McKayla Stark @mckaylastark-blog - Tumblr Blog

Pioneers in Golf Course Architecture

David McLay Kidd grew up on the golf course in Scotland, which his father was the superintendent of. His interest of golf courses grew as he listened to his father’s colleagues while working maintenance. Eventually, Kidd attended Writtle College to study horticulture and landscape design. He first interned for a golf course construction firm. Continuing on, his first job was at a small design and construction management firm. The fact that this firm was small allowed him to be responsible and develop his designs. He also learned that design and construction are symbiotic disciplines. Before establishing his own firm, he worked with Guinness as an expertise giver. At this job, his opportunity was learning the development process from the client’s perspective. David McLay Kidd opened DMK Golf Design in 1998 as a design build firm. His team designs public, private, and resort courses.

The following three courses are the most prominent designs of David McLay Kidd. Tetherow Golf Course is located within a forest clearing in Bend, Oregon, now the home of David. In addition to the panoramic views of the Cascade Mountains, Tetherow is “Audubon Certified,” practicing sustainability and environmental excellence. The course opened up in 2008 and was ranked number 1 as The Best New Course You Can Play in The Country, that year.

St. Andrew’s Links Castle Course is located in on a rugged cliff-top in St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland and also opened in 2008. Kidd stated,”The site in it’s raw form was nothing like the end product.” This is the 7th course in the largest golfing complex in Europe. The design of this course in considered the highpoint of his career.

Gamble Sands is a unique course near Brewster in Central Washington considering the absence of homes, roads, and cart paths. Located on a sandy plateau above the Columbia River, it is quoted to be “Landing the course right out of the sky.” The course opened in 2014. Before this, Kidd’s course were said to be either “love it or hate it,” so this was a turning point in his career.

David McLay Kidd has done a wide range of work with golf courses throughout his life that has helped his designs develop into what they are today. Although Kidd has designed various types of golf courses, I believe his most successful are links style courses. He also uses the natural features of the land as much as possible in his designs and accentuates the views of them.

Picture source: http://www.dmkgolfdesign.com/home.aspx

#LA327 #LACrew #golfgoals #laisbae

Golf Digest: America’s Greatest

“America’s 100 Greatest”

Number 36, The Golf Club is located in New Albany, Ohio. Pete Dye originally designed the course while transitioning away from conventional styles in 1967. A local (Jack Nicklaus) and Dye created a 5-year partnership to improve on suggestions, but 45 years later Dye redesigned every hole on the course. One of his biggest design elements was the use of railroad ties.

http://www.golfdigest.com/gallery/americas-100-greatest-golf-courses-ranking

http://top100golf.blogspot.com/2009/11/golf-club.html

Hole 13 is a 369 yard, Par 4 signature hole. This hole doglegs left of the tee, so is considered a risk-reward hole. Far left shots are rewarded, but runs into hazards. Instead of railroad ties, Dye used pieces of telephone poles in the bunkers.

http://top100golf.blogspot.com/2009/11/golf-club.html

I thought the way Pete Dye designed his bunkers with railroad ties was unique. He used elements, such as wood, that were once natural in the design of his course.

“America’s 100 Greatest Public”

Number 33, Pronghorn Club is located in Bend, Oregon. Jack Nicklaus was the designer in 2003 of this links course. The course began as a private club, but is now open to the public. Containing several natural elements, including lava formations and views of the Cascade mountains, the back nine of this course is said to be the best Nicklaus has ever designed.

http://www.golfdigest.com/gallery/americas-100-greatest-public-courses-ranking

Hole 13 is a 378 yard, Par 4 signature hole. A sand bunker acts as a buffer behind the green. Also, a rock wall is located near the bunker containing a waterfall that drains into the lake on the whole right side of the hole. A pot bunker in the middle of the fairway creates a challenging shot.

http://www.golfcoursegurus.com/reviews/pronghorn.php

This course has remarkable views. With various natural elements, each hole has its own signature with different views. Courses like this are nice because you don’t feel like you are golfing the same hole throughout the course. The natural elements are again beneficial, creating hazards.

