[Randy Thompson]

We have five holes seeded in Santa Martina and thought some might find interesting some photos of this stage of construction and then later on post some photos after opening sometime in November…hopefully! The tenth hole is a medium length par four, sharp dogleg left.

The teeīs stair step down the hillside. There is room to go further back but you continue going higher so there is a compensation effect and for now I felt no need to go further. The property is located about 4,000 feet above sea level so well struck shots are traveling further due to the high elevation and therefore the total yardage is long from the back tee. I believe we will come in around 3800 yards.


This photo is taken from the ladies tee, there are two bunkers to the right of the landing area, the first maybe grass or sand and the second will be sand for sure. The small tree will be transplanted in the next month. The rocks in the back ground are an overflow creek and lake interconnect drainage way that should be dry eight months of the years and have a small current four months of the year.  The bunker on the left frames the landing and creates a risk reward for shot for low handicappers that desire to cut the corner. It will take a 250 drive on the fly to do so but the slope after the bunker is downhill and towards the middle of the fairway.


This photo is taken from just outside the right bunkers in area that will be seeded with tall fescues and this area will be one of the few areas where we will also add a few grouping of native trees. The green is visible in the background and the shade to the right is a bunker. The photo captures some of the natural gradual movement of the property we were able to retain.


If you donīt carry the left bunker, you will be faced with this deep bunker penal recovery shot. The bunker is at least ten feet deep and blind to the green surface. How bout them ANDES, what a pleasure for a background!


Another view of the landing area bunker right with the fescues behind them to create a natural separation between this hole and hole nine which runs parallel.

Another view of the bunker left

This photo was taken from the landing area about one hundred and fifty yards out. The green is in the middle of the photo and the shadow is a bunker protecting the right third of the green. I think you could do just about anything in relation to the green and it surrounding and be ok with this back ground. There is no background horizon to aid in perception but there is a big lake in back of the green but hopefully out of play for most. The greens has gentle movement the most gentle of the back nine.

A close up of the bunker wall which will need to be sodded.

A view from the far right side of the hole looking towards the bunker. The idea is not to have an outside established grass edge on the bunker. The bunker ends at the over flow creek and the sand will just die out and spill into the creek.

                                                                                             Hole 11
The eleventh hole is a long par five close to six hundred yards, straight away

The tee shot drop to a fairly open landing area  near the start of the trees. There are no bunkers but you will find to the right,  the one lake incorporated into the back nine design for the necessity of a water reservoir.  The landing also opens to the left a little not shown in the photo.

This is a view of the rest of the hole.  The bridge shot is uphill as is the rest of the hole to a natural plateau where the green is set.  The second landing area is defined and guarded by three bunkers,   which cross the fairways in a diagonal manner. Left bunker is deep and will be penal in nature but not as penal as hole number ten. You have a lot of land between the green and this bunker and also represent the best avenue for attacking the pin. Have not decided if the two pot bunkers will be sand or grass or sand and grass, I like to wait till the last minute and try to feel these decisions. The green is protected  in the front by yet another deep bunker, the last shadow in the photo. Long hitter will be able to roll the ball onto the green but only by carrying the bunker to the left, the natural slope will carry the ball onto the surface if hit correctly but they will be few and far in between. The fairway is designed to circular the entire green.


A closer look at the bunker on the left and the diagonial placement of the other two bunekrs


laying up short


plenty of area after the bunker left

[Tim Leahy]

The surrounding area looks like the California foothills or Malibu. Do they have the golf population to support this or is this a personal course for some rich guys?

[Randy Thompson]

Tim,
Yes they do because it is close to Santiago, fifteen to twenty minutes. The have had nine open for about four years and have 700 golfing members and the owner wants to take it up to 2,000 now that he will have 18. I think he is crazy but if they get to 2,000 they will pressure him for eighteen more and there is some prime time land adjacent and they own it and canīt put houses on it because its above the 1,000 meter elevation and zooning laws prohibit that.

[Adrian_Stiff]

Has a nice feel about it Randy.

[Randy Thompson]

Thanks Adrian, will post more later!

[Kris Shreiner]

Randy,

Nice property!You've routed some enticing holes there, from my take. What is that soil composition of the darker variety?

You seem to take the bunkering quite seriously and look to be putting some teeth into them for the players to contend with. In the Fall with some snow on the peaks, those holes should really have some visual juice.

How long is the season there and what are your impressions of Chile in general? I'm very intrigued by the golf in South America, even though I know there are significant challenges and financial limitaions due to the weak local economy in many places.

Thanks in advance for your insights!
Kris

[Randy Thompson]

Kris,
We may have the first snow this weekend in the mountains but its over due for sure and usually last six months! Visual juice, I like that, first time I have heard it, itīs better than eye candy!! Season is year round, this particular project closes about five to seven days because of snow but it never last more than two days. The soil is topsoil and there isnīt much and with a very high clay content, we cap about three to four inches and it still has a lot of rocks in it. The economy is strong here and in Argentina, Peru and Columbia in this moment. The problem is lack of golfers and lack of public facilities or driving ranges to develope future golfers. The housing market and demand for more secured, gated communities are keeping the market a float. Security first and second in an artistic natursl setting. This is the only project I know of in the last twenty years that does not have residential associated or as the primary buisness. The sucess is the proximity of a major city, Santiago.

