Hanse On Architecture's Future & TPC Boston's 12th And 13th

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Golf.com's Dylan Dethier looks at Gil Hanse's rise (thanks for the link PG), which started in large part at the TPC Boston. Host of this week's Dell Technologies playoff event again, the course has been a long-term redesign effort with the PGA Tour and superintendent Tom Brodeur's team.

The transformation of the course into a New England-vibe course, rock walls and quirk included, has helped give this event much character. Hanse offered this on the future of design, inspired in part by the example he hopes to have set at TPC Boston.

"The future of golf is fun," he said, noting the accessibility of the short course he just completed at Pinehurst as an example. "Golf is such a difficult game that whatever we can do to make someone's first interaction with the game fun and positive is going to be a win. Of any sport, golf has the best field and the best landscapes, and those selling points will always resonate with people. The allure of being outside and spending time with people is huge and you can't match it anywhere else."

Dethier talks to Hanse about the latest changes to the 12th and 13th holes.

Golfweek's Bradley Klein offered his assessment of the remodeled holes in his 18 hole-by-hole description, including this on No. 12:

What used to be the only unbunkered hole on the course has been stretched by 49 yards and given centerline fairway bunkering in the form of  Principal’s Nose 305 yards off the tee. There’s also a new green position farther back. Hanse and Wagner also created more of a tie-in to the next hole by opening up the tree line and extending an existing ridge line into the 12th fairway, creating more of a drop-shot feel to the second shot. The shared space is a classical New England element that gets away from the older, isolated hole corridors that prevailed here. The putting surface also has been been moved away from its rocky ledge over a wetlands hazard. It now sits closer to the next tee, making for a better connect-the-dots feel. The hole requires a commitment off the tee between two alternative paths, the low road (to the right) shorter but a bit riskier; the high road to the left safer but longer.

Rio, It Never Ends Files: Degraded Golf Just Isn't Catching On...

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While it pales compared to the suffering going on in Houston, the sight of Rio venues a year later is no doubt newsworthy and an important reminder about forcing the Olympics where they just don't fit. Knowing the joyful expressions of athleticism that took place there a year ago and seeing those places now is an eye-opener.

But as chronicled here many times, the continued inclusion of the Olympic Golf Course in slideshows certainly is a continued reminder that rustic, "degraded" golf (essentially dry links-style conditions) just doesn't quite make sense to non-golf media outlets.

Two recent examples of golf's inclusion in the discussion of venues here and here, though there are many more. Meanwhile, the course's Instagram postings tells a much different story than various press outlets wish to tell.

Gil Hanse, architect of the course, had this to say to Golf.com's Joe Passov:

"I'm hearing good things from locals," Hanse said. "Back in March, one of the international news agencies put out something about the state of the Rio facilities—the terrible state the pools are in, the Olympic Park with a chain link fence around it. And they ran an aerial photo of the 'degraded' Olympic golf course. I looked at it and I'm like, 'You can see the mower stripes on the greens. You can see all the bunkers are raked. You can see the fairways are mowed. How is that degraded?' It was definitely a fake news story. Very frustrating."

This was three days ago:

Pinehurst Breaks Ground On New Short Course

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Gil Hanse explains the concept (embed below) of what hopefully joins the list of influential short courses inspiring more to be built.

Given the location of this one in front of the Pinehurst clubhouse, it's sure to be popular when completed.

 

 

Rio Olympic Golf Course Off Of Life Support For Now

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Given the shocking state of venues where just months ago the Olympics took place, it was great to read from Peter Dawson (via Rex Hoggard's GolfChannel.com story) that the Rio Olympic golf course has some new funding. Employees are getting paid again and maintenance is ongoing.

“Things are looking a little better, there’s a group of people who have come together that have a relationship with the land owner there, and they’ve re-engaged enough of the greens staff to keep the maintenance going,” said Peter Dawson, the former chief executive of the R&A and current

Hopefully this gets the course back into consideration for international amateur or professional events. Things look less promising for the swimming venue:

 

Rio Golf Course: It's A Jungle Out There, Owl & Cabybara Edition

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You're going to see them more than enough if you watch the Olympic golf coverage, but one of the great accomplishments of this course will be taking a property and making it better for wildlife through nature-based design and maintenance. That message hopefully is picked up by much of the world and may be one more important than who wins, or which developing nation gets more funding.