#LA327 #bringingbackthehashtags #ratherbegolfingthanblogging

Strategic Design

Penal

This hole is from the Augusta Golf Course just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. This hole is considered penal design because there is only way across the hazard. Penal design for this hole is a good choice because of the natural hazard.

http://www.gamolagolf.co.uk/blog/the-top-rated-golf-courses-in-the-world/

Heroic

This is hole 13 from the Dunes Course in Sand Hills, NE. This hole is considered heroic mainly for the bunker placed in front of the green. Along with the rest of the bunkers, you either have to drive your shot over the bunkers or around them.

http://theprairieclub.com/golf/dunes-course/

Freeway

This is hole number 1 on Niagara Frontier Golf Club in Youngstown, NY. This is considered a freeway hole because of the symmetry. Shots are straightforward and not much thinking is required.

http://niagarafrontiergolfclub.com/hole-1-2/

Strategic

This is a hole on East Lake Golf Club near downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Strategic design is similar to the heroic design in that the golfer has to think about their shot very carefully. This hole demonstrates that strategy involved with golf.

http://www.thegrint.com/range/2014/09/schools-design-part-2-affects-golf-handicap/

#LA327

Week 16: Martin Maca Lecture Council and About the Blog

Lyle Pudwill from Confluence began the lecture by giving some background about himself and his business. He noted that they began as a small business and have grown so much. I thought it was relatable that Confluence hadn’t realized how big they had really gotten. Lyle also talked about some of the projects Confluence has worked on. It was interesting to see the variety of landscape between the different areas of the business. The one thing he stressed was to observe: observe your surroundings, observe what works, and observe what doesn’t work. Another interesting point he made was that a lot of things in landscape are borrowed because certain things work well.

I thought the lecture was very and educational. I strongly agree with Lyle’s advice of observing all the time. If you can’t see that something doesn’t work, you will never get any better. It was also interesting to see some of Confluence’s projects that I hadn’t seen before.

I enjoyed doing the blog. It forced me to research different topics and learn about design, not only in landscape but in general. Reading everyone else’s blogs and their opinions about certain topics was eye opening and helped to me to think about different viewpoints of topics.

#LA152 #PeaceOutLA152 #blogabouttheblog

Week 13: Environmentally Sustainable Landscape Practices

When landscaping, you encounter several environmental issues. There are numerous sustainability practices to solve these environmental issues. Some of them include rain gardens, placement of shade trees and wind breaks, and soil management.

Rain gardens are built for drainage purposes. They are placed so water runoff from driveways and such are absorbed into the ground by the rain gardens.

http://www.laurensgardenservice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/How-Rain-Garden-works4.jpg

Placement of shade trees and wind breaks are important to conserve energy. Placing deciduous and evergreen trees in certain areas can provide shade and encourage air flow near air conditioners. Wind breaks can slow the cold air flow reducing heating costs in the winter.

https://www.arborday.org/programs/treecityusa/bulletins/images/004-figure-placement-diagram.gif

Soil management is important in landscaping to keep the soil healthy. Minimal tillage is used to keep essential organic matter in the soil. Maintaining ground cover and diversifying vegetation also partake in healthy soil.

#LA152

Week 12: Landscape Graphic Production

The point of landscape graphic production is to show the client a visual representation of what the site will look like. Some different examples of these productions are renderings and 3D models. You can render by hand or digitally. Rendering by hand is can be closer your initial ideas. Digital rendering can be faster and more precise when measuring. Renderings show the clients a more detailed view of the space than 3D models. On the other hand, the 3D models, obviously, show a more three dimensional view of the space.

3D model

https://landscapeblogger.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/model-making.jpg

hand rendered drawing

http://www.washingtoncountylandscapes.com/wp-content/themes/construct/lib/scripts/timthumb/thumb.php?src=http://www.washingtoncountylandscapes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/landscape_design.jpg&w=580&h=252&zc=1&q=100

digitally rendered image

http://landarchs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/shutterstock_133245701.jpg

#LA152

Week 11: Meaningful song

Picking the artist for a meaningful song was a no brainer because Toby Keith is my absolute favorite artist. Picking the specific song by Toby Keith was a challenge though. I tear up a little every time I hear a Toby Keith song (with the exception of Red Solo Cup). The song I finally decided on was “American Ride.” The song is about what it’s like living in America and the “American Dream” in a way. Even though the song is upbeat and sort of absurd, the message in the song is very true. One of my favorite lines is “spill a cup of coffee, make a million dollars.” I also love the music video because it is very funny and creative.

