Bunker renovations at Hamburg-Falkenstein 2008-2009

[Christoph Meister]

Dear Golf architecture enthusiasts,

German-Canadian Golf course architect David Krause has recently finished his bunker restoration works at Hamburg-Falkenstein, very often rated as Germany's top-course. Falkenstein is also Germany's only entry to the latest edition of the world Atlas of Golf.

The course was designed by Colt & Co. between 1928 and 1930 and originally built by contractor Emil Schulz from Hamburg-Reinbek with some help from Harris Brothers. Falkenstein was officially opened on July 24th, 1930 playing over 5.672m from the men's championship tees.

The first modifications to the course where made from 1939 to 1941, when the second hole was lengthened to 500m and a new tee for the third par-three hole had to be built lengthening the hole from 125m to 195m and though bringing the course to almost 5.900m

Further changes to the course where made in 1964/1965 when German architect Bernhard von Limburger renovated Falkenstein. His main changes where a new 13th hole using the former green of the par 3 14th. No. 13 was now playing 332m instead of originally 300m.

The 15th hole became No.14 and a new hole No.15 (par 3 - downhill - 142m) was introduced. The tee of no.16 had to be changed creating today's 300m dogleg par4. After these changes the course played a little shorter at 5.840m instead of 5.950m (during the 1950s and 1960s).

Now I do not want to bother you further with all these details, but just show you the bunker renovations with before and afterwards pictures (before pictures with kind permission of Frank Pont!), sometimes I added some historic pictures from my collection in order to give you an idea what the hole originally looked like. (The afterwards pictures were taken by myself during the Vagliano-Trophy 2009 where the European Continental (Amateur) Ladies played and won against the Ladies from GB & Ireland.)

Any comments and opinions on the bunker restaurations would be most welcomed, I am especially but not only calling all the Colt experts out there!

[Christoph Meister]

and here are the pictures for holes No.8 to hole No. 15....

[Christoph Meister]

and here are holes 16 to 18 includ. some historic pictures...

[Paul_Turner]

Christoph

It's a great course.  The Shell match really shows it up too.  The hazards were awesome.

The redesign work of adding a "nose" to a bunker and then copying and pasting throughout the hole is awful.  The 4th is the worst.

[Christoph Meister]

Christoph

It's a great course.  The Shell match really shows it up too.  The hazards were awesome.

The redesign work of adding a "nose" to a bunker and then copying and pasting throughout the hole is awful.  The 4th is the worst.

Paul,

watching the Shell match between Hebert and Schmaderer at Hamburg-Falkenstein 1965 you can very well see the fairway bunkers on 13, just after von Limburger had redesigned that hole. The bunkers are strictly speaking Colt style and I know that he was an admirer of Colt & Co. Being a scratch golfer in the late 1920s early 1930s he l knew what the original Colt bunkers looked like.

I have enclosed three pictures from two different private Golf Courses in Germany designed by Colt&Co. in 1930. One picture shows how the bunker edges were built and the other two pictures show bunkers designed by Colt just after completion. I can not see any "noses" on these pictures!

The reason I am putting these pictures here is that according to my opinion they very well show what the bunkers at Falkenstein should still look like today - at some of the inland Colt courses in England you can still see such bunkers with these rough edges and
I like it very much!

Would you agree with me?


  

[Bill_McBride]

Have to agree with Paul on the repetition of the nose theme. 

[Jim_Kennedy]

What could he have possibly been thinking of when he did this work?

[David Stamm]

Oh dear, those look very un-Colt like. This is a shame. What charge was given Krause? Was he asked to renovate or restore?

[Christoph Meister]

According to the information I found on his web-site http://www.krausegolfdesign.de/index_en.swf it says:

"Krause Golf Design is very proud to have acted as a consultant since 2000 designing the new practis facilities and is presently working closely with the Club Development Committee on a bunker improvement and Restoration Masterplan on the 70 year old course."

Note: course will be 80 years old in 2010!

