They have ruined the Swilcan Bridge at the Old Course

[Ferguson]

The discarded stones are being sold online.  You must claim the one(s) you want and pay shipping. 

 

I claimed this triangle that looks like the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

$66.00 American and $35 UPS. 

 

 

 

 

[bladehunter]

15 minutes ago, Titleist99 said:

Alright, alright!!!.......Damon Hack of the Golf Channel just made me change my mind again.........I don't want it fancy, I want it brown. Now, that's my final decision on the worn spot before the bridge. LOL!

Agree. Make it sand pit on both sides.  Or just natural dead.  I hate everything being augusta-ized.    Love Augusta. But don’t bring it to the old course.  

[bscinstnct]

How about a nice tight gravel area/walk leading up?

[Robby_Hughey]

Part of the allure is the fact that so many of the greats have walked that exact worn path. The worn, ungrown dirt isn't in play. 

 

[IndyArcher]

21 minutes ago, Robby_Hughey said:

Part of the allure is the fact that so many of the greats have walked that exact worn path. The worn, ungrown dirt isn't in play. 

 

 

Uh, oh. Looks like we need to call the Patio People...

 

 

[Ferguson]

 

Now they're knocking down Swilcan Towers, the swanky upscale townhomes.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gvogel]

1 hour ago, Robby_Hughey said:

Part of the allure is the fact that so many of the greats have walked that exact worn path. The worn, ungrown dirt isn't in play. 

 

Is that Old Tom?

[Titleist99]

1 hour ago, bscinstnct said:

How about a nice tight gravel area/walk leading up?

That's what my home course would have done....

[Ferguson]

22 minutes ago, Titleist99 said:

That's what my home course would have done....

 

Loose gravel is considered a "slip and fall" hazard or as the Brits would say "arse over t**." 

[bscinstnct]

25 minutes ago, Ferguson said:

 

Loose gravel is considered a "slip and fall" hazard or as the Brits would say "arse over t**." 

Ahhh yes, I forgot many are a combination of balance challenged and litigious; ) 

[Greg_B]

3 hours ago, Titleist99 said:

That's what my home course would have done....

My course would have rolled down some blacktop and at some point ordered the maintenance guys to paint it green. 

[Duct Tape]

Haven’t read entire thread.

 

Same guys that “improved” Augusta 13?

[Steele47]

Looks like 'Twister' circa 1400.

[AltC]

Seems like people think St Andrews (old) is a members club with all the talk of committees and stuffed tweed jackets - however this is not the case. Whilst several clubs use the golf course and hold certain access privileges it is in fact “common ground” administered and maintained by the St Andrews Links Trust. I expect that the trust would have canvassed the clubs ( including the R&A) regarding their proposal to alleviate the mud pit issue at either side of the Swilcan Bridge the final say so is down to the trust. Personally I think the idea was good but they got the aesthetics all wrong - hence the public backlash and back pedalling on the circular paved approaches concept- I also think it looked naff as did the green nylon fake turf - there are other more “natural” materials which can deal with the mud pit issue without the Disney land effect- such as crushed sea shells ( normally clam shells) which are commonly found on links courses which over time create a properly draining pathway which has a more natural appearance than gravel or stone. Anyway at least they are recognising that the issue needs to be addressed in a more sympathetic manner than the patio plan - let’s see what’s next.

[bscinstnct]

2 hours ago, AltC said:

Seems like people think St Andrews (old) is a members club with all the talk of committees and stuffed tweed jackets - however this is not the case. Whilst several clubs use the golf course and hold certain access privileges it is in fact “common ground” administered and maintained by the St Andrews Links Trust. I expect that the trust would have canvassed the clubs ( including the R&A) regarding their proposal to alleviate the mud pit issue at either side of the Swilcan Bridge the final say so is down to the trust. Personally I think the idea was good but they got the aesthetics all wrong - hence the public backlash and back pedalling on the circular paved approaches concept- I also think it looked naff as did the green nylon fake turf - there are other more “natural” materials which can deal with the mud pit issue without the Disney land effect- such as crushed sea shells ( normally clam shells) which are commonly found on links courses which over time create a properly draining pathway which has a more natural appearance than gravel or stone. Anyway at least they are recognising that the issue needs to be addressed in a more sympathetic manner than the patio plan - let’s see what’s next.

