Architect’s Time On-Site

During Construction

100% 0 to 6%
Tony Ristola Typical
LEADERSHIP DRIVEN GOLF COURSE ARCHITECTURE

BEFORE & AFTER PHOTOS

COURSES WITH VERY DIFFERENT PERSONALITIES

These projects were built by men with little or no experience

constructing golf courses. Not one from any project played
golf. You can’t tell by looking at the work though.

By making my office the construction site, helping each

person understand the objectives, and monitoring their
progress in real-time, all-day, everyday, these workers
achieved the desired result in a timely manner.

Budgets were maximized, and all projects were completed on

or ahead of schedule. That’s the value of having the architect
share his vision personally; keeping open lines of
communication; constantly evaluating; simply doing
everything possible to help others achieve excellence on a
daily basis; 100% Commitment.
 ARTLAND GOLF CLUB
Ankum, Artland Region, Lower Saxony, Germany

Hosted the State PGA Championship: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003 &
2004

Ranked 22 nd in Germany
by golfers on the German Golf Association (DGV) Website

Secluded and with virtually no advertising budget, Artland GC has

become popular with golfers from all over the state. The club hosted
the State Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Championship 5 of
its first 8 years.

A beautiful site, the golf course weaves through old oaks, birch and
pine trees, along wetlands, over open hills, hillsides, valley’s and
plateaus. Adding to the setting are several 5,000 year-old stone and
hill graves, two magnificently restored farm houses from the 1700’s,
and an estate. It was an excellent opportunity to develop an
interesting and challenging golf course with strong character for a
modest budget.

The builder was Alfred Koenen Co., a Dutch company. Individual

workers came from Holland, Germany, and Ghana. None played golf.
From the German Golf Association (DGV) website:
 DER GOLF CLUB
Obing, Upper Bavaria, Germany

Der Golf Club is set amongst mature forests in the rolling

foothills of the Bavarian Alps.

The course reflects Golden Age architecture (1900-35) with

native looking roughs, richly detailed handcrafted bunkers,
bunkers eating into the expansive fairways and across the
ideal line of play to the hole.

The property was so good, physically and topographically, with

18 meters of elevation change from high to low point, that dirt
moving was limited to creating tees, greens and bunkers. Not
one fairway was graded, leaving the golf course to be a
product of the beautiful rolling landscape.

The builder for Der Golf Club was Matthäi GmbH, a German
general contractor. This is their second golf course project.
None of the builders played golf.
 GOLF CLUB EMSTAL
Lingen (Ems), Lower Saxony, Germany

“…a model for the integration of a sports facility in a protected area.”

BUND (Bund für Naturschutz Deutschland)

Germany’s most powerful environmental group

* Rated in Germany’s Top 50 since 2004

Golf Magazin

Built in a Protected Area ( Landschaftschutzgebiet ), and flood

plane directly along the Ems River, this presented an
engineering challenge and a rare opportunity for a German
Project.

The property was mostly flat farmland. 120,000 cubic meters of

sand was moved to recreate a feeling of the low rolling sand
dunes, hollows, and natural bunkers found bordering the
property in the adjoining “Nature Reserve” (Naturschutzgebiet).

All water waterways and wetlands shown are 100% man made.

The constructor of the project is German general contractor

Matthäi GmbH, their first golf course project. None of their staff
had built a golf course before this project. None played golf.
*In the latest ranking, GC Emstal has risen to 33 rd from 46 th position.
Source: Golf Magazin
 GOLF CLUB ZUM FISCHLAND
PROVISIONAL COURSE
Ribnitz-Damgarten (Rostock), Germany

This 2,750 meter (3,000 yard), par-35 course was planned

temporary, hence the name “Provisional Course”. Temporary or
not, the Provisional Course is fun, challenging and rich in detail.

The idea with this course was to illustrate, the unique, detailed
work to be accomplished for the 375 acre (150 Hectares) parcel of
sandy soil that would be used for the 18-hole course. The
vastness, scale and detail of the project would have been
distinctive to the northern half of Europe.

The plan was to rip up half of this, the Provisional Course, and use
it for infrastructure. Unfortunately the 49 year-old owner died,
stopping the project in this early stage of development.

The Provisional Course features 40 bunkers of various sizes, from

large to tiny, wide fairways, native roughs and small to medium
sized greens. Some are reflective of crowned greens built during
the Golden Age .

The owner provided workers from his construction company, and I

assisted with shaping greens, undulations and most of the 40
bunkers. None from the owner’s company had built a golf course
before, and none played golf.
 agolfarchitect.com
Leadership Driven Architecture
...Because Vision and Leadership are Inseparable
Tony Ristola
agolfarchitect.com
agolfarchitect@yahoo.com
+1 909.581.0080
Design and construction are not separate jobs, but different parts of the same job
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