Blackhawk_Education

With a passion to learn the craft of golf architecture in the dirt, I tracked down fellow Canadian, golf architect Rod Whitman, in 1999. Lacking the flamboyancy that has propelled less talented contemporaries to the top of their profession, Whitman is a low-key, hands-on golf course designer who’s worked with acclaimed architects Pete Dye, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, and has also designed and constructed notable courses of his own in France, Germany, Indonesia, and Canada.

Rather than leave his ideas on paper for others to interpret, Rod physically participates in the implementation of his golf course designs, climbing aboard heavy equipment to personally shape greens, bunkers, and other key features. He perfected his remarkable skill with a bulldozer during the 1980s, working with Dye at several projects throughout Texas and Colorado; and also at Oak Tree and Crooked Stick, where Whitman carried out renovations in preparation for American PGA Championships.

During that time, Rod also completed his first solo design at Wolf Creek Golf Resort in his hometown - Ponoka, Alberta. Wolf Creek has ranked amongst the top-20 courses in Canada since opening for play in 1983.

It was early April 2001 when I arrived in Edmonton, Alberta to assist Whitman with the design and construction of Blackhawk Golf Club. I’d hung around a few golf course construction sites by that time, and it immediately struck me that Blackhawk was not going to be a typical project. Upon arriving on-site for the first time, I was greeted by a lone Caterpillar D-6 bulldozer parked next to a small fuel tank. There were no scrapers, dump trucks, excavators, or tractors. There were no other workers either. And this is the way it remained for several weeks: Rod and I, and that D-6. As strange as this circumstance seemed at the time, it proved to be a blessing in disguise for a young upstart anxious to learn to shape golf holes.

For the first few days, Rod and I spent time walking the property, discussing the general layout of the course and the design of individual holes. He was quick to point out though that only about 10% of our time would be spent philosophizing on design. The remaining 90% would involve hard work, actually building the golf course.

Rod’s words of wisdom proved true. Within days of arriving at Blackhawk, I was aboard that D-6 cutting down a sharp ridge in front of the tenth tee, pushing a high bank into a pond to create the eleventh green site, and shaping a debris pile adjacent to the eighteenth fairway. Early on, Rod even asked for my thoughts on the proposed design of the par 4 14th hole. After describing what I saw in the raw landscape, he responded: “Alright then, go build it.” Amazed, I was off to shape my first golf hole.

In retrospect, I don’t think Rod had much confidence in my ability to effectively translate ideas onto the ground. Lacking shaping experience at the time, using a bulldozer to create what I clearly saw in my mind’s eye proved frustrating. However, my lack of skill actually produced some interesting contour at the 14th. After pushing up piles of dirt, here and there, we repeatedly dragged the fairway area with a floating harrow hitched to a tractor. The resulting contour is beautifully random and appears quite natural. In fact, Rod later advised me “not to get too good” at shaping. It’s when you begin to believe you know exactly what you’re doing that things can become too formulaic, he says.

Like Dye and Coore, Whitman doesn’t have an ego that prevents him from utilizing ideas of others. Through experience, he realizes that designing and building a really good golf course is a team effort.

During the second summer of construction, in 2002, Dave Axland and James Duncan were invited to Blackhawk. Whitman and Axland are long-time friends who have worked together over the years at Coore and Crenshaw projects, including Talking Stick in Arizona and Friar’s Head on Long Island, New York (see Geoff Shackelford’s article on Friar’s Head in this issue). Axland and Duncan, who principally work with Coore and Crenshaw, brought invaluable experience and insight to Blackhawk. I learned several “tricks of the trade” from Duncan, who greatly assisted with shaping and styling Blackhawk’s rugged, natural-looking bunkers.

As the summer of 2001 approached, more equipment began to arrive at Blackhawk, and a ragtag band of local labourers were hired. The project picked up some steam at that point. But, with developer Al Prokop acting as general contractor, construction of the golf course remained a comparatively simple, very economic operation over the ensuing two summers. This methodology was possible thanks to Prokop’s relative patience, and also the inherent character of the golf course property.

Located southwest of Edmonton, some thirty minutes drive from the city centre, Blackhawk occupies a property somewhat unique to the relatively flat surroundings of the provincial capital. Holes two through seven are played over sandy, gently rolling land on the edge of the North Saskatchewan River valley, where a large hill is the central feature. The first, eighth, ninth, and tenth are “transition holes” that traverse a treed hillside leading into the valley. At the par 5 eleventh hole golfers face a dramatic downhill tee shot that takes them into the valley to play the remaining eight holes adjacent to the river.

