PART TWOTHE NEW TEES
Tees on any golf course should be positioned to serve the needs of all players including the low handicap, the average player as well as beginners or junior players. All of these teeing grounds are important, however, since the majority of the players will play from the middle tees it is our intent to build the middle tees larger so they can withstand the higher play demands. The back tee is important, even though only five to ten percent of the players will play from these tees, as the courses’ reputation will be judged from this location. However, the back tee and the forward tee will be the smallest in size because they receive less play.
All tees will be slightly elevated to provide a view of the landing area down range. In no instance will the forward tees block the view of the landing area from the tees behind; this is simply bad design and will not occur on the new course. The shape of the new tees will be constructed in a classic natural random form.
“This placing of the tee shot, if not overdone, is one of the best features of modern golf course construction work.
In making the different teeing grounds it will be possible to gain a little extra variety by playing the tee shot at different angles to the course; thus a teeing ground made at some thirty yards or so to the right or left of the one in front will very likely create additional interest in the round, and be better than one made exactly behind it.”
~ Harry S. Colt
The new tees will be shaped out of native material with a five inch layer of clean sand (tee top) being installed over a perforated tile line dug into the tee edge. The tee top and subgrade will slope approximately 1% as instructed by the golf course designer to ensure proper drainage. This will provide a consistent playing surface and allow excess water to exit the tee top.
THE NEW GREENS As previously discussed, the putting surfaces are the most important element on the golf course and are THE element most players will value when judging the worth of the golf holes. There are no great golf courses that have poorly designed greens complexes. It is for this reason I have chosen to utilize classic design forms that will challenge every type of player. But with modern green speeds it is important that we build putting surfaces that are not only interesting but have multiple hole locations with a slope at no more than 2.8 % to maximize the playable areas of the greens. Construction of the new greens must include engineered sand materials that can provide the best year round playing conditions. Having the high quality infrastructure in the new greens cannot be overstated.
The motif of the new greens should be similar to greens built during the ‘Golden-Age’ of golf course architecture. These types of greens have interesting shapes and when the proper slopes are constructed, the new greens will provide a plethora of interesting corner hole locations.
THE NEW BUNKERSThe process of placing bunkers is tantamount to designing a quality golf course. Each hole must be carefully studied and bunkers placed in thought provoking locations to create an interesting playing strategy. From our study of the existing Maryvale Golf Course we know that the bunkers are in very poor condition, many of which could be repositioned or eliminated to provide increased enjoyment of the holes for all level of players. The details for the new locations are found on the individual hole drawings which follows this narrative.
“Most golfers have an entirely erroneous view of the real object of hazards. The majority of them simply look upon hazards as a means of punishing a bad shot, when their real object is to make the game more interesting.
A hazard placed in the exact position where a player would naturally go is frequently the most interesting situation, as then a special effort is needed to get over or avoid it.”
The motif proposed for the new bunkers has classic sand faces with bold forms. The new bunkers will have interesting forms and include some noses that will protrude into the bunkers randomly. These bunkers were skillfully utilized by AW Tillinghast, George C. Thomas and golden-age architects. Their courses include Winged Foot, Baltusrol, San Francisco Golf Club, Riviera and Los Angles Country Club. It is important to note that the new bunkers will have a state-of-the-art liners and beautiful white sand. See attached sketch for hole #13 for Maryvale.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0eyy52ih9s867qx/mvl%20narrative.docx?dl=0