Course maintenance/construction as it once was - photos

[Thomas Dai]

Others may disagree if they wish but imo how courses have developed has a great deal to do with maintenance/construction practices, machinery etc.
Here are some now coloured old B&W photos of how some aspects of course maintenance/construction were conducted in decades past.
Enjoy.
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Baaaaaaa......and more baaaaaaa .......

[Joe Hancock]

Very cool! Thanks for this....

[David Harshbarger]

I assume many of tractors pre-date the pneumatic tire, explaining the studded wheels.  Nice bonus from those would be the aeration effect.


Interesting that the two steam shovel photos appear to show the exact same make of steam shovel, but not the exact same steam shovel. 


I love seeing the horses and sheep working along with the men.  Having lived with horses now for about 25 years, I can happily attest to the fact that they are wonderful, smart, caring, animals.  (Ponies are a different story ;-). Of the many things lost in our modern world, the connectedness to animals has got to be up there. 


What a lot of hard work went into making these courses.  And what a lot of workers.  Wow.

[Jaeger Kovich]

TD - Great photos! Especially love the pic of the green at Muirfield under construction. Very neat. Happy new year!

[Derek_Duncan]

Love these photos Thomas.


Your first point is absolutely true, that construction and maintenance methods of different eras influenced architecture.


Just one example, as David points out above, is the steam shovel. In the podcast I did with Kye Goalby, he talked about the way those shovel buckets were positioned outward and the mechanism moved them upward -- operators scooped earth low to high.
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[/size]He said he found it difficult to replicate with current equipment, but that the results of that type of movement were evident in the shaping of many Langford courses, and presumably others too. It produced a certain steepness and piling of earth unique to the machinery.

[David Harshbarger]

Love these photos Thomas.


Your first point is absolutely true, that construction and maintenance methods of different eras influenced architecture.


Just one example, as David points out above, is the steam shovel. In the podcast I did with Kye Goalby, he talked about the way those shovel buckets were positioned outward and the mechanism moved them upward -- operators scooped earth low to high.

He said he found it difficult to replicate with current equipment, but that the results of that type of movement were evident in the shaping of many Langford courses, and presumably others too. It produced a certain steepness and piling of earth unique to the machinery.

[Derek_Duncan]

Love these photos Thomas.


Your first point is absolutely true, that construction and maintenance methods of different eras influenced architecture.


Just one example, as David points out above, is the steam shovel. In the podcast I did with Kye Goalby, he talked about the way those shovel buckets were positioned outward and the mechanism moved them upward -- operators scooped earth low to high.

He said he found it difficult to replicate with current equipment, but that the results of that type of movement were evident in the shaping of many Langford courses, and presumably others too. It produced a certain steepness and piling of earth unique to the machinery.

Thanks David. That resizing bug on this forum really needs to be fixed.

[David Harshbarger]

Love these photos Thomas.


Your first point is absolutely true, that construction and maintenance methods of different eras influenced architecture.


Just one example, as David points out above, is the steam shovel. In the podcast I did with Kye Goalby, he talked about the way those shovel buckets were positioned outward and the mechanism moved them upward -- operators scooped earth low to high.

He said he found it difficult to replicate with current equipment, but that the results of that type of movement were evident in the shaping of many Langford courses, and presumably others too. It produced a certain steepness and piling of earth unique to the machinery.

Derek's comments above at a readable size.  (The post editor is a little wonky.)


Interesting point.

30 minutes on google convinced me that the cable shovel is alive and well, but sized for making golf courses for titans.  The surface mining industry makes good use of them still.

But here is an interesting video showing how a CAT excavator can have operate with the shovel attached for forward digging.  This is useful, say, for prying up materials, digging under pipes, moving material away from pipes, and depositing fill up against foundations. 

Maybe this mode would also get the Langford & Moreau shaping mentioned by Derek.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW0FsdUHh-k

[David Harshbarger]

On this screen:



Click the button with the [ arrow ] on the far right of the lower row, above where the tool-tip says Toggle View.  This appears to turn off the auto formatting when you paste into the editor.  You'll notice that the icon is blue.  When you click it, the frame of the editor will get a blue border.  Then, you can paste in content without the sizing weirdness. 

It appears that the editor is in default "auto-format" mode.  If it could be changed to be in default "text" mode, I think that would alleviate this headache.

[Thomas Dai]

A look at some steam shovel era green complexes appears to reveal how the machines may have operated. Not just scooping earth low to high and the steep sidedness of the features produced but how the jib would spin on its axis and dig in a semi-circular manner and then track forward a few yards and repeat the process such that there are often two or more slight capes and bays along the edge of green. Or alternatively how the machine would track to/fro and scoop more of a straight sided trench. Not a very subtle process I suspect.
Some other aspects to consider about steam shovels include mob-demob at site, operational ground conditions, the number of people needed to operate one, the need to supply coal/wood and water to power it, the carts and handlers needed if excavated materials are to be moved, the horses needed to pull the carts and the forage and water for the horses. Quite a logistical operation.
When I visited Woodhall Spa a few months ago and during a previous walkabout visit there too, I did wonder if steam shovels had maybe been used there given how many steep sided trench style bunkers there on the course. Worth noting in this respect is that the UKs major manufacturer of steam shovels during the first half of the 20th century was Rustons, who were based just up the road from Woodhall in Lincoln.
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[Ryan Van Culin]

That green at Sitwell looks out of this world. I've heard the name before, but haven't found any good info on it. I've heard King-Collins are planning to do a Sitwell-style green at Landmand.

[David Harshbarger]

That green at Sitwell looks out of this world. I've heard the name before, but haven't found any good info on it. I've heard King-Collins are planning to do a Sitwell-style green at Landmand.

Mackenzie's famous Sitwell  Park Greens: Now with Before an After Photos

[David Harshbarger]

Ryan, in addition to good ol' google, the search function on the site "works" but it takes some perseverance to wade through the results. 

Here's an interactive map with some of the site content curated for easier lookup.  The thread I just posted the link to was from the content curated on that interactive map.

[Ryan Van Culin]

Thanks for the assist, David!

[David Harshbarger]

Thanks for the assist, David!