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intent and then execute the work
with greater accuracy.”
John Fought, ASGCA, also
referred to the Tufts Archive when
restoring the original Donald Ross
design at
Pine Needles CC
in
North Carolina. “We utilized old
aerial photography, Ross’s concept
plan and many photos from the
original construction,” says Fought.
“These materials help the current
generation understand the changes
that have occurred, both manmade
and through natural evolution.”
And for his ongoing work at
Rosedale in Toronto, Fought has
transposed the course as depicted
in a 1939 aerial over a plan of the
existing golf course.
Aerial photography can be
invaluable. “At the start of our work
at
River Vale CC
in New Jersey, the
club provided several high quality
aerial photographs that helped us to
pinpoint the ‘moment in time’ that
we wanted to embrace relative to the
bunker styling,” says Robert McNeil,
ASGCA. “This photography provided
some clarity and comparative
information relative to the classic
style of 1944 versus the ‘saucers’
created in the 1960s.
“What this photography also
presented was the original mow
lines on the golf course as well as
several bunkers that had been lost
or moved over the years. From this
we were able to scale the bunker size
and perimeters, locate the original
fairway mow lines in the field and
develop a reasonable and effective
tree management program.”
McNeil continues: “One of the most
important foundational elements
of restoration is to establish a
respectful understanding of what it
is you are attempting to restore. This
is sometimes challenging as each
golf course evolves from its original
design, strategies and style.
“It is common for a greens
committee or chairperson to boldly
state ‘we want all the bunkers exactly
like they were when the course
was originally built in 1900-and-
something.’ This is where the architect
can guide the research and develop
restorative directives that are sensible,
reflect the true character of the
golf course and embrace historical
elements and characteristics that fit
into the current layout and demands
of the game.”
•
“On the third hole (below) you can see
the Biarritz and the horseshoe-shaped
bunker around it. For resort play, as the
bunker goes all the way round, a forced
carry on a 220-yard hole is pretty tough.
So we took some artistic license and put
in Biarritz bunkering like we’d seen it
at other courses, which is left and right,
front and back. These are the kind of
decisions we had to make.”
“At the top of the photo (above) is the
twelfth hole, and to the right of the ‘s’
of ‘Yds’ is a bunker, with the sand and
the brow visible. I restored that bunker
as part of my work there. Further down
the fairway there’s a section that looks
like tall grass, or a blip if you will on
the left hand side. That’s where the hell
bunker would have been. Between
there and the green there’s a creek,
and you can see where the fairway
comes down to a point. We restored
the creek and put sand back into the
hell bunker. These are the kind of
things we were able to pick up thanks
to the photograph.”
“The 18th green (above) has the
horseshoe contour in it, which Raynor
and McDonald always put in their short
hole. So when I built the 18th green
back as it was, I built a remnant of it as I
didn’t have the room to go all the way to
the creek anymore. It’s a brow and it’s in
the middle of the green, and the first year
they held the Greenbrier Classic there
people were saying ‘What the hell is
this? It’s three feet high!’ We reintroduced
it to keep it fun for the resort golfer, but
when the tour came they asked whether
to keep it, and I said ‘only if you want to
be accurate!’ Now it’s one of the most
talked about holes on the PGA Tour.”