“Minimalism” is a hackneyed term these days. With few exceptions, contemporary golf architects claim to consistently utilize native landscapes in the design of their respective courses. Rod Whitman subscribes to the same philosophy. However, he’s not afraid to move dirt to improve a landscape for golf either. An extraordinary amount of earth was moved at Wolf Creek, for example. Enough, in fact, that it appears very little site manipulation occurred. So much so that Rod continues to receive compliments on his “sensitive approach” to an excellent prairie site when in fact more earth was moved and shaped at Wolf Creek than any Whitman-designed project since!

Blackhawk presented an entirely different situation that required a completely alternate approach to golf architecture. The inherent character of the Blackhawk site lent naturally to the creation of an excellent golf course. Soil conditions were relatively good (only holes thirteen and seventeen, along the gravel strewn bank of the North Saskatchewan River, required any significant capping with material imported from elsewhere on-site). Native vegetation throughout the property is unique and attractive, so meticulous effort was made to retain native plants wherever possible. And the inherent terrain is varied and interesting. A smart routing exploited the property’s best features, and in turn, significantly limited required earthwork. As a result, Blackhawk was constructed for around CDN $2 million: an extraordinarily low price tag in this age of multi-million dollar golf course developments.

Basically, we shaped greens and tees, and excavated bunkers. Otherwise, wall-to-wall grading was purposely avoided at Blackhawk in an effort to leave the course with a charming, old-fashioned sensibility, reminiscent of the great old courses of the world. Common in modern golf course construction, wholesale grading creates a comparatively artificial, homogeneous appearance by eliminating subtle humps, bumps, and hollows that provide a golf course with unique character. Although some modifications were made, here and there, to facilitate surface drainage, vast areas of fairway acreage at Blackhawk were simply dragged with a floating harrow and seeded.

One of the few criticisms Blackhawk’s received since opening for play in early summer 2003 comes from low-handicap golfers who feel the 6,777 yards (6,200 metres) par 71 layout doesn’t present enough challenge off the tees. Blackhawk features ultra-wide fairways, some in excess of 50 yards (45 metres) across. And, curiously, golfers do not confront a legitimate driving area bunker until the eleventh hole. Rather than force “traps” onto the landscape at contrived distances from tees and greens, the native terrain was permitted to suggest natural locations for bunkers, which for the most part are randomly cut into natural ridges, hillsides, and rises in the ground. The upper portion of the property simply didn’t feature such natural landforms, resulting in a lack of fairway sand hazards.

In fact, Blackhawk’s wide fairways and perceived lack of driving area bunkers present most golfers with a sense of false security. Typical of Rod Whitman’s work throughout the world, dramatic contour in and around the putting surfaces is Blackhawk’s great equalizer. Golfers who drive out of position relative to the location of the flagstick at most holes on any given day might not land in sand off the tee, but are strictly penalized by an inferior angle of approach, impeded by bold contour and rugged greenside hazards. Challenge at most holes markedly increases as play proceeds closer to the green.

Funny, the same “aces” who’ve criticized Blackhawk for being too easy off the tees haven’t turned in any remarkably low scores yet. A very respectable 67 is the course record currently. Clearly, better golfers are adequately challenged at Blackhawk, and at the same time, less skilled golfers enjoy the course because of the lateral forgiveness it provides. This is the ideal in golf architecture; an ideal, also exemplified by such notable courses throughout the world as Pinehurst No. 2, the National Golf Links of America, and of course, the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland.

As my career in golf architecture progresses, I continually reflect on my remarkably unique experiences at Blackhawk and cherish the opportunities I was afforded there. To work intimately alongside a respected, and accomplished golf architect such as Rod Whitman; to draw on the experiences and insights of Dave Axland and James Duncan; and, to participate with every aspect of the golf course design and construction – from start to finish – are invaluable opportunities most students of golf architecture will only ever dream of. Those experiences will forever serve as the foundation of my burgeoning career as a golf course architect.

In January 2005, Blackhawk Golf Club was awarded second place on US Golf Digest magazine’s list of the Best New Canadian courses for 2004. Blackhawk was also named one of the top-10 Best New International Golf Courses of the World for 2004 by The Golfer magazine.