Foster's restoration at Orchard Lake a case of 'right place, right time'

[Niall Hay]

Great piece on the work by Keith Foster and his team at Orchard Lake Country Club in Orchard Lake, Michigan. A 1926 Colt & Alison design near Detroit. Also interesting comments on C&A style bunkering.  “Americans assume that Colt-Alison bunkers were pancakes with no character,” says architect Foster.  

http://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/Article/Foster%e2%80%99s-restoration-at-Orchard-Lake-a-case-of-%e2%80%98right-place-right-time%e2%80%99/2938/Default.aspx

[Niall Hay]

Alison's sketch and notes guiding the proper construction of a bunker.
 
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion/tom-macwood-gliding-past-fuji-ch-alison-in-japan/pg-ii/

Alison wrote very detailed descriptions of how his design features should appear. His mounding was to have a ‘broken horizon’, and his bunkers were to have the sand ‘splashed’ up to point where it met a band native soil and the grass of the mound. He referred to this meeting of sand and grass as ‘rivetting’ – although he did not use the term in its classic sense – and it was to have an uneven outline. (Many of his bunkers in the US now have grass facing, with little or no flashing and are very regular in outline) In his construction notes he constantly uses the term ‘irregularizing’ — a clear acknowledgment of the irregularity found in nature. Although Alison often created features that were clearly artificial there is something aesthetically pleasing about them; he had a gift for creating man-made features that sympathized with the natural.

[Aaron McMaster]

Niall,

Not super impressed with the article, seems like the author didn't really dig too deep on the restoration.  I can tell you this, he never showed up here to look at anything.  I never spoke to him, yet he seems to think he knows a lot about the grasses we chose.  

Now the part about Keith's take on Alison's bunkers was very good.  He and I have talked about this for quite a few years leading into our project as to what a good Alison bunker should be like.  I think he captured it really well.  We did add a little more pop to them but I'm sure Alison would get more edgy if he had modern equipment to build a course.

[Jason Way]

Just finished a post on my blog with photos from Milwaukee CC and Orchard Lake. 


https://geekedongolf.com/2016/08/21/awakening-to-alison-milwaukee-cc-orchard-lake-cc/


I have CH Alison on the brain, and I was looking through some old Alison-related threads and I came across this one.  The link to the OLCC article no longer works, so I am not sure what it said about his bunkering. 


Looking at my photos though, it is striking to see how different the styles are.  For those of you who have played other Alison gems, is there a discernible style to his bunkering or can it only be said that he liked them big and bold?

[Patrick Kiser]

I think you have to consider Colt here.  He showed C.H. Alison the ropes.

Compare Frank's reply #52 and Colt's outline for how to approach bunker construction and design:
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,51434.50.html

... to the C.H. Alison sketch supplied in the late Tom MacWood's really nice review of C.H. Alison in Japan
http://golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion/tom-macwood-gliding-past-fuji-ch-alison-in-japan/pg-ii/

Practically identical in the directions.  Same school in my opinion.  From there, C.H. Alison gave it his own interpretation + you factor in the actual crews involved and the land.

[Jason Way]

Thanks for sharing those links Patrick.  Fascinating stuff.  It seems clear that Colt & Alison had a defined method for bunker construction.  And Alison had clear standards for bunker placement and scale.  However, I am still trying to tease out more on the style, or the aesthetics. 


Here is a link to an old thread re: Hirono:


http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,45169


Here's one on Davenport CC:


http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,62957


And here's one on Kirtland:


http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,42236


Looking at my photos from MCC and OLCC, and comparing them with the photos from these other Alison courses, it seems to me that it would be hard to put a finger on Alison's aesthetic.  Was this an indication that Alison was more dynamic in his bunker styling than Raynor (for example)? 


It would be interesting to hear from Aaron McMaster, Jim Urbina, Tom Doak, Keith Foster, or anyone else who has been involved in a renovation/restoration of an Alison course.  How does one go about rebuilding bunkers in a manner that is true to C&A?  What is the reference point (if there is one)?


Just curious about the process.

[Sean_A]

To me the key aspect of these bunkers is they are placed in natural folds/pads of greens or if this wasn't the case the attempt was made to create a fold.  At MCC it looks like some those efforts are shortcutted by background trees, making some of the bunkers look a bit odd or more odd than is necessary. 


Comparing the two sets, MCC looks to have loads more bunkering and more clustering.  OLCC sticks more to bunkers in folds and uses vegetation to tie in the sand with rough.  I spose its a trade-off.   Fairway lines which accentuate the value of sand or fairway lines which accentuate the aesthetic. 


If there was a combo of the syles, it would be Little Aston.  A ton of very deep bunkers cutting across playing lines. Some tied into rough and others naked in short grass. 


http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,38973.msg1158969.html#msg1158969


Ciao

[Patrick Kiser]

... How does one go about rebuilding bunkers in a manner that is true to C&A?  What is the reference point (if there is one)?

Jason,


In all likelihood, it's no different from trying to emulate a Colt, MacKenzie, Ross, Tillinghast, or any other Golden Age architect's style for a given course.


Along with any available notes as shown for Colt and Alison, period photos and aerials are leveraged when and where possible to get a sense of the look and style for a given course.  That look and style can vary from course to course.  Tillinghast might be the perfect example of how this bunkering style varied.


Then the sympathetic restorations / renovations do their best to copy the look and style.


If nothing's available from the period to fallback on then it's completely interpretative while perhaps leveraging known content from other courses for a given Golden Age architect.  It's probably a decision between the club and the engaged architect in terms of this.


Finally, chances are a club will also consider maintenance.  In this regard, the club and engaged architect will review and make decisions for what can be supported and this can potentially affect how close the renovated/restored bunkering mirrors the original style.  For instance, an original style of bunkering might have been more prone to say wind damage or water erosion, etc.  Some modern best practices might be applied to counter these effects and that could affect the end result for the look and style.
 

[Anthony Gholz]

Gentlemen:


I believe that the soil has a lot to do with it.  Orchard Lake is often on clay and peat.  The sand comes from somewhere else.  At Port Huron GC, about an hour NE of OL, Alison designed the course in 1921 and '22 on lake bottom sand ridges, one block from the Lake Huron shoreline.  Often the sand on the site was there exposed from the start.  Below is a copy of Alison's sketch for the 12th green (today's 13th).  The back sand was an open sand ridge as opposed to a designed from scratch sand bunker.  Today, of course, it's a defined manicured sand bunker like the others. 


Several "waste" bunkers at PH are more natural "blowout" types or have been opened up by removing the topsoil and grass and exposing the sand below.  PH will never have one type of sand as the lake development and changes over 5k years provided two types of natural sand, and of course we also have "USGA" spec sand in others.


Below the 13th green sketch is a part from Alison's General Instructions sketch on how to build the bunkers.  It confirm's much of what Niall said at the start.


Anthony

[Patrick Kiser]

Anthony,


Thanks for sharing on this.  Great find and very informative.  Enjoyed your Point Huron piece from a while back.


To you point about the soil, this is exactly what Frank Pont was speaking to in his thread about reintroducing Colt bunkering on Colt courses.