It's been enlarged to help you comprehend the scale of the work. This photo shows a "temporary" 5 meter diameter pipe (approx. 16 feet) set in the existing river bed. At the pipe opening, you will see 2 men. To the left of the pipe is a rather large excavator, working to bed the pipe. Left of the excavator, you will see 2 dump trucks depositing fill for the excavator.
Then, at the top of the fill, you see an orange dump truck - deposting more fill - approximately where #13 fairway exists today.
The 5 meter pipe - at the bottom of the fill was installed to allow us to fill the valley, in order to build holes #13 and #17. St. Anna was the result of more than 40 years of dreaming, acquiring land, planning and work by Sr. Mario Valle. When he started the project, the intention was for Trent Jones Sr. to be the architect. By the time the golf course was built, we were the third golf architect to be involved.
The site was certainly not "ideal" for golf. But, the location was underserved by golf - likely, because there is not much land suitable for golf in this area.
I knew the project would be difficult. Truth be told, I was nervous about doing this project. But, Robert's infectuous "it'll be a piece of cake" attitude prevailed. It took more than six years to build this golf course. And, the engineering behind it really incredible. We were extremely fortunate our client was an engineering company. I worked closely with Ing. Massimo Gazzo during the project. His knowledge and expertise were invaluable. In fact, without his counsel, we would have been lost.
It was truly an engineering marvel for me. The pipe allowed water to drain through the valley until we completed filling the valley. Then, the water was diverted to a man-made river 30 meters above the former river!
Building this golf course was truly an education process.
Below is a photo showing the valley (in the background) after the fill but before we started shaping the golf holes.....
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