This hole is a Par 4 measuring just under 340 meters (372 yards) from the front tees to 399 meters (436 yards) from the tips.  A wide sweeping fairway and a prominent green location over looking 80% of the remaining golf course make this hole a beauty.  The wide fairway will give multiple directions of play into the green which is situated delicately on a 40+ meter precipice.  Accuracy is a must into this green!

Slopes run in every direction on this fairway and depending on the bounce of the ball, a player could have a beautiful open 120 meter uphill shot into the green or an 80 meter blind shot over a large oak and a ravine.

The safest play would be to the left edge of the fairway allowing for a slight left to right roll back into the center.  This would set the golfer up for a straight forward uphill shot into the green, but the golfer would not have a clear view of the depth of the green and the pin location.  The aggressive play would be to the center right of the fairway about 230 meters out, which would hit a running slope and direct the ball an additional 30-40 meters down the fairway leaving only a short chip of 60-80 meters into the green.  The approach would be more from the right side and would offer the golfer glimpses of the edge of the green on the right and back edge, but still with limited views of pin positions.  This option is more aggressive in play due to the fact that a shot too far to the right edge would hit a slope running left to right and direct balls to the right edge of the fairway and behind the large oak or even worse, in the rough on a sever left to right slope and still behind the large oak!The ultimate pay off to this hole is the green location with a large 750sq meter green and views of 15 out of 18 holes.  From this vantage point you will see the recreational lake to the north on the property, the surrounding golf villas and estates, the property’s vineyards and wine chateau, and the beautiful Hungarian countryside with magnificent rolling hills.            

Well, it has been awhile since I updated the blog so first I want to apologize for the absence. 

First, I just returned from a week in Slovakia and Hungary organizing several projects that are on the drawing boards.  It was a busy trip so now I am getting reorganized back at the office in NC.  I have also spoken with Kali since she has fallen down on her weekly article posting.  She promised that she will have the next installment by the end of the week.  She told me that it was due to the fact it was so hard to choose her favorite hole at the moment…there were so many good ones! 

As for projects, we have several things going, and in all different directions, which is good.

Anna Volgy – Hungary

We have made some minor changes due to permitting authority’s requests.  Only two holes had significant changes, but mostly just length.  We have altered the location of the practice facilities and the clubhouse as well.

We walked the course to review the changes, and I must say it is looking like we have it pretty well defined.  BUT, it is a long, tough course.  We have a lot of elevation change, so carts will be needed for 90% of the players.  Maybe 95%…

Nandin – Slovakia

After some set backs with permitting, we are back up and running.  Things are looking good and we will be jumping back into final construction documents within the next 4-6 weeks.

New Project – Slovakia

While I was in Slovakia I visited with a client on the site of a potential new project.  We analyzed the site to verify the potential development and to highlight any issues that may arise.  This was a great location with some spectacular views.  If things progress in the next few months, I will have some beautiful pictures to show you!

For now, that is all I have time for.  I will post the revisions to Anna Volgy next week and I will make sure Kali gets on her Hole of the Week article and post it by the end of the week.

Well, yesterday was an exciting day as I opened the paper and saw one ugly mug that resembeled me looking up at….me.  And then I realized, it was me!

A few weeks ago I was contacted to do a brief interview for the Moneywise section of the Charlotte Observer here in North Carolina.  We talked for quite a bit about why I was in NC, what the business was like, and about the travel required to make this adventure a success.  The talking was easy, the picture taking was not so.  After about a thousand photos by Laura Mueller, I think she finally realized she was not going to make me look presentable to the public and just took the best she could get from me.  She did a great job with what she had to work with though!  Below is an excerpt from the article and a link to the full think.

Fairways Faraway

by: Jefferson George

jgeorge@charlotteobserver.com

With the construction of new golf courses waning in the United States, what’s a golf course designer to do?

If you’re Branden Wilburn, you start developing courses in new markets, such as Eastern Europe and Asia. And you move to the Charlotte region so you can get to faraway countries more easily.An Indiana native who grew up on a farm, Wilburn, 32, previously lived in Florida. He’s also spent time in Slovakia — where his wife, Daniela, was born — and in Scotland. Since December, his firm, Golf Design Studio, has been based in Huntersville, with offices in Florida and Slovakia.

MoneyWise spoke with Wilburn about the best markets for golf course construction, the benefits of a Charlotte-area headquarters and the challenges of building courses in foreign countries.

To read the full article, click here (http://www.charlotte.com/business/story/242306.html).

‘A Golf Course Has Two Landscapes.’  The first is the existing site and all of its natural and man-created features. The second is the man applied landscape planting which is often not planned, and may not be related to the golf course design.  Because this landscape planting is secondary in priority, it often grows arbitrarily, becomes an overwhelming maintenance task and ultimately a detriment to the course. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, It has been a crazy few weeks!  I am just now getting back into the groove at the office.  Projects have been all over the place, a few new things have come up and a few things have slowed down.  I will post some project updates later tonight and tomorrow, but I want to post an interesting piece from my business partner, John Ribes. 

John has some ideas about how golf course and landscape design intertwine.  He has put together this small bit of “discussion” article from a longer article that he had published in Golf Course Management several years ago (you will see from the first paragraph!).  I will try to get links to the full article posted later tonight so you can see where he was going with it. 

I am interested what others believe of this topic.  I have been involved in many discussions with architects, players, and developers regarding the need for the “forgotten element”.