The city of Santiago sits down in a big hole, the view is from behind the green of seventeen

[Jim Johnson]

Thanks for posting Randy.
It's always interesting to see a new course. It must be an exciting time for you.

Curious what the population of Santiago is?

[Randy Thompson]

Three million I think!

[Kris Shreiner]

Randy,

Thanks for the quick feedback!

Do they have any caddie courses there, and if so, what is that culture like? As was the case in Scotland and here in the US, Argentina has had caddies succeed and grow opportunites for those of modest means to find golf. The administrative bodies of golf generally have no interest in this avenue,as it can't deliver them a quick profit center, but I believe it is pivotal to healthy, sustained growth of the game, worldwide. Those who find golf,especially youth, who through caddying, earn money and gain access, often develop an uncommon level of passion for the game and the desire to share it with others that lasts a lifetime.

Cheers,
Kris

[Randy Thompson]

Kris,
No caddy courses but they get playing times and a lot of well organized tournaments, they are respected and treated well. Most of the professionals coming out of South America come from a very modest background and are introduced to the game through caddying. Itīs great for golf and nice to see not everything is totally controlled by the all mighty dollar. At least directly!

[Ian_L]

Looks great, Randy! I will send you a PM soon.

Santiago has 6-7 million people, depending on the boundaries you choose.

[Derek Dirksen]

Looks awesome.  Keep up the good work!

[Kris Shreiner]

Randy,

I'm sorry, I worded my question poorly. When I say "caddie courses," I mean courses that offer caddies, not courses specifically for caddies, my bad.  You mention they are well-treated, so I assume there are facilities that offer caddies. I don't mean to be a pest on this topic, but I'm trying to gather info on the state of caddie golf in as many countries as possible and countries such as Chile have great promise, as do many in South America, if proper support is provided to establish/ improve them where financially viable.

I'll IM you my details and we can have a chat if that's o.k. with you.

Cheers,
Kris

[Randy Thompson]

Ian,
Your probably right, I hear Chile has a population of like 13 million and Santiago three million but the greater Santiago area six to seven million. The same happens in Argentina with Buenos Aires, they say four million but if you count the surroundings 11 million.

Kris,
I feel like the stupid one sorry! Caddying is alive and strong. Carts arrived around 1998. None of the clubs in Santiago allow carts for example. 1998 is when they started doing closed neighborhoods and residential developments hence the arrival of carts. The name of Santa Martina is Santa Martina Golf & Nature Club and currently no carts are allowed but the owner has put me on notice, that due to member pressure we will be putting in cart paths after the construction, gradually on the entire eighteen. He asked me to make sure that when building this back nine to keep this in mind and leave the potential path marked but I forgot. I will engage in a full scale war against future paths when the time comes.

[Kris Shreiner]

Randy,

Thanks for the caddie overview. With that epic ground, cart pathes certainly could detract from it. Sometimes, we must help people from hurting themselves. The owner sounds like he needs enlightenment...I'm sure you'll provide it!

Cheers,
Kris

[Randy Thompson]

                                            Hole 7-Par 3

From the teeing area before construction


Present


The teeing area--stair steping down--220 from the back and room to go another thirty


Out of bounds to the right of the green, the original rock wall remains seperating properties and will be rebuilt during the up coming winter months.


Pot bunker is about five feet deep and will be grass and the back pot is about four feet deep and will be sand.
Green is three levels and two swales running through creating the different levels and continues outside the green and ends in a large natural swale not shown in the photo

[Derek Dirksen]

Nice work, good looking par 3.  fits in there really nice

[Bradley Anderson]

Whenever I see these pictures of golf courses in various stages of grow-in I am amazed at how the hole changes when the grass emerges. I mean you really can't see the golf hole until it is green.

Those of us who are non-architects need to realize that the architect of a new course has already committed to the contours long before he can really see them in their true finished look and form. Once the sprinklers are installed the grades are pretty much set and you can't change any of that without spending a lot of money. In some cases the architect is committed even before the sprinklers are in - where the layer of soil below the topsoil is shaped before the topsoil is respread, and then the irrigation is installed.

The whole point is, wehn looking at these construction and grow in photos you realize that these guys know what they are doing.

[RJ_Daley]

I've been doing google aerial tourism of Chile often.    It seems obvious for geographical reasons to be the California of South America.  One sees the arid area of Chile's north and one can imagine a Palm Springs like area, even close to the Pacific; so you could sort of have a Cabo San Lucas type of atmosphere.  Then as you go south, one can easily see Monterey like conditions.  Or inland, a Napa Valley sort of region.  Of course it is all dependent on available water.  I like Randy's positioning down there and hope he continues to be a go-to archie as it seems he has put his faith and energy in spreading the game in S.A.  Randy, are you the Johnny Appleseed or Juan qui sembra las semillas manzanas de golf. 

