News:

Welcome to the Golf Club Atlas Discussion Group!

Each user is approved by the Golf Club Atlas editorial staff. For any new inquiries, please contact us.

Pages: [1] 2   Go Down

Sean Walsh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Black Sands
« on: February 19, 2007, 11:00:41 AM »
Firstly the Bad News.  Most of my photos from Black Sands are trapped on my Ipod and until I can find a way of syncing it to my new computer without deleting its hard drive they'll have to remain there.  

The good news is I have a small taste of the site.







Logged

David Stamm

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Black Sands
« Reply #1 on: February 19, 2007, 02:01:46 PM »
Sean, where exactly is this located? Is there a project in the works for the site?
Logged
"The object of golf architecture is to give an intelligent purpose to the striking of a golf ball."- Max Behr

SPDB

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Black Sands
« Reply #2 on: February 19, 2007, 02:20:22 PM »
I assume that this is Faldo's project in Iceland.
Logged

Sean Walsh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Black Sands
« Reply #3 on: February 19, 2007, 02:25:25 PM »
South coast of Iceland around half an hour drive from Reiykavik.

A Faldo and Smyers project. These links should help.  Can't find an official site as yet.

http://www.nickfaldo.com/design/template.php?pid=gallery&t=ga&c=27

http://www.cybergolf.com/state.asp?stateID=78&newsID=3795  
Logged

Sean Walsh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Black Sands
« Reply #4 on: February 19, 2007, 02:30:34 PM »
By the way.  The white stuff is Ice not Snow.  Also although it looks very sandy underfoot (and it is) their was a frozen crust over much of it.  
Logged

Mike Nuzzo

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Black Sands
« Reply #5 on: February 19, 2007, 02:47:22 PM »
Looks cool, but that last picture looks to be below sea level... hard to grow grass without building up.
Logged
Thinking of Bob, Rihc, Bill, George, Neil, Dr. Childs, & Tiger.

Kalen Braley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Black Sands
« Reply #6 on: February 19, 2007, 03:18:28 PM »
With its location, this would be a great July or August trip.  And you could likely play around the clock as well with it being so far north.
Logged

Sean Walsh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Black Sands
« Reply #7 on: February 19, 2007, 03:40:54 PM »
Mike,

That's an optical illusion.  That is probably the highest part of the property.  The middle photo is a low plateau between the see and dunes on one side and an estuary (I think) on the other.  The middle photo isn't as sharp because the day I was there it was hard to stand up straight let alone take a sharp image (due to a fierce prevailing wind).

The first photo shows some evidence of the cold and crustiness of the sand.  At the top of one of the dunes on the left you can see the crust and the loose sand below it.  Also you can detect the icey crust in the right foreground.

From what I would consider a reliable source the issue will not so much be growing grass but more preventing the sea and sand reclaiming the dunes in the winter.  It would be great to be a fly on the wall for this project.  I'm not sure how good your land is down there in Texas Mike but this site looked as good as what I imagine Barnbougle did, albeit with a few more design "challenges"

« Last Edit: February 19, 2007, 03:44:16 PM by Sean Walsh »
Logged

Mike Nuzzo

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Black Sands
« Reply #8 on: February 19, 2007, 06:06:00 PM »
Sean,
Thank you for the clarification.
I've never seen any property like that before, certainly not Texas.
Frankly I would need to learn a few things before I laid out a course next to the sea like that, I hope to find out one day.
Can you tell us a little about your trip?
cheers
Logged
Thinking of Bob, Rihc, Bill, George, Neil, Dr. Childs, & Tiger.

Jason Hines

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Black Sands
« Reply #9 on: February 19, 2007, 07:29:58 PM »
Hi Sean,

How far is this site from Keflavik?  Are these photos from November?

You might try accessing your photos individually through itunes and just drag and click them into a different folder on your desktop.

Jason
Logged

Sean Walsh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Black Sands
« Reply #10 on: February 20, 2007, 07:42:30 AM »
Jason,

Re Ipod. The problem is it is synced to my computer in Australia.  I have bought a new one while here in the UK and after connecting the Ipod to it it informs me that if I attempt to sync it then it will delete all its files (to prevent priacy I'm sure).  Not much help in my current position though.  I'll have to contact Apple and see if they can suggest a remedy.

Re Black Sands.

Yes it was November.  Not sure where Keflavik is.  But this course will be very close to the Village of Thorlakshafn (and also near Olfus - not sure whether thats a town or a river though - leaning towards river)

It seems work should start in the next few months.

Mike,

Re my trip.  I left Oz in Novemeber 06.  Flew to the UK.  Got out to Huntercombe for a round while in London.  Headed North to visit my wifes family in Lancashire.  Managed to fit in a round at Royal Lytham.  We then flew out of Glasgow to Iceland.  Stayed there for 3 nights.  During this time I was fortunate in meeting up with Edwin Roald who took a day out to show us around.  Managed to get a glimpse of Black Sands and also one of his projects near Geysir.  It was the first time I had seen a golf course under construction so was very interesting.  If you want to know what challenges construction in Iceland might present drop Edwin a line.  He posts here now.

We then returned to Scotland.  found a place to rent in St Andrews.  We then travelled through the Baltic States and Finland for 3 weeks.  We then returned to Scotland.  Took up residence in St Andrews.  Got married.

We have now settled in to life here.  We are both working at The Scores Hotel for now.  I will move on to caddying which starts for me on April 10.  