#LA152 #TobyKeithismysoulmate #LACrew #americanride

Week 10: Landscape Architecture Firm

Appel Osborne Landscape Architecture has gone through several name changes, but has always kept their personalized service. The partners, Bruce Appel and Alfred Obrist began the firm in 1975. Their goal was to combine civil engineering with landscape architecture. Bruce Appel was behind the civil engineering portion of the firm. After retirement, name changes and partner changes, Appel Osborne Landscape Architecture was set in stone. Today, partners Vincent Pietrzak, Peter Osborne, and Timothy Bonaparte complete the firms twenty-person staff. The still incorporate engineering with their landscape architecture.

The firm completes a wide variety of projects from residential sites to larger scale projects. They have designed several K-12 schools, along with some colleges, such as Cornell University. They have worked on corporate, government, and healthcare sites. I was most interested in their designs of athletic complexes and parks. A majority of the athletic complexes Appel Osborne has designed were for school districts. They have also designed softball parks and YMCA’s. Aside from designing a regular park or plaza, the firm has designed zoos and golf courses.

Rosamond Gifford Zoo

http://www.appelosborne.com/assets/portfolio-items/Rosamond-Gifford-Zoo-Wetland-Graphic.jpg

North Collins Central School District

http://www.appelosborne.com/assets/Uploads/_resampled/FillWyI3NjAiLCIzNDAiXQ-Northcollins.jpg

VanKeuren Square (housing facility for veterans)

http://www.appelosborne.com/assets/Uploads/VanKeuren-Square-2.jpg

Cornell University Donor recognition area

http://www.appelosborne.com/assets/Uploads/cornell-donor-sketch.jpg

#designordie #LA152

Week 8: Travel Destination

I want to travel to Athens, Greece. Athens is full of historical landmarks and ancient buildings. The Acropolis of Athens contains several of these ancient buildings, one being the famous Parthenon, a former temple dedicated to the goddess Athena. Also on the Acropolis is Propylaia, the Erechtheion, and the Temple of Athena Nike. The buildings were damaged in the Morean War which I think makes them more interesting. One of the historical landmarks I would visit is Areopagus, which was the court for deliberating homicide. Mount Lycabettus would also be on my list of places to visit. I would love to be able to see the view from the amphitheater at the top of the hill. Plaka is an old historical neighborhood in Athens that is next to the Acropolis. All of the utilities are underground. The last thing on my list to visit in Athens would be the Panathenaic Stadium. The 2004 Olympic Games were held there and the stadium hold 45,000 spectators.

Mount Lycabettus

http://static.mwsrc.net/articles/wp-content/uploads/cache/2015/03/athens2/375120481.jpg

Parthenon

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/The_Parthenon_in_Athens.jpg

Panathenaic Stadium

http://www.pacificworld.com/webwp/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Panathenaic-Stadium-2-705x335.jpg

#LandscapeIsLife #LA152

Week 7: Residential Landscape

My residential site is Urban Springs, California by BIONIC. The project is on a typical 25’ by 100’ lot and the yard is about 25’ by 50’ lot with a 12’ grade change. The base flow of the spring equate to about 100 gallons of water per day. They renovated the yard at the same time as the old house on the property. For this project, the owners wanted to bring the springs out of the underground pipes and sewers. The project took 8 years to complete.

The yard mainly consists of decks and vegetation. The spring runs through the yard with rain chains, screens and runnels. The water runs off the lower runnel into a steel frame filled with black Mexican pebble. The pebbles and frame allow the water to dissipate back into the ground. Throughout the various vegetation, there are also large wooden screens with different heights and opacity. The screens serve as privacy as well as borrow views from the adjacent properties.

I enjoy this site because the backyard makes you feel like you are somewhere other than a backyard.