[Paul_Turner]

Christoph

Those are great old pics of building bunkers in Germany.  I guess this is one of the Morrison courses?

Rough, rugged edges were definitely a common factor.

Even some of the Colt and Co course had some bunkers with "noses" the modern architects are just going way overboard it...Frankfurt, Falkenstein, Toronto, Wentworth, Wimbledon.

[Cristian]

I wonder what our own Frank Pont would make of this having succesfully restored/renovated Colt tracks. Perhaps they should have called him in the first place.

I just wonder with such excellent photo material from the past, why change the look so drastically, as if somebody wants to put his signature on a course. Also I did not see much wrong with the Colt style sand faced bunkers they had in the first place (in the before pics), why repair what is not broken?

Having said that; it's a great looking course, which unlike many other classics has not been narrowed too much by trees growing in over the years.

[Brian Phillips]

I wonder what our own Frank Pont would make of this having succesfully restored/renovated Colt tracks. Perhaps they should have called him in the first place.

Christian,

Which courses has Pont done that have been successful?  Do you have any photos of what he has done?  I would like to see his work.

Cheers.

[Christoph Meister]

Christoph

Those are great old pics of building bunkers in Germany.  I guess this is one of the Morrison courses?

Rough, rugged edges were definitely a common factor.

Even some of the Colt and Co course had some bunkers with "noses" the modern architects are just going way overboard it...Frankfurt, Falkenstein, Toronto, Wentworth, Wimbledon.

The photos are actually from two different private golf courses designed by Colt & Co. (most probably Morrison): Bergfried-Saalfeld in Thuringia (built 1930 - closed 1945) and Berlin-Kladow (built 1930 - closed 1952).

Berlin-Kladow was provisionally used by Golf- und Landclub Berlin-Wannsee from 1946 to 1952. In 1952 the Golf- und Landclub Berlin-Wannsee reopened 9 holes of the former 27 hole-layout at Wannsee as a German Golf Club. These were those 9 holes added around 1930 and which were actually also designed by Colt & Co.

The American forces kept the original 18-holes of the Wannsee Golf Course from 1945 until the mid-1990's - these original holes were designed by C.S. Butchart in 1913 but not opened until 1924...

[Cristian]

I wonder what our own Frank Pont would make of this having succesfully restored/renovated Colt tracks. Perhaps they should have called him in the first place.

Christian,

Which courses has Pont done that have been successful?  Do you have any photos of what he has done?  I would like to see his work.

Cheers.

His work includes renovations on Swinley Forest, Royal Hague, Kennemer, De Pan, and Eindhoven (all Colt & Co.)
more info:
www.infinitevarietygolf.com (with some before / after photo material I think)

http://www.infinitevarietygolf.com/Pages/English/projects-eng.html

and the feature interview on this website.

[Tom Dunne]

Well, no one's going to accuse Krause of being inconsistent with the style!   

[Ulrich Mayring]

My first thought, before having read the other opinions, was that Colt's bunkers often looked a lot rougher and Falkenstein definitely is a course that should celebrate its roughness. It's not Augusta National and never will be.

So where are the noses and the smooth edges coming from? Certainly Krause has rubbed it in, but looking at the 2007 before pictures, I think that this style was already there, only deteriorated a bit. So who introduced that style? Was it Bernhard von Limburger? Here is a picture of the bunkering style he used at his last course GC Main-Taunus in 1979:



So, these were my thoughts before reading the other opinions. After reading them I must say that I hate the noses even more, although Limmy's moderate version in the picture above is pretty attractive. But not for Falkenstein, the style should be more natural on that heathland course.

Ulrich

[Mike Hendren]

While I have recently decried the plethora of "frilly edged bunkers" being built today regardless of site and region,  the clean lines of these bunkers is beyond disappointing given the genius or Mr. Colt.  The edges cry out to be roughed up.

In other words, what Paul Turner said.

Mike     

[Brian Phillips]

I wonder what our own Frank Pont would make of this having succesfully restored/renovated Colt tracks. Perhaps they should have called him in the first place.