Gil Hanse told me today he's already seen a few bird species he never saw during construction and even he's astonished by the wildlife activity at a place that was already so active.

Steve DiMeglio wrote about the various critters for USA Today.

Here are the burrowing owls at the 9th, who have been allowed to do their thing. The Rules of Golf naturally allow for relief from this situation for the safety of all in involved.

A couple of shots from the ninth hole:

And the American contingent checking out the Capybara swimming around the 5th hole. Here's Rickie Fowler checking out the giant rodent who was busy munching on some greens.


Video: Gil Hanse On Olympic Course Bunkering And Sands

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As I noted in this week's Golf World, uniformity will not be a word you'll hear this week at the Olympic Golf Course, one already little known to players and adding another local knowledge element: different sands.

Gil Hanse explains in this exclusive to GeoffShackelford.com why the sand shades and textures are different throughout the course, something unique to the site incorporated both for sustainability, cost savings and rewarding those skillful enough to do their homework. Let the howling begin!

We also discuss how the sandbelt style of bunkering came about.

A Few Fun Final Olympic Golf Course Preview Stories & Visuals

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As we have arrived at week one of Olympic golf in Rio, a few final course and Games-related content pieces are worth a look.

John Clarke of the New York Times wrote last month about the Zeon Zoysia making its international debut this week. It started from a small amount transported on an airplane by David Doguet, owner of Bladerunner Farms and is a promising turfgrass going forward for certain regions of the world looking for faster, firmer and tougher turf.

Zeon Zoysia requires less water, fertilizer, nitrogen and pesticide than most other types of golf turf, Doguet said. Perhaps most important, he said, it can endure Rio’s poor soil and water quality and meets the strict environmental regulations that prohibit the use of chemical fertilizers and weed killers on the course, which is on a nature preserve.

The story also includes a couple of slideshows worth checking out.

Gil Hanse has posted a guest course review at GolfNow!

Golf Digest writers discuss their visit to Rio and impressions of the course. Esquire's David Granger is also in the mix, and the aerials are fun to watch as well:


They also provided this quick preview video of golf's (quick) Olympic history.

Best of all is this 360 degree tour of the property and course, which will, for those viewing this week, give a great sense of where the holes sit. Gil Hanse narrates.

And Quartz has put together these DigitalGlobe sequential aerial shots of multiple venues, including Olympic Park, beach volleyball and the golf course in all stages. Really fun stuff if you've been watching the Games.

Click on the link above to see the transformation in action, this is just the final overhead:

Video: Hanse Discusses Rio Olympic Course Finishing Holes

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An exclusive to GeoffShackelford.com, architect Gil Hanse discussed with me about the finishing holes as we look at his renderings. Tomorrow he'll explain why you're going to see different colors of sand through the property and the look of the bunker style. (Thanks to Sean Gilroy for the crack editing work!)

As I have with all the previous flyovers, I encourage a look at Golf Digest's drone shots sponsored by Adobe. They really are a pleasure to watch, as narrated by Hanse.

The 16th hole flyover and Hanse's final rendering.

The 17th hole flyover and Hanse's final rendering.

The 18th hole flyover and Hanse's final rendering.

Video: Rio Olympic Golf Course 7th, 8th and 9th Holes

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The closing three holes of the front nine return to the upper shelf of the property where the sandy influence is stronger. The long par-4 7th plays493/407 yards into the wind with a strong false front green.

Gil Hanse narrates the flyover for Golf Digest. Here is his final rendering.

The par-3 eighth (172/154) certainly exudes ties to the Redan and given the terrain it was set on, the fit was not forced. The rendering and the flyover:

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The par-4 ninth hole brings a little blindness and weirdness to close out the front nine, playing 369 yards for the men and 324 yards for the women. The rendering.