Rediscovering Ross at BCC

[J_McKenzie]

My first attempt at posting pics (thanks to Gary Daughters for leading me through the process).  As discussed on another thread, Love Golf Design has started construction at Brunswick Country Club, a Ross design/redesign from 1938 thru 1939.  We are fortunate to have all of Ross' original design sketches for the greens complexes and our goal is to rebuild each green to exactly what he drew:

Copy of Ross' original sketch, provided by one of Ross' draftsman.  Hole #4, par-3.



The first green we worked on was #4.  Mark Love and Scot Drader began by carefully pulling away soil layers at the back of the green, in an area that visually appears to have once been the edge of the green (supported by Ross' sketch).  They went through several layers until they came upon a black soil layer that was totally different than the other layers:  

View of the soil layers that just peeled away, revealing a black layer which we believe is the original green surface.



This procedure was then repeated at the front of the green and the same black layer was located.  A small track-hoe was then used to slowly peel away all the soil layers until the black soil layer was uncovered throughout the entire greens complex.  The sketches were then used to reshape and refine all the design features to the exact specifications Ross originally designed:

View from short right of the 4th green after 67 years of soil build-up has been removed and original features reshaped.

 

The edges of the green were then flagged and the entire green cored out to create the new green well and drainage has been added:

View from the tee of the new green complex, cored out, drained, and awaiting greens mix.

 

It is an exciting process for us, as this is the first time we have done anything like this.  Mark Love can hardly pull himself away from the site and Davis has been a frequent visitor as well.  Of course, Paul Cowley is out there when his other jobs allow and Scot Drader is full-time on the construction end.  I'll try to keep posting pics as things continue to move forward.

John

Mark Love (right) and Scot Drader watch the reshaping of the front bunker at #4.

[Jimmy Muratt]

John,

That sounds like an exciting project.  It's great the club has all of Ross' original sketches of the greens.  That 4th hole has a uniquely shaped green, I really like the look of it combined with the bunkering.  What is the length of the hole?

Thanks for posting the shots and please post anymore pics you have of the original sketches and the ongoing work.

[wsmorrison]

Thank you for sharing the process.  It is fun to see the original drawings and the steps you take to restore it.  Not as much fun as being there and doing it, but it is very instructive.  I appreciate you taking the time to walk us through this.  Looking forward to more postings.  Great stuff!

[Gary Daughters]

John,

Thanks for posting the pictures.  Glad we didn't have to wait until after Thanksgiving

Having re-read much of Paul Cowley's original post I'm not yet clear on the scope of your mandate.  What else are you working on besides greens? (and clubhouse)

Without asking that you go into burdensome detail, my biggest interest would be the extent to which the green contours may have changed over the decades.  What will be different when the course re-opens?

Thanks again for bringing us into your project and please keep posting as you go forward.

[James Bennett]

John McKenzie

fantastic post.

Has a 'before' photo of the green been posted?  Is one available?  I am interested to see any difference in appearance of the green site and the surrounds before and after the removal of nearly 2 feet of green removal.  And whether some natural symmetry of green/surrounds is more evident in the restored than the built-up.

James B

[A.G._Crockett]

John McKenzie

fantastic post.

Has a 'before' photo of the green been posted?  Is one available?  I am interested to see any difference in appearance of the green site and the surrounds before and after the removal of nearly 2 feet of green removal.  And whether some natural symmetry of green/surrounds is more evident in the restored than the built-up.

James B

James B,
I don't know that a before picture would tell you much.  Just think of 18 more or less circular, very small, relatively flat (with slant, not contour) popup greens and you'll be in the neighborhood.  What these guys are talking about doing is not really a before and after situation; it won't be recognizable.

