Mingay]

Ed,

Excellent question.

I chime in again to encourage Tim to answer, to simply detail what's happened at the Duke's over the past year. And what's planned for the future.

It's a very interesting project.

Tim?

[Tim Liddy]

The project is the remodel of the Duke’s Course in St. Andrews, Scotland located 2 miles up the hill and inland from the town.  It is a parkland course with great views of the town, North Sea and the north-east coastline of Scotland. Built in the early 90’s, the site is dominated by a ridgeline traversing the site with an abrupt slope that is difficult to deal with in many ways – routing and individual golf hole design.  The site has heavy clay soils, making it wet in the winter and very firm in the summer.

The functional/agronomic problems of the golf course are common problems to correct, but will take some time. The golf course was poorly drained. Core aerification is essential to amend the soil, and needs to be completed many times over the next few years.   We have added drainage and irrigation to help the superintendent control soil moisture once we get better percolation.

Another functional problem was the routing of the golf holes straight up and down the ridgeline. It was awkward. We changed routing of four golf holes to play along the ridge line, not up and down it.

Artistically, the site called out for a natural approach.  It is a very beautiful site. We are in the process of changing all the bunkering for artistic, as well as strategic interest. I handled most of the strategic part, of course with much discussion with the guys mentioned above and the client.

The bunkers were all built and designed by the men above and they have become the jewel (more like a pearl necklace) of the project. I could go on and on about the bunker development, and each personality and the work. It was also great to get know them and spend time with them in the wonderful environment of St. Andrews. As with any remodel, an architect wishes he could do more to make the golf course better, but the work we have done has made significant improvements to the golf course.

We had great discussion about the development of this style of bunkers – from Proctor and Axland discovering the deep edge when they worked at Riviera to Sand Hills to the intricacies of present day. Doak also mentioned to me he had been developing this bunker style for over ten years. With Goalby and Franz on this project, I also received the benefit of this experience.
<table  border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="708">
<tr>
<td align="center"><font face="verdana"><span style="font-size: 14; font-weight: bold"></span></font></td>
</tr>

<tr><td align="center"><font face="verdana"><span style="font-size: 12"></span></font></td></tr>

</table>


<table  border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="1">
<tr><td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td align="center"><font face="verdana"><span style="font-size: 14; font-weight: bold"></span></font></td>
</tr>
<tr><td align="center"></td></tr>
<tr>
<td align="center"><font face="verdana"><span style="font-size: 12"></span></font></td>
</tr>
</table>

[James Edwards]

Tim,

How easy are these bunkers to maintain?

[Jeff_Mingay]

Wow. That's a beautiful bunker, Tim.

I can't picture what hole that might be though... ?

[Tim Liddy]

James,

Not as hard as you would think.  The key is to keep irrigation off of them, which is easy in Scotland.

Jeff,

It is #10 fairway bunker.

[James Edwards]

Tim, thanks.

What about the edges?

do they need to be maintained or are they left to grow out? meaning both the edges to the fairway and to the native areas - assuming they are native?

[Brian_Ewen]

Tim
Please , Please tell us more .

That is a big change in style of bunkering for the course isnt it ? .

I am actually one of the few that thought the Dukes had some nice holes and wasnt as bad as some thought , and really sticking my head on the chopping block , I liked some of the bunkering .

I wish I was in Scotland at the moment so I could post some pics. of the bunkering I liked , for your thoughts .

Although the fairway bunkering on 4 and 5 come to mind , and from my amatuer point of view , I cant see how they would fit in with the style of bunker your photo shows .

I am led to believe the finishing holes have been altered the most ? .

I hope the par 3 17th has gone ? .

If memory serves me right this will be the third time I have read that the drainage has been improved .

Will be next year until I can make a visit , but already looking forward to seeing your work .

Best Regards.
Brian

[Tim Liddy]

James,

The bunker edges soften over time.  The back line is typically left natural, while the fairway bunker edge is maintained.

Brian,

All the bunkers on the golf course are being remodeled including golf holes #4 and #5. Mounding in the center of these fairways was also removed to extend the view from the tee through the fairway and open up the strategy of the golf hole.

Concerning your taste for the old bunkering, don’t worry.  As Pete Dye says; “some people like vanilla, some like chocolate”.  I would guess you probably like the previous “links” look of the bunkering on this inland golf course.

You are correct about previous attempts to improve the drainage. They were not comprehensive in their approach, and not effective.  The golf course has poor soil and is located on a ridge line of volcanic rock. Drainage lines were a major challenge to install, but with the help of the Scots and the Brits we achieved significant improvements. Also, core aerification will be imperative over the next couple of seasons to loosen the soil and reduce the thatch level.

The last 4 golf holes (last half of #15, #16, #17 and #18) are all new. Previously they were a tough walk straight up and down the ridge line.  #15 and #18 climbed over 70 feet. The new golf holes were turned perpendicularly to play with the ridge line, and also not travel down the hill (thus not having to climb back up) which eliminated golf hole #17 (your favorite ).

[Brian_Ewen]

Tim
Thanks for your reply .

I hope that bloody tree just left of the 4th tee was also removed .

I am curious ,  was the mounding at the front of the 5th green removed ? . I quite liked that semi-blind shot if you didnt get your tee shot far enough right . I thought it broke up what could have been a boring hole .

Any changes to the 13th ? . I am a sucker for quirky short par fours , so it was probably my favourite hole on the course .

Best Regards.
Brian

[Tim Liddy]

Brian,

Tree on # 4 removed.

Mounding in front of #5 removed.  Approximately 5 new bunkers have been placed on the golf hole and 2 more are planned for new strategy risk / reward strategy (at many levels) on this golf hole.

#13 has been changed. Bunkers have been remodeled and new tees have been added further up the hill to enhance one of the best views in Scotland (and shorten the green to tee walk).