We'll stick around here until mid-October (after the Dunhill)and then head back to our lives in Australia.  That is unless I can convince my lovely wife that emigrating is a good idea :)
Logged

Ulrich Mayring

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Black Sands
« Reply #11 on: February 20, 2007, 08:32:49 AM »
Look what the Gulf stream does for Iceland:



The climate there should be very favorable for links-type courses, just a tad cooler in the summer than Scotland or Ireland.

Ulrich
Logged
Golf Course Exposé (300+ courses reviewed), Golf CV (how I keep track of 'em)

Sean Walsh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Black Sands
« Reply #12 on: February 20, 2007, 12:18:08 PM »
Ulrich,

I have been assured that for five months a year the conditions are conducive to long days of golf.

For this project in this location it will be the other 7 months that provide the challenges.  I don' mean to sound pessimistic.  I'm confident that this will be a very good course.  Just not as straight forward as the wonderful ground provided suggests.
Logged

Ulrich Mayring

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Black Sands
« Reply #13 on: February 20, 2007, 05:16:53 PM »
According to Wikipedia's climate tables these other 7 months should present the same challenges as Scotland or Ireland do in, say, December to February. But microclimate is something different, of course. If there are severe thunderstorms or such... anyway, good luck with the work.

Ulrich
Logged
Golf Course Exposé (300+ courses reviewed), Golf CV (how I keep track of 'em)

Edwin Roald

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Black Sands
« Reply #14 on: February 20, 2007, 09:05:44 PM »
I was fortunate enough to meet up with Sean and Rachel when they were up here and we went out to see the Black Sands site.

It is a half-hour drive from Reykjavik, and while the direct route from Keflavik international airport can not be travelled over a decent road, the trip from there will take an hour.

The site is near a village called Thorlakshofn, adjacent to an existing 18 hole course. The black sand is the main feature, of course. Within the reach of an 18 hole layout there is quite a lot of lava also, and a lot of the black sand has been blown over it, so while the soil profile may seem entirely sandy at a first glance, one will see that water gets trapped in places, forming ponds. This should give an interesting variety, should the designers choose to meander round the area in such a way.

This area is prone to extremely high winds in winter, so sand stabilization is a key word, or at least I'd think so.

The length of playing season up here is around 5 months. 6 months on a good course in a good year. You can play for longer, but that will be on temporary greens. Keep in mind when viewing climate statistics that the amount of sunlight up here in the winter is significantly less than further south, only four hours or so in late December. However, this will be 24 hours in late June.
Logged

Michael Christensen

Re:Black Sands
« Reply #15 on: February 20, 2007, 09:29:46 PM »
great pics and good information.......I will stop in when I am in St Andrews next month for the reverse tournament.

Logged

Mike Nuzzo

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Black Sands
« Reply #16 on: February 20, 2007, 10:10:40 PM »
Thanks Sean,
Iceland hasn't been at the tip of my tongue lately - though I imagine its great and I bet it would be quite the experience.  That last picture looked more like water erosion rather than wind.

Edwin - I hope to hear more about that project, among others.

Cheers
Logged
Thinking of Bob, Rihc, Bill, George, Neil, Dr. Childs, & Tiger.

Jim Nugent

Re:Black Sands
« Reply #17 on: February 21, 2007, 12:18:35 AM »
Edwin -- do people play all 24 hours in June?  
Logged

Edwin Roald

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Black Sands
« Reply #18 on: February 21, 2007, 12:51:43 PM »
Jim,

Yes, it can be done quite easily the second half of June and well into July. You will not see many people playing at night, but it sure helps being able to play full 18 holes after work on a weekday. Quite the luxury I'd say. That you could do in June and July.

The playing season in Iceland is not long (under decent conditions). However, I am interested in finding out how long the season is in daylight hours compared to other areas  ;D
Logged

Jason Hines

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Black Sands
« Reply #19 on: November 22, 2008, 06:49:17 PM »
Forgive me if this topic has been covered recently, but has any seen or heard anything regarding the progress of this project?  Recent times everywhere, Iceland as well, had me wondering how this project was doing?
Logged

Anthony Gray

Re: Black Sands
« Reply #20 on: November 22, 2008, 06:56:27 PM »


  This is another example to links golf being superior. Golfers crave land like this. Who would ever travel to Iceland if it was not for golfing land like this?

  Anthony

 
Logged

Ryan Farrow

Re: Black Sands
« Reply #21 on: November 22, 2008, 07:30:59 PM »
Anthony, Maybe on stabilized dunes. How superior would this links golf  be if the dunes have shifted and covered up the golf course a year after it was built?
Logged

Jeff Goldman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Black Sands
« Reply #22 on: November 22, 2008, 08:07:36 PM »
There was an article on the project in Golf Course Architecture magazine (the British one), with some neat pix too and an interesting description of the stabilization project by Patrick Andrews (Steve's design partner).  Hard to see it proceeding in this financial climate.

Also, Patrick showed me a video of him on the site, which looked really cool, but pointed up a potential problem.  I think it was taped in June, and he was bundled up pretty good, and there was one of those "wind mittens" on the mike. 
Logged
That was one hellacious beaver.

RJ_Daley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Black Sands
« Reply #23 on: November 22, 2008, 11:40:35 PM »
In light of their recent national economic collapse, I wouldn't guess that things are coming up roses in the black sand...

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/09/business/icebank.php
Logged
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.

Matt Varney

Re: Black Sands
« Reply #24 on: November 23, 2008, 12:32:33 AM »
I have a question -

Where can you acquire black sand like in these images for bunkers and waste areas that would still allow native fescue grasses to still grow?

Specifically does a supplier exist in the southeast?

Matt
Logged
Pages: [1] 2   Go Up