Paul Cowley, In all seriousness among the great dunes courses in the world what would the closest comparison be from your travels?
Greg....in all seriousness
...Diamante is closest in nature to many of the wilder Irish links courses, with the main difference, or contrast being that Diamante is open sand and sparse vegetation, while the Irish links are well vegetated.....a result of 6" versus 50" inches of rain.
But the bones are the same having been created by the wind's efforts.
Diamante is a very strong site....the main dune ridge is 160' tall at #11....diminishes to about 20' at the bisecting arroyo....then climbs again to 130' or so on the front nine.
Diamante is stronger than Ballybunion Old, and more similar to it's sister course, the Cashen.....where you have a large, but steep and tightly spaced interdunal system. I am not overly fond of the Cashen course, but love the site....it was a missed opportunity...one that I would enjoy restructuring if given the chance.
The main things I would like to see completed are:
#1 is fine except for some addition de vegging in the tee areas, and re vegging of the smaller right side dune edge.
#2 is fine.
#3 I would like to deveg a little more while opening up more open sand areas on both sides.
#4 is fine as long as the small dune area separating the landing areas is keep clean of growth that causes on to lose too many balls....too much risk and not enough reward when one wants to play one of the bolder options.
#5 is fine.
#6 is fine....but could benefit by opening more sand areas in the throat and around the green.
#7 is fine.
#8 is fine.
#9 is fine, regardless of the false front. It surprises me that this hole is consistently one of the favorites.
#10 needs additional edge treatment on both sides.
#11 is fine.
#12 needs additional edge treatment, and the right side fairway bunker needs to be more ragged in keeping with the character of the rest of the course.. It also needs revegging behind the green.
#13 needs a new waste bunker at the base of the left side mound to help define the driving area. Needs detailing on the right side, and also needs a more rugged look to the left green side bunker.
#14 will be fine after I knock down the dune about 20' on the left side off the tee, similar to the work that was done to open up the second landing area.
#15 is fine as long as they keep the weed growth down.
#16 is fine.
#17 needs an additional tee on the back ridge to the left of the cart path. The angle is superior to the existing third tee....which then could be switched over for use on #16 as a new third tee....a good looking shot from there.
# 18 is fine.
I could do most of this work in about two weeks with a backhoe and two or three amigos, without interrupting play.
Sometime its hard for people to appreciate the need for these type of changes until the are implemented.
Hope to see you soon!