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Jim Johnson

Silvies Valley Ranch
« on: July 16, 2012, 10:48:58 PM »
Curious if anyone knows anything about this golf course in eastern Oregon ... where they are in their construction ... what the site is like ... anything?
Looks like Dan Hixson is the course architect ... "Bandon Crossings", "Wine Valley", etc ...

http://silviesvalleyranch.com/golf.php
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Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #1 on: July 16, 2012, 10:58:05 PM »
Silvies Valley is a beautiful place. The course will be as I understand on the northern end of the valley up in a wooded area. Slag Bandoon is busy there helping build it, so you won't see him posting much.

GRUDGE MATCH IV is tentatively slated for there.

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"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Pete_Pittock

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #2 on: July 16, 2012, 11:02:02 PM »
Quote from: Garland Bayley on July 16, 2012, 10:58:05 PM
Silvies Valley is a beautiful place. The course will be as I understand on the northern end of the valley up in a wooded area. Slag Bandoon is busy there helping build it, so you won't see him posting much.

GRUDGE MATCH IV is tentatively slated for there.


Kalen should like that because he won't have to golf with you until 2015 :P
This links to a Dan Hixson interview by Flemma where he talks about Silvies Ranch, that section below the last picture (Wine Valley 15
http://www.cybergolf.com/golf_news/dan_hixson_talks_about_wine_valley_ballyneal_reversible_courses_doityourself_golf_design
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Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #3 on: July 16, 2012, 11:13:06 PM »
Quote from: Pete_Pittock on July 16, 2012, 11:02:02 PM
Quote from: Garland Bayley on July 16, 2012, 10:58:05 PM
Silvies Valley is a beautiful place. The course will be as I understand on the northern end of the valley up in a wooded area. Slag Bandoon is busy there helping build it, so you won't see him posting much.

GRUDGE MATCH IV is tentatively slated for there.


Kalen should like that because he won't have to golf with you until 2015 :P
This links to a Dan Hixson interview by Flemma where he talks about Silvies Ranch, that section below the last picture (Wine Valley 15
http://www.cybergolf.com/golf_news/dan_hixson_talks_about_wine_valley_ballyneal_reversible_courses_doityourself_golf_design

The low key, unwitnessed GRUDGE MATCH III was held in what should have been an off year. I was 2009, II was 2011, III should have been 2013. The build up just wasn't there for III, and Kalen hasn't done a thread about Sagebrush and it like he's been coaxed to do.
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"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #4 on: July 17, 2012, 12:48:03 AM »
I think the elevation of the Silvies River there is about 4700 feet. I'm guessing the golf course will be 5000 feet or higher in elevation. Golf season will probably start fairly late.

Nearby weather data can be found here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca,_Oregon

54 below zero! Ouch!
« Last Edit: July 17, 2012, 12:54:06 AM by Garland Bayley »
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"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Scott Weersing

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #5 on: March 25, 2014, 04:42:43 PM »

So is this in the running for best new course of 2015?

"The course has been in planning, permitting, approval and construction for several years and by the end of 2013 construction it will be 100% shaped and drained. In 2014 the irrigation will be installed with seeding immediately following."

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Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #6 on: March 25, 2014, 05:08:38 PM »
A month or so ago Pete and I had a round of golf with Slag with dinner afterwards. It should open in 2015, but I don't know if it will be in time for best new of 2015 designation. Slag should still be around dropping in here from time to time. Hopefully if he sees the thread, he will comment.

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"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Bill_McBride

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #7 on: March 25, 2014, 07:24:37 PM »
Six hours from nowhere in the middle of BFE.   How many people live out there?   Is there a market?

I was on a survey job in Walla Walla in 1961, the current location of Wine Valley.  Then there was Walla Walla CC and the nine hole course we found.  It was a flat meadow with fairways cut at an inch and greens 1/2" circles about 50' in diameter.  Is there a market for a course in an area that remote?  Anything on Hwy 395 isn't the end of the world, but you can get there from there.  

Seneca population in 2012:  197.  What am I missing?
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Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #8 on: March 25, 2014, 08:00:18 PM »
The course is to be an extra amenity to a dude ranching operation. I guess in case Billy Crystal wants to punch some cows and swat some balls.
The ranch is an absolutely gorgeous high mountain meadow. Slag says the course will be into the trees on the edge of the meadow.
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"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Bill_McBride

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #9 on: March 25, 2014, 09:08:05 PM »
I guess it will be okay to play in jeans!   ;D
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Scott Weersing

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #10 on: March 26, 2014, 07:54:33 AM »
Yes, the course is in the middle of nowhere. But so is Dismal River. I am not saying that this course will be as good as Red or White. However, there is a trend to build it a good course far, far away, and then people will find it and play it. If you build a course that is unique, such as a reversible course, then people will find it and play it.

I would expect that it did not cost that much to build it and they have enough water to irrigate the course. So we will see.

I would have never have thought that the Prairie Club would work either.
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Bill_McBride

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #11 on: March 26, 2014, 08:01:40 AM »
I really hope it works and would to see Slag's work out there.  I'm just even more curious about the dude ranch connection.  Don't people go to dude ranches to ride horses and have lunch at the chuck wagon?   I'm guessing this is a deep pockets owner who wants a place to entertain a few dudes and a few buddies.  Would work for me!
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Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #12 on: March 26, 2014, 11:12:08 AM »
The owner is the founder of the PetSmart chain.
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"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Pete_Pittock

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #13 on: March 26, 2014, 01:41:43 PM »
Quote from: GJ Bailey on March 25, 2014, 05:08:38 PM
A month or so ago Pete and I had a round of golf with Slag with dinner afterwards. It should open in 2015, but I don't know if it will be in time for best new of 2015 designation. Slag should still be around dropping in here from time to time. Hopefully if he sees the thread, he will comment.


