Nick,
I think most days at Ballyhack will be kind to the ego if you are playing well. It really looks harder than it is. However, when the wind blows, Ballyhack will be less than kind, which to me is the intriguing part of it.
Ken,
I hope you will call me with comments.
Carl,
The brown native sand is going in and looks really good. White sand would have been a mistake in my mind. The bunkers on the hill to the left of 18 will eventually grow over with grass as they are supposed to more look like animal burrows than bunkers. I'll try to get a better picture of them in the next post.
Jonathan,
The slit bunker, as you call it will end up being one of the most natural looking. It already has two names. Serpent and Scour. Having seen it, which do you like?
Yes the bunker faces are large and steep, but I really think after this year the sand will migrate and settle to where it wants to and we will adjust the edges from there. Remember, they are "blowouts" and therefore should have loosely defined edges. Besides, in Billy Bobbitt, we have one of the best supers in the business. He worked previously at Kinloch and The Old White and has had outstanding results at both places. His direction from this group of owners is "firm and fast" and we MEAN IT. We are not concerned with lush and green. To truly have the experience of all of the "ground game" we built into Ballyhack, it has to be fast. He knows we won't give in to "water more so the grass is green". That, ultimately, is one of the reasons I think Ballyhack will be different.
Lester