Christian,

Which courses has Pont done that have been successful?  Do you have any photos of what he has done?  I would like to see his work.

Cheers.

His work includes renovations on Swinley Forest, Royal Hague, Kennemer, De Pan, and Eindhoven (all Colt & Co.)
more info:
www.infinitevarietygolf.com (with some before / after photo material I think)

http://www.infinitevarietygolf.com/Pages/English/projects-eng.html

and the feature interview on this website.

Christian,

I don't want to start an argument with anyone and especially not Frank but could you please define what you mean by "successfully restored"? 
I am not supporting Krause in anyway with this question and I am not supporting anyone in the discussion but I am just curious to what you mean as I just don't think anyone in Europe has managed yet to "successfully restore" any of Colt's bunkers anywhere yet.

I have not seen one photo of any course supposedly "restored" that has yet managed to achieve it, in my humble opinion. 

[Cristian]

I wonder what our own Frank Pont would make of this having succesfully restored/renovated Colt tracks. Perhaps they should have called him in the first place.

Christian,

Which courses has Pont done that have been successful?  Do you have any photos of what he has done?  I would like to see his work.

Cheers.

His work includes renovations on Swinley Forest, Royal Hague, Kennemer, De Pan, and Eindhoven (all Colt & Co.)
more info:
www.infinitevarietygolf.com (with some before / after photo material I think)

http://www.infinitevarietygolf.com/Pages/English/projects-eng.html

and the feature interview on this website.

Christian,

I don't want to start an argument with anyone and especially not Frank but could you please define what you mean by "successfully restored"? 
I am not supporting Krause in anyway with this question and I am not supporting anyone in the discussion but I am just curious to what you mean as I just don't think anyone in Europe has managed yet to "successfully restore" any of Colt's bunkers anywhere yet.

I have not seen one photo of any course supposedly "restored" that has yet managed to achieve it, in my humble opinion. 

By succesfully restored I mean renovated in a style which would fool me for being untouched since the Colt days, sticking to what Colt built in the first place as much as possible:

Please tell me what you think of these pics and please also check the before/after pics on www.infinitevarietygolf.com.

There are also 'before' pics on www.golfarchitecturepictures.com

These are recent pics of Hague and De Pan:

Royal Hague:
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,41086.0/


De Pan:
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,40781.0/

[Emil Weber]

I played Falkenstein twice before the renovation, and I thought it was definitely the best course in Germany.

My parents recently played there and spoke highly of some new bunkers they (non GCAers) really liked. I was keen to see how the new bunkers look, but couldn't find any photos. Seeing this I am feeling VERY disappointed... This has nothing to do with Colt and heathland classics. Why, oh why is there no knowledge for architecture in Germany......

[Brian Phillips]

Christian,

I cannot get drawn in to start criticizing directly on each persons piece of work.  I would prefer not to comment on here about Frank or David's work to be honest.

[Cristian]

Christian,

I cannot get drawn in to start criticizing directly on each persons piece of work.  I would prefer not to comment on here about Frank or David's work to be honest.

I understand your point of view, as being somebody who works in the industry. For me it is easy; as I am just an amateur golf course enthusiastic, I can just say out loud what I like.... But perhaps it is easier if I ask you, in general, what aspects of original Colt bunkering get snowed under in renovations, and why...?

[Brian Phillips]

The hardest part of getting a "heathland" style bunker correct is the inside of the bunker.  Many of the photos that I have seen do not get that right. The bunkers have been shaped too flat in the bottom or in the face.  There are of course flat bunkers on heathland or Colt courses but the faces are either chunked or shaped up in a convex style even if only slightly.

Below I have posted a photo of a bunker that I feel is a Colt style or "heathland" style bunker.  The inside of the bunker is convex and the top of the bunker almost rolls over.  This is very difficult to shape unless you have a very good shaper on board.  It is almost impossible to show on a drawing as the lip is almost overhanging. If you can get a roll on the inside of the bunker then you can create two convex areas within the bunker but you must be very careful not shape the convex shape at the same height or depth otherwise it looks like a pair of glasses from a distance. If I was to be picky about the bunker I would say that the bunker face is not steep enough and could be even more convex in the deeper parts of the bunker.