I must have had too many beers because I don't remember that part of the conversation. I was thinking three or more years out.
« Last Edit: March 26, 2014, 03:43:31 PM by Pete_Pittock »
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Bill_McBride

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #14 on: March 26, 2014, 01:52:43 PM »
Quote from: GJ Bailey on March 26, 2014, 11:12:08 AM
The owner is the founder of the PetSmart chain.


I hate those stores.  But it figures. 
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Joel_Stewart

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #15 on: March 26, 2014, 02:32:25 PM »
I looked at the golf course web site.  They are calling "links type golf".

Love the bullet points, especially #3 which takes a swing at other architects.

1. Reversible (clockwise Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday; counter-clockwise Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday); only the second course in the world built this way – the other is The Old Course at St. Andrews Golf Club in Scotland.

2. Targeted to have the lowest carbon footprint of any modern American course – both to build and to maintain.

3. Designed by award winning designer, Dan Hixson, who is also actually building the course.  Long ago, many of the great courses were built by their designer – today, that rarely occurs, though a better course is the result.

4. Taking all the time we need to make it perfect; planning/construction started in 2010, with play expected in 2018 – or later if we need it.
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Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #16 on: March 26, 2014, 04:40:56 PM »
Quote from: Pete_Pittock on March 26, 2014, 01:41:43 PM
Quote from: GJ Bailey on March 25, 2014, 05:08:38 PM
A month or so ago Pete and I had a round of golf with Slag with dinner afterwards. It should open in 2015, but I don't know if it will be in time for best new of 2015 designation. Slag should still be around dropping in here from time to time. Hopefully if he sees the thread, he will comment.


I must have had too many beers because I don't remember that part of the conversation. I was thinking three or more years out.

Not too many beers, as I asked Slag that walking to our balls on the first hole. Perhaps open is not the right word if that means full opening to the public. He indicated with irrigation and seeding going in this year, some play could be expected in 2015. Therefore, I'm surprised to see the website is saying 2018.
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"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #17 on: March 26, 2014, 09:09:27 PM »
The courses are actually in Grant County. The website has an aerial photo labeled Harney County, which surprised me since I had always thought they were in Grant County.

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"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #18 on: March 26, 2014, 11:22:38 PM »
A veritable beehive of construction activity.


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"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Michael Dugger

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Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #19 on: May 08, 2014, 05:56:36 PM »
There are some new pictures up on the website...

http://www.silviesvalleyranch.com/golf.php

I like what I'm seeing here...
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What does it matter if the poor player can putt all the way from tee to green, provided that he has to zigzag so frequently that he takes six or seven putts to reach it?     --Alistair Mackenzie--

RJ_Daley

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Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #20 on: May 08, 2014, 08:41:02 PM »
It seems to have all the hallmarks and creation story of a future legend and lore.
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No actual golf rounds were ruined or delayed, nor golf rules broken, in the taking of any photographs that may be displayed by the above forum user.

Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #21 on: August 04, 2014, 07:00:23 PM »
Kudos to Dan Hixson for beating Tom Doak to the reversible holes implementation.
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"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Eric Smith

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #22 on: August 04, 2014, 07:33:43 PM »
Pretty dadgum cool. Congrats to all involved.
 
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Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +3/-1
Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #23 on: August 04, 2014, 08:19:03 PM »
Quote from: GJ Bailey on August 04, 2014, 07:00:23 PM
Kudos to Dan Hixson for beating Tom Doak to the reversible holes implementation.


I saw this in March when it was posted ... kind of a bummer after I'd pitched my idea to Forest Dunes last fall.  [The 2012 posts say nothing about the reversible concept.]

It's not exactly a new concept.  I've been interested in trying it ever since I read the Appendix to Tom Simpson's book on architecture, thirty years ago ... Simpson designed a couple of short, 3-hole reversible courses for private estates.  I've heard of it being done for nine holes.  As far as I know, no one has yet to open an 18-hole reversible course.

The dates on their web site make it unclear which of our courses will open first.  Doesn't really matter, it's cool to see someone else is doing it.
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Bill_McBride

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Re: Silvies Valley Ranch
« Reply #24 on: August 04, 2014, 08:54:20 PM »
Quote from: Tom_Doak on August 04, 2014, 08:19:03 PM
Quote from: GJ Bailey on August 04, 2014, 07:00:23 PM
Kudos to Dan Hixson for beating Tom Doak to the reversible holes implementation.


It's not exactly a new concept.  I've been interested in trying it ever since I read the Appendix to Tom Simpson's book on architecture, thirty years ago ... Simpson designed a couple of short, 3-hole reversible courses for private estates.  I've heard of it being done for nine holes.  As far as I know, no one has yet to open an 18-hole reversible course.

Well yes, except for that Old Course in Scotland.   ;D.   I wish the Links Trust still held the Reverse program around April 1st.   It was fun to play once.  The hole played from 13 tee to 11 green was a proper bugger!
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