[Scott Witter]

J Mckenzie, or Paul Cowley:

"This procedure was then repeated at the front of the green and the same black layer was located.  A small track-hoe was then used to slowly peel away all the soil layers until the black soil layer was uncovered throughout the entire greens complex.  The sketches were then used to reshape and refine all the design features to the exact specifications Ross originally designed:"

"The edges of the green were then flagged and the entire green cored out to create the new green well and drainage has been added:"

Okay...this seems logical but what was the procedure followed to record the original putting surface contour (black soil layer) after it was revealed and by what means, technique did you use to recreate those "exact specifications Ross originally designed"?

Did/do you also have Ross's typical section views A-B, D-C...that so often accompanied his green designs to assist you?

Without a doubt, this looks like an exciting project with much anticipation during and after every bucket full of soil is removed.

[J_McKenzie]

Gary,

To put it simply, we are rebuilding tees, greens and bunkers.  We have drawings to support the work we are doing on the green complexes and we are using Ross' "General Notes" to help guide us on the rebuilding of existing fairway bunkers and tees.  New back tees will be added to many holes, where space is available, in an attempt to return at least some of the shot requirements lost over time to new technology.  We also will be renovating the open ditch drainage system that runs throughout the course to improve the drainage efficiency.

As far as the greens are concerned, the biggest difference is going to be in the size and shape of the complexes.  After 67 years of maintenance, everything has shrunk and been rounded off.  At #4 for example, the existing green size was approximately 4,000 sq. ft. or less.  After our work, we estimate that it is now 7,000 sq. ft. or more.  It's also amazing the difference in the shape of the green and the movement in the outside perimeter of the greenside bunkers:

Original Sketch


Poor attempt at photoshop to show what the existing green looked like.


The scale of this comparison is actually fairly accurate, although quite elementary.  All I can say is that we thought we had an idea of what the new greens would look like (we had painted the original outlines of the greens several months ago for the greens committee), but we were all just amazed by the finished product.  

John

[J_McKenzie]

James,

I don't have access to before pics at hole #4 right now, but I will try to post before, during and after pics from other holes going forward.  A.G. is right, the new greens are barely recognizable.  They are so different that Mark half jokingly said the membership is not going to believe we are staying true to Ross' original design.  Good thing we have the sketches.

Scott,

Paul will probablly be able to answer this better, but once we scraped down to the black layer, we basically reshaped the features according to Ross' sketch.  We weren't really all that interested in recording what we found in the black layer, other than to verify that the original scale of the greens complex and to see what original design features actually existed.  There are obviously going to be a few "gray areas" in the process, because what was originally drawn and originally built may have been, and in many cases probably was, different.  The black layer and the surrounding mounds help establish a so-called "base line" from which to scale the grades as noted on in Ross' sketches.  I hope that makes sense.?

John

[paul cowley]

I'm back and probably could of stayed away as John has achieved a new level for us....pictures!...much better than words.....but just to continue the commentary;

Scott...our biggest concern after discovering the plans, was whether or not the course was built according to them [I, for one, use plans to provide a beginning, but not necessarily an ending, of where ones design ideas need to go].

That was what the black layer proved more than anything...which is that the actual course was built according to the plans, or at least as far as we have been able to determine after shooting the surrounding grades in relation to what the plans called for and what was uncovered in the field.

So far none of the grades we have exposed are at all extreme ....nothing that would not be acceptable today..... we have just cored out the greens below what we have found to accommodate a USGA type green profile, without any real need to record  anything.....what you see was what was once was there to begin with.

The black sandy layer needs further consideration as to the materials origins.
When I moved to the area in the late 70's, a local topsoil, referred to as 'Hercules Soil' [ being a byproduct of the washing of fat lighter stumps prior to thier processing into resin based derivatives], was readily available and supplied free by the Hercules manufacturing plant that was nearby.

I've had alot of first hand experience with this material and what I am seeing it seems quite similar ....although I need to confirm that it was readily available 70 years ago [I feel it probably was].
I think in those days it would have been a good seed bed layer, as it was commonly used in gardens to supplement this areas sandy, thin top soils that are typical of the Brunswick CC's site......more on this if my gut instinct proves true.