Another thing you must be careful about is the top edge of the bunker.  You must not allow grass to fold down into the bunker and I feel this is a mistake many have done.  The edge of their bunkering is too thick or too wide. If you are going to have a thick edge then heather or fescues should be used to create that edge unless you really "chunk" it.

Just my opinion.

[Christoph Meister]

My first thought, before having read the other opinions, was that Colt's bunkers often looked a lot rougher and Falkenstein definitely is a course that should celebrate its roughness. It's not Augusta National and never will be.

So where are the noses and the smooth edges coming from? Certainly Krause has rubbed it in, but looking at the 2007 before pictures, I think that this style was already there, only deteriorated a bit. So who introduced that style? Was it Bernhard von Limburger? Here is a picture of the bunkering style he used at his last course GC Main-Taunus in 1979:

So, these were my thoughts before reading the other opinions. After reading them I must say that I hate the noses even more, although Limmy's moderate version in the picture above is pretty attractive. But not for Falkenstein, the style should be more natural on that heathland course.

Ulrich

Ulrich:

After having watched the 1965 Shell world of Golf movie Schmaderer against Hebert at Falkenstein one can see that the bunkers at Falkenstein still had rough “eyebrow”-like bunker edges and some of the bunkers still looked really wild at that time. The course was redesigned by von Limburger between 1962 and 1966 – in several steps.  Sometimes after 1965 someone has changed the bunkers creating sharp edges and eliminating most of the wildness. It might well be that as you, Ulrich, guess it was  von Limburger, but I cannot confirm this at the moment and have to do further researches in this direction.

From reading in the Hamburger GC 1960s Club magazine yesterday I have been learning that von Limburger closed more than 30 (Colt) bunkers, not only because the trees around the course had grown making Falkenstein already more difficult difficult to play during the last 30 years and not because he disliked over bunkered course, but in order to safe maintenance costs. Was it for economic reasons that the look of the bunkers at Falkenstein was changed after 1965? I simply cannot believe that one of the wealthiest clubs in Germany was worrying about bunker maintenance costs….but then..Who knows saving money might make a club wealthy…?

C.

[Sean_A]

Brian

Once again a conversation about bunkering is hung up on appearances when we all know these things are a matter of personal preference and a more important aspect is their placement.  

I hope the differences (which are almost imperceptible and I think not necessarily the case depending on which Colt course we are talking about) in style aren't part of the reason construction costs have risen so much because it ain't worth it.  The biggest problem with those cheesy bunkers is how they look in a group.   Which makes me ask if they need to be tightly grouped at all?

People go on about roughing up bunkers, but there is a time and place for it.  In the example below, these are some of the most dreadful looking things and not only because of the spinach but because the course looks to have a "clean look" so why dirty bunkers?  
 

Which brings me to my point, for better or worse, courses are much cleaner looking today than in Colt's hey day and hence the style of cleaner bunkers being in vogue.  Brian described his ideal for a Colt bunker, but I am ambivalent because I am not keen on looking at heaps of sand on non-sandy sites.  I like the rolled over upholstered look BECAUSE it hides the sand.  This also makes it easy to tie in foliage around the bunkers to the edges of the course and therefore make the bunkers look like they belong at least to some degree.  Colt did this sort of thing very, very well, but we have to remember that when we speak of a Colt course it is often only the case in terms of a routing and green sites.  Much of the detail often ascribed to maintenance is very different so it should be no surprise that the look of the bunkers has changed.  Just changing bunkers back to a Colt style doesn't magically make these latest versions of Colt courses as Colt would have wanted them.  IMO the entire maintenance regime of these courses would have to be altered to regain the look and playing aspects of a Colt course as Colt designed them.

Ciao