[Bill_McBride]

Dick, the "California" mention is accurate.  We spent four days there in January 2008 and five in Buenos Aires.  Santiago is to Los Angeles as BA is to Paris!

Randy, I was surprised to see that the course is at 4,000 feet.  I didn't feel that Santiago was that much above sea level but the average elevation is 638 meters = 2108 feet.  That 20 minutes to the club is very uphill!

The Andes and valley backgrounds are very good.  The holes look great.  Is there much similarity to the first nine?  Did you build the front side?

Warning - OT travel advisory!

Americans should really consider Chile and Argentina for winter vacations.  We didn't take golf clubs but there is a lot to see.  We visited Valparaiso (loved the funiculars!) and Isla Negre (home of Chilean poet and diplomat Pablo Neruda) for day trips to the coast.  Food and wine were inexpensive and excellent.

[Randy Thompson]

RJ,
Google unlike people...doesnīt lie! Yes, Chile has several areas and similarities to California and so many potential beautiful site for golf development. Water is defiintely a limiting factor but now with the new paspalms grass developments, a closer reality.

Bill,
You should work for the clhilean tourism office. Long story on the building of the first nine but I can give you a shorter version. At the time I only had one shaper. We did the driving range first and I brought a shaper from the US. The owner was terrible and always interfering and it took eight months of my time to coordinate the construction of the practice range in what should have been two months. The shaper was a low class individual and after two week I knew he was not the correct person but he buddied up to the owner. He told the owner he could do everything and there was no need to pay us as project coordinator. I got tired of all the problems and took the job as director of Golf with Four Seasons in Carmelo. In a yearīs time they spent over a million dollars and had dirt piled everywhere but nothing finished or shaped or anythng close to a golf hole. The shaper took them for a ride and then tried suing them to see if he could get some more milk from the cow. Two days after I basicly resigned this shaper posted a web site of, Meet the Architect of Santa Martina with a big picture of himself. He told the owner he did all the shaping changes at Augusta and Pebble Beach and the owner would eat it up. nice marriage. Anyways, I still had a year left on my contract in Carmelo when they found out that they were working with a dirt bag. So a guy that had worked for me in the construction of Buenos Aires Golf and another course here in Santiago came in and finished the construction and I put our shaper. The two nines will be completly different but that doesnīt bother me. The first nine is super short and pretty easy, the second nine is long and the bunkers more challenging. Both nines will be similar in greens movement but thats about it. The second nine will be more natural and with less shaping and less water.

[Bill_McBride]

RJ,
Google unlike people...doesnīt lie! Yes, Chile has several areas and similarities to California and so many potential beautiful site for golf development. Water is defiintely a limiting factor but now with the new paspalms grass developments, a closer reality.

Bill,
You should work for the clhilean tourism office. Long story on the building of the first nine but I can give you a shorter version. At the time I only had one shaper. We did the driving range first and I brought a shaper from the US. The owner was terrible and always interfering and it took eight months of my time to coordinate the construction of the practice range in what should have been two months. The shaper was a low class individual and after two week I knew he was not the correct person but he buddied up to the owner. He told the owner he could do everything and there was no need to pay us as project coordinator. I got tired of all the problems and took the job as director of Golf with Four Seasons in Carmelo. In a yearīs time they spent over a million dollars and had dirt piled everywhere but nothing finished or shaped or anythng close to a golf hole. The shaper took them for a ride and then tried suing them to see if he could get some more milk from the cow. Two days after I basicly resigned this shaper posted a web site of, Meet the Architect of Santa Martina with a big picture of himself. He told the owner he did all the shaping changes at Augusta and Pebble Beach and the owner would eat it up. nice marriage. Anyways, I still had a year left on my contract in Carmelo when they found out that they were working with a dirt bag. So a guy that had worked for me in the construction of Buenos Aires Golf and another course here in Santiago came in and finished the construction and I put our shaper. The two nines will be completly different but that doesnīt bother me. The first nine is super short and pretty easy, the second nine is long and the bunkers more challenging. Both nines will be similar in greens movement but thats about it. The second nine will be more natural and with less shaping and less water.

I'm at heart a very optimistic person, so here's my forecast of what's going to happen:

Once your new nine is open the wealthy of Santiago will flock to join the club.  Soon they will tell the owner, why do we have to play this lousy front nine?  Enough will whine and threaten that the owner will act rationally, buy the adjacent property and have you build a new nine more to the standards of your back nine.  The two nines will be the "Championship Course at Santa Martina" and the old nine will be played by children, mistresses and maybe unpleasant resort guests.

Congratulations in advance!

[Randy Thompson]

or put some teeth in the front nine and still add eighteen more. One things is good, I have not heard a word from ownership this nine,,nothing like a million dollar lesson

[Bill_McBride]

LOL, I thought maybe you had a new owner!

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