Part II
BUNKERS AND MOTHER NATURE
The most dramatic impact Mother Nature has on bunkers is in the quality of the sand. In time, all bunker sand becomes contaminated. Foreign particles are introduced from several sources. The major contributors being soil erosion from bunker faces and rainwater run off from surrounding areas. Decaying leaves, twigs, acorns and grass clippings have an impact as well. Poorly drained bunkers, which hold standing water, attract more debris and thus increase contamination.
Contaminated sand becomes inconsistent from bunker to bunker, depending on the quantity and makeup of the contaminants. Most often, contaminants bind with the sand and produce a hardened playing surface.
Contamination is inevitable but it can be slowed. Tillinghast designed the golf course with grass faced bunkers. This design technique aided playability and greatly reduced the soil contaminants in the sand. In addition, Tillinghast built subtle berms around the bunkers to keep rainwater runoff from entering the traps. Over time, weather and foot traffic wore these berms down so that they became indistinguishable.
Time and maintenance practices have contributed to the changing of bunker design. Turf grass encroachment into bunker areas, changing mowing patterns and golfer wear and tear has changed bunker shape.
ACTUAL vs. EXPECTED RESULTS
The restored bunkers at Golden Valley have far exceed the original expectations of the Board of Directors, Classic Golf Course Architect Ron Forse, contractor Jeff Hartman, golf course staff, and the vast majority of the Golden Valley members. At the onset of the project we had an idea as to how we expected a restored A.W. Tillinghast bunker to appear. This idea was formed by old photographs of some bunkers that were taken before the original Tillinghast design was altered. These photographs are one-dimensional and were taken of only a few of the bunkers on the course. They were incapable of displaying the grandeur exposed when the bunkers on hole #1 were completed last September. It was then, standing looking at what Tillinghast had created some 73 years ago that we knew the Bunker Restoration Project was going to surpass our expectations.
A few old photographs and the expertise of one of the finest classic golf course architects in the country could not accurately predict how each bunker was to unfold. Each and every bunker was a story in itself. Architect Ron Forse would diagram the outline of each bunker to be restored using the topography of the land and his in-depth knowledge of A.W. Tillinghast’s style. Contractor Jeff Hartman would then open the ground and search for signs of the original bunker layout. It became clear from the layers of dirt and sand that over the years there have been three separate bunker projects that have altered the original design. In every case Hartman was able to find a layer of rich yellow sand used by Tillinghast in 1926 when he constructed the original bunkers. Hartman followed this sand, ignoring any preconceived ideas as to the bunker shape and excavated each bunker to the exact size and depth of the original bunkers. The shape and depth of many of the bunkers were easily predicted. However, a good number of the bunkers were complete surprises. Many had been moved several feet, some were far deeper than originally thought, others were much closer to the green, in one case even several feet into a green. Throughout the project the mastery of A.W. Tillinghast was not questioned. Each bunker was restored as it was when it was originally constructed.
ACCURACY OF RESTORATION EFFORTS
At the onset of the Bunker Restoration Project we had but a few old photographs showing the original Tillinghast bunkers. In October of 1998 we were able to obtain a 1938 aerial photograph of the entire golf course which provided a good deal more information. The aerial photo gave us a very good reference as to the actual footprints of each bunker on the course but because the picture was taken at a high altitude it could not accurately depict elevations. We could not accurately determine bunker depths and mound heights. For these critical measurements we relied on the expertise of contractor Jeff Hartman.
Hartman approached each bunker more as an archeologist than an earthmover. He tediously removed earth a few inches at a time searching for the bottom of the original Tillinghast bunkers. The first bunkers to be restored were around the first green. Upon opening the bunkers Hartman immediately found the evidence of previous bunkers projects. Two separate layers of soil and sand were found on top of a layer of yellow sand that was identified as the sand used by A.W. Tillinghast in 1926. The fact that earlier bunker projects had not disturbed the original sand bottoms proved to be extremely fortunate. Hartman was able to follow this yellow sand to establish the exact outline of each Tillinghast bunker. The newly discovered outline was always very similar to what was expected because of knowledge gained from the aerial photograph. The few surprises occurred when determining the exact depth of the original bunkers. We knew from the old photographs that some of the original bunkers were deep but the exact depth of each bunker was a mystery until the original bottom was revealed. In nearly every bunker we were able to determine the original size, shape and depth and restore them as they appeared when Tillinghast crafted the golf course years ago.
QUALITY OF WORK PERFORMED
The Green & Grounds Committee and Board of Directors are very happy with the quality of work performed by both Classic Golf Course architect Ron Forse and Construction Contractor Jeff Hartman.
Ron Forse is well known in the golf architect arena as a master with classic golf courses. He is presently working on three Tillinghast golf courses around the country. He has been retained by the Newport Country Club (one of Tillinghast’s finest) which is one of the five original founding clubs of the USGA. Ron is a frequent contributor, as well as being the subject for numerous articles in golf course trade journals.
Hartman Construction is a local firm, which has being doing work at the Golden Valley Country Club for many years. Jeff Hartman’s reputation is rapidly growing as evidenced by the amount of work he is forced to turn down from many out of town golf courses. Ron Forse, who has worked with countless contractors around the country, says that the quality of work done on the Golden Valley Bunker Restoration Project by Hartman Construction is the finest he has witnessed anywhere. Considering the source this is high praise indeed.
News of the fine work being done at the Golden Valley Country Club permeated the golf community and before long Ron Forse was receiving many calls from other Minnesota golf courses. Last September a delegation from Rochester Golf and Country Club toured the newly restored bunkers. Rochester is the only other Tillinghast golf course in Minnesota. Rochester was so impressed they immediately began a dialog with both Forse and Hartman on a possible bunker project of their own.
Understanding the qualifications of both Forse and Hartman it is still the end result, which speaks most highly of the quality of work done. We feel the members of the Golden Valley Country Club received an extremely high quality bunker restoration job that far exceeded our expectations.