 

Thanks AltC,

 

Heres quote to GD a someone from the trust..just two hours before their Twitter post that they would remove it. It’s a tough challenge, I agree with you on the crushed shells (I suggested tight packed gravel)

 

 

“The statement was released only hours after two representatives of the Links Trust—Laurie Watson, external relations and media manager and David Connor, communications and marketing manager—met with a Golf Digest journalist on-site and gave no hint of what was to follow.

 

“Something had to be done after several years of wear and tear,” insisted Watson at that earlier meeting. “If you think back to last year, we had no play for a month in the run-up to the Open Championship. But even with that break, by October the area we are looking at was a quagmire. We’ve tried a few things over the years. Astroturf. Rubber rock. Turf seeding. But nothing has really worked. So this is the next step in trying to find a potential solution. This might not end up being the answer, but we are up for trying anything to fix the problem, without actually touching the bridge itself.”

 

“This is not the finished article,” Watson continued. “We would like to get grass growing through between the stones so that it does look more natural. It is pretty stark right now. But maybe this won’t be what it looks like when we’re done. What we can’t do is put a tent over the bridge and disguise what is going on while we do a bit of work. We’re a public links and at the mercy of someone coming along and taking a picture.”

 

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/swilcan-bridge-st-andrews-links-trust-old-course-messing-with-history

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[smashdn]

Let's not get all too nostalgic here.

[Duct Tape]

3 hours ago, AltC said:

Seems like people think St Andrews (old) is a members club with all the talk of committees and stuffed tweed jackets - however this is not the case. Whilst several clubs use the golf course and hold certain access privileges it is in fact “common ground” administered and maintained by the St Andrews Links Trust. I expect that the trust would have canvassed the clubs ( including the R&A) regarding their proposal to alleviate the mud pit issue at either side of the Swilcan Bridge the final say so is down to the trust. Personally I think the idea was good but they got the aesthetics all wrong - hence the public backlash and back pedalling on the circular paved approaches concept- I also think it looked naff as did the green nylon fake turf - there are other more “natural” materials which can deal with the mud pit issue without the Disney land effect- such as crushed sea shells ( normally clam shells) which are commonly found on links courses which over time create a properly draining pathway which has a more natural appearance than gravel or stone. Anyway at least they are recognising that the issue needs to be addressed in a more sympathetic manner than the patio plan - let’s see what’s next.

Great info.  Yet it would be foolish to underestimate the influence of the R&A on the Links Trust. 
 

More interesting  question is from where the sudden change of heart arose?  It’s barely in the news and no one could imagine anyone paying attention to the Golf Channel hacks.  
 

Wonder what the St Andrew Links folks use as handles here on WRX?  🤓🚣‍♀️😀

[Pastit]

52 minutes ago, Duct Tape said:

Great info.  Yet it would be foolish to underestimate the influence of the R&A on the Links Trust. 
 

More interesting  question is from where the sudden change of heart arose?  It’s barely in the news and no one could imagine anyone paying attention to the Golf Channel hacks.  
 

Wonder what the St Andrew Links folks use as handles here on WRX?  🤓🚣‍♀️😀

Surely it’s obvious: “ Tweed jackets with leather elbow-patches “.

[Ferguson]

58 minutes ago, Duct Tape said:

Great info.  Yet it would be foolish to underestimate the influence of the R&A on the Links Trust. 
 

More interesting  question is from where the sudden change of heart arose?  It’s barely in the news and no one could imagine anyone paying attention to the Golf Channel hacks.  
 

Wonder what the St Andrew Links folks use as handles here on WRX?  🤓🚣‍♀️😀

 

Just a wild guess: puttmecrazy696, longteetom, bunkershot656, fairwayfred11, indeehol32 and greenmstr224-1.

