Neil,
Thanks, but I won't take the cedit. Someone who needs some recoginition in addition to the rest is Mark Thawley, Kyles associate. He was an early GCA discussion group member and has helped form a lot of my tastes for what is good since I met him 7 years or so ago. He spent a lot of time on site, in the office and with Kyle getting a lot of these things right.
Kevin,
I am glad you mention cart paths, to me it may be the best facet of the entire project. We rolled the dice after a few test plots over the previous winter and used a product called Sta-Lok for our limited cart paths. It is applied similar to asphalt, however it is even easier and more manageable to deal with. You prepare the subgrade similar to concrete or asphalt with 6" base rock compacted, and then a 3" layer of Sta-Lok is layed and compacted.
Sta-Lok is a DG premixed with a wax polymer. This helps it bind and makes it dustless. It compacts to a hard surface, though not as hard as concrete. Water runs off of it and it will stand up to traffic.
This is a photo of our test path section from last year, we ran 40 full end dumps a day over it as our plating sand came into our site, and it held up beautifully.
Cypress Point alerted us to its usefulness as a bunker liner and that it is also made for walkpaths, etc.
They have done some of their pathways with it this year as well. This product has both pros and cons. Cons are that it is only as strong as the subgrade, and if the path isn't tilted appropriately in one direction water can tend to stick around and you get the occasional pot hole. There is a bit of upkeep in the paths as well.
That said, the stuff is genius if you are looking for a naturalized looking pathway for those areas where you need a cart path. It is very easy to make "in house" add ons or patches to the paths. I was elated when the Board said, "sounds like a no brainer".
I understand the Coore/Crenshaw Tahoe project is using it now as well.
At Cal Club there is little cart path overall, about 30 percent of the course has paths, and most of that is for maintenance traffic. With our sand ammendment and huge herringbone drainage installation, we are hopeful that carts will get around on the grass all year long. Fingers crossed, but judging from last winter it is draining very well. And judging from the play in the first month, conditions are really firm and fast, a far cry from the old course.
I might have to alter my rule of never putting a cart path in an oil painting.