[Jeff Blume]

Some neat aerial videos of the Texas A&M Golf Course renovation.  The course opens next week (Friday).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o35OhsWbagw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o35OhsWbagw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzVJDB8FycI

[urlhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Iz5QijYXyU][/url]

[Randy Thompson]

Looks great Jeff, Congrats!

[Jeff_Brauer]

Looks great to me.  Didn't realize it was going to have as much of the Scottish pot bunker look as it appears from the air!  Just got an invite for the Ewing Turf Day down there, and looks like I need to make the trip.

[Jason Connor]

I've played that course 100+ times in the mid 90s, how'd you find the room to add three holes and a bigger range?

Did you use some of the land to the north of what was #1?  Where are the 3 'agronomy test holes' (on about what old holes)

And looks great! Thanks for sharing

[Jeff Blume]

Jeff,

It would be good to see you on November 5th.  I think the Ewing event will be a lot of fun.  Did you notice a few "clusters" of bunkers on the aerials  ?

Jason,

The overall site for the golf course is 178 acres.  We expanded the course to the north (hole #18 is north of the location of old #1), and the research area (now 2 holes due to parking lot expansion) is located on the site of old #10 and west of old #8 green.

They had six inches of rain over the weekend, but the course held up pretty well and they are still on schedule to open.  If that had happened during construction, then we would have been talking about opening next year.

[Steve Lang]

   How many acres of pond?  Doe everything drain into the ponds?

[Jeff_Brauer]

I noticed, but thought they looked more Scottish so they are okay.

Its an inside joke.  Back when Jeff worked with me, he did many of the plans for Champions Run in Omaha.  For variety, I had sketched in a cluster of bunkers by a green to break up the standard look.  From memory, I then went to Singapore for a week and when I came back, Jeff had added them to several other greens and a few fairways to boot.

I borrowed a line I heard from Jim Colbert about the TPC greens.  Jim was on the Tour players committee that worked with Pete, and he had told him "That first green, with the hump in the middle was fine.  The problem is, you liked is so well, you did it 17 more times!"  I had the same feeling about the cluster bunkers showing up more than once or twice.

I will try to alter my schedule to make the event at TAMU.  Got trips to MN, outlying Texas and maybe China to accomplish in that general time frame.  Then I would be on the "Blume Trail" having just played Grand Pines a few short weeks ago.....

[Jeff Blume]

Steve,

There are about 8 to 8.5 acres of lakes.  The vast majority of the site drains toward the existing creek and exits the site to the southeast (near old #4 green if you are familiar with the course).  We expanded two of the lakes and created the largest one by installing a new weir structure that you can see in some of the videos.  That new lake is about 3.5 acres.

[Jeff Blume]

Jeff,

One interesting note on the bunkers.  Grand Pines has more surface area of sand than A&M does by a fairly wide margin, even though there are 158 bunkers on the A&M course.  On the original plan I had a little over 200 bunkers and still couldn't get near the over 300 at NGLA.  Oh well, something tells me that 158 will be a personal record that I will never get near again.

[Mickey Boland]

Looks great.  Thanks for the continuing updates.  Hard to believe it's the same place I started playing almost 40 years ago.  Look forward to seeing it a couple of times in the next month or so.  Might get a chance to play the weekend of the Miss. St. game.  Thanks again. 

[Sam Morrow]

Was the tree on 17 that ate balls lost in the redo?

[Jeff Blume]

Sam,

I think you might be thinking of the large Cottonwood on #15 (although it may have been #17 at one time, lots of routing changes over the years).  To answer your question, that tree is gone.  It was right on the centerline of the new #17.  Too bad to lose it.

[Sam Morrow]

Sam,

I think you might be thinking of the large Cottonwood on #15 (although it may have been #17 at one time, lots of routing changes over the years).  To answer your question, that tree is gone.  It was right on the centerline of the new #17.  Too bad to lose it.

I know people who worked the crew there in school and said they'd constantly find balls lodged in the trunk.

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