 

[ChipStrokes]

1 hour ago, Duct Tape said:

Wonder what the St Andrew Links folks use as handles here on WRX?

oldwhiteguy and whiteoldguy

[BHI 99]

On 2/7/2023 at 8:26 AM, bladehunter said:

Kind of surprised they’d waste the stones. Why not have 2 guys spend 2 hours and just pick them up and haul them out.  They were just set with sand Broomed in.  Right ?  No need for the little backhoe etc. 

 

Except for the stone base they were likely sitting on. You can’t level or lay stones in mud. So yeah, backhoe. Grass won’t grow in base very well. 

[Chunkitgood]

GolfWRX firmly establishes itself as part of the outrage culture, mindless division.

[bladehunter]

17 hours ago, BHI 99 said:

 

Except for the stone base they were likely sitting on. You can’t level or lay stones in mud. So yeah, backhoe. Grass won’t grow in base very well. 

Maybe so . I’m from the south.  Wall to wall Bermuda.  I’ve seen it grow over cartpaths up trees , and I can show you a spot where it’s covered 4 feet wide section of a pond.  Lol. It’s held up by some reeds and Lily’s. But it’s grown a carpet out over the water.  
 

I was just going by the pictures posted above of the process. Looked like a tamped base with broomed in sand to lock it to me. 

[bladehunter]

23 hours ago, smashdn said:

Let's not get all too nostalgic here.

/cdn-cgi/mirage/8cd6f26260cff7e137e261e5f72a5ce7794a754d61d52071ff7c93aab6fca5e0/1280/cdn-cgi/mirage/8cd6f26260cff7e137e261e5f72a5ce7794a754d61d52071ff7c93aab6fca5e0/1280/https://wrxcdn.golfwrx.com/uploads/monthly_2023_02/blasphemers2.jpg.3f1c0abef345f8f6dc89824a3aa5d929.jpg

320cc driver ?? 

[bladehunter]

On 2/7/2023 at 3:59 PM, bscinstnct said:

Ahhh yes, I forgot many are a combination of balance challenged and litigious; ) 

That’s the worst combo.  Like drivers who can’t drive.  But have an attorney on speed dial for when someone “ runs them off the road “ while passing them doing 18 in a 45. 
 

we need task forces to revoke the walking and driving privileges of those folks. 😉

[bscinstnct]

13 hours ago, Chunkitgood said:

GolfWRX firmly establishes itself as part of the outrage culture, mindless division.

 

And those who self-aggrandize by patronizing them.

 

 

 

Chunkit! just kidding. I mean sure me mindless, but that thing was ugly yo!

[Ferguson]

We need to bring a professional to this discussion.  I am trying to connect with Dan Pearson (legendary garden/landscape designer) to get his take on fixing this mess at Swilcan Bridge.  Stay tuned. 

 

https://www.greatgardensoftheworld.com/gardens/dan-pearson/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ferguson: provider of quality content for nearlly a decade, at any cost, N/A on weekends, happily married. 

 

[FifeRiviera]

Old cvourse looks s*** most the year anyway who carews its a sheep field ultimately. 

Long Live The Dirt

[smashdn]

1 hour ago, Ferguson said:

We need to bring a professional to this discussion.  I am trying to connect with Dan Pearson (legendary garden/landscape designer) to get his take on fixing this mess at Swilcan Bridge.  Stay tuned. 

 

https://www.greatgardensoftheworld.com/gardens/dan-pearson/

 

Ferguson: provider of quality content for nearlly a decade, at any cost, N/A on weekends, happily married. 

 

 

You work on him, I will see if we can get the organic and biodynamic side of things covered with Jeff Poppen.

 

http://barefootfarmer.com/pictures/

[Ferguson]

1 hour ago, smashdn said:

 

You work on him, I will see if we can get the organic and biodynamic side of things covered with Jeff Poppen.

 

http://barefootfarmer.com/pictures/

 

Excellent work.   

 

 

I am also coming at this from a "natural wildlife" impact point of view.  That patio installation and removal did a number the ecosystem and it's forced my hand to take stronger measures. 

 

I'm calling in Bernd Heinrich.   

 

https://www.thenaturalistsnotebook.com/great-naturalists