Scott
Nice to hear from you. Darren told me all about his visit with you and said very nice things.
Good question about the front 9 vs the back 9. This was a very difficult issue for us to resolve with the limited funds. Because the existing front 9 is basically on flatter terrain with limited vegetation and a very basic "style" of a golf course and the back 9 raw site was totally different with a lot of contour, rim rock throughout, large pines, and great views we decided to just "relate" the two 9's and not try to "match" them. Therefore, on the front 9 we did the following:
1. Renovated all of the existing bunkers (only 11 bunkers) and incorporated new bunkers (20 additional bunkers) to "match" the style of bunking you see in the photos posted above.
2. Leveled a few of the existing tees and built 7 additional tees
3. Changed a below average par 4 into a risk reward par 5.
4. Removed many of the smaller trees that were aesthetically out of place that had been planted over the past 10 years and began to incorporate more native grasses and a prairie style.
5. Replaced the irrigation system and incorporated many part circle heads between on newly incorporated native grasses and turfgrass.
6. Widened most of the fairways and/or created 2nd fairways to create optional angles to attack each hole from with strategic bunker placement.
With all of this we still left 70-80% of the existing front nine in place and did not build any new greens and most of the original fairways and tees were untouched. The theory is that eventually we will be building a 3rd nine holes in similar ground as the new back 9 so they will "match". Last fall we began routing plans for this new 9...I can only hope it happens...it would help. Overall I am satisfied with the renovation work on the front 9 but only because I know that we kept the amount of renovation work to a minimum to save $$ for the third 9 holes.
The bunker style was a team effort. The Owner is very sensitive about the environment and definately wanted the golf course to blend into the rugged Wyoming terrain and ranching lifestyle. He did not want the golf course to be a stark difference from the surrounding scenery. Early on we decided to incorporate a rugged style of bunker and transplant the native grasses from the surrounding meadows into the bunkering to blend the course into the surrounds. I think the stark visual apppearance of the white sand is a bit decieving and may be slightly photo manipulated by the photographer. There is a good variety bunker depths, sizes, locations and shapes...
The 13th green is relatively flat but drains to the right toward the rim rock. The green is only 4000 SF and sits very close to the edge of the rim. It is a very interesting short par 5.
Yes we did do the graphics and thanks for commenting. Here is a copy of the routing master plan...I don't know if you be able to see it?
