Scott:
This is all I can give you for now.
A few questions about Tom Doak's Sandglass course:
In general, our client hasn't wanted us to talk about what we are building out there until it is done, and I like that approach. I'd rather hear what people have to say about one of my new courses, than tell them what to think, but most clients want to flood the zone with positive p.r. Sandglass is going to open up some interesting and important conversations at some point; all I will say for now is that it's not going to be like its neighbors, because the site is different and the goal is different.
Did they use any of Peter Flory's LIDAR work, that they used at Lido, to build holes at Sandglass? Why or why not?
Peter is not involved in the project. Brian Zager was actually the one who turned Peter's computer model into a digital topo map, and I was interested enough in what came out of a GPS bulldozer that I decided to experiment to create a course on a dead flat site. We have tried just about every different variation of using available LIDAR data to build golf holes.
Is there other sites with sand in this part of Florida? (yes, besides The Park)
A lot of Florida is sandy -- not as clean and high-perking sand as at Sand Valley or Sand Hills, but sandy enough to build out of and not topsoil over. [Streamsong, on the other hand, is maybe the freest-draining sand I've ever worked on, to the point that it was hard to keep enough moisture in it to grow grass. Sandglass isn't like that. The projects next door are on very similar soils.
Is a sandy flat site better or worse than a clay or dirt site with natural features for a golf course in Florida?? (yes, I know, there are not that many natural, appealing features in Florida.
The problem with most sites in Florida is that when you dig a hole three or four feet deep you hit water, so you have to create lots of ponds to create fill to make interesting contours on top of the flat ground. At Sandglass, the client looked hard for a site that had no wetlands and was further above the water table, so that we could cut and fill without creating ponds that are in play. That's what attracted me to the site.