The Logo Says it All

Silvery Phacelia (Phacelia Argenta)

While working closely with the local fauna on the Bandon Preserve I got it in my head that the silvery phacelia plant would be the perfect place to start a logo concept. The silvery phacelia is a rare dune plant which thrives in the open sand dunes of Oregon’s south coast. Its largest known population exists on the Southern tip of the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort (follow the link to learn more about the conservation effort of the silvery phacelia plant at the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Takin' it All In by Jeff Stein).

In order to bring my idea to fruit I decided to enroll myself in a bronze casting class at South West Oregon Community College, Coos Bay, Oregon.  I spent two nights a week for two months developing the logo through its many and varied stages of production, not a simple task.

I started with a carefully molded wax model and was able to reproduce my design five times from a "mother mold" that I created from the original.  The bronzing process was a success, but much more painstaking than I anticipated.  Each of the five silvery phacelia statues, in addition to ten smaller single bronze leafs, required hours of finish grinding and sanding because of the imperfect process that is bronze casting.  In an attmept to put together the killer marketing package I created a graphic design of the stautes that I hope with make it as the offical logo of the Bandon Preserve. 

I am obviously proud to have taken an idea born of my own physical work and then to create an object that holds space with weight and texture, it is extremely satisfying.  The last step to unify the idea in my head was a marketable graphic that could be printed, embroidered, or stamped.  The graphic design process was something even more foreign to me.  For this I hired an extremely talented artist, Jon Snider of Goodspeed Graphics.  We corresponded through e-mails and pictures of my bronze statues.  From our distant communication we were able to come up with a pretty good preliminary design that I hope will please those in marketing at the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. 

Preliminary Logo

I have relished the opportunity to fully immerese myself in all aspects of the Bandon Preserve project.  Through my experiences working on the golf course I received a first class education from Bill Coore and design associate Dave Zinkand.  At the same time I learned about development, project management, maintanence practices, and marketing. Its been one of my best learning experiences so far on the job and I can't wait to begin my next project.

Takin' it all In, The Bandon Preserve

I decided to publish this one on Out and Back, an online golf journal that I greatly admire. The journal is run by Thomas Dunne, former senior editor for Travel + Leisure Golf magazine. Mr. Dunne's "...site is an attempt to bring some of the qualities that readers enjoy in a printed magazine–among them strong writing, an editorial point-of-view, a commitment to clarity and accuracy–to the Web....Editorially, the goal is to create a haven for original writing and, as resources grow, to fairly compensate professionals and talented “part-time” writers for their work."

I am not only thrilled to be working on this new and exciting project, but also participating in a growing community of online journalism.

A Checklist for Day 1

I started my first official day of work at the Bandon Preserve today with my housemate and co-worker Zach Varty. We got up bright and early to receive our first assignment from construction manager and golf architect Dave Zinkand. We met at the gravel staging area left of the 2nd green just after 7:30 am. Dave walked us around the site and handed me a notebook and Zach a yardage laser.

Assignment #1: Shoot all distances from the center of the tee to the center of the green on each hole, record them, report back.

Assignment #2: Measure total square feet of all greens and tees.

Assignment #3: Clear all the scotch broom and beach grass you can find in the line of play (this is when I knew I would have some serious job security). The site was largely covered in shore pines, gorse, scotch broom and beach grass before initial clearing. Zach and I are the two man team assigned to climb all over these wavy-gravy dunes, clearing the invasive and unwanted plant material, to expose the native dune plants laying below. Half of the time we are simply pulling beach grass to highlight some very interesting dune contours.

The layers of overgrowth are slowly peeling away and we are seeing some cool stuff out on the Preserve.

Caddying for Tom Doak: Part II

Mr. Doak shows up to the first tee with no golf bag and decides that he will borrow clubs from the other three players in the group. This is the second time I have walked 18 holes at Old Macdonald. Back in April I was privileged to play with Mr. Doak and three other intern candidates. The golf course was largely incomplete and we played half on the sand and half on the grass. This time the entire golf course is grassed and reasonably ready for some golf. Mr. Doak is completely in his element and seems relaxed and observant as always. He acts as conductor, telling the group where to place their shots and how far to hit their golf ball (he made my job easy that day). As the day proceeds Mr. Doak moves some of the flag sticks on the new greens, as he deems them "unplayable". I find this a bit amusing. It is an insight for me about the struggle for creative control as a golf course architect.

Mr. Doak hits a few snap hooks, but hits the ball pretty good for someone with his travel schedule and no clubs. I asked where he had been travelling from and got a response that included New York City, Scotland, Netherlands, India, and China. It is clear to see that Doak will be travelling to the corners of the world to design his golf courses and I will have to do the same if I want to get in on the fun.Mr. Doak has an encyclopedic response to almost any question there is to be answered about his designs or the classics. There is not much time for small talk, something I quickly learned while working construction at Old Macdonald. This allows me to focus on my own thoughts as well and make my questions count. There is so much knowledge of golf design to soak up from a master craftsman like Doak, I try to absorb everything I see and hear.

Caddying for Tom Doak

I awoke before dawn to prepare for a day caddying at the Bandon Dunes golf resort. A warm shower and two eggs over easy got me out the door by 6:00 am. "Jeff Stein, 10 minute call, Pacific Dunes." By 7:30 am I am introducing myself to my group. They are 3 people from Shanghai and one man from Fort Lauderdale. The group is composed of a Chinese golf developer, his two associates and a land planning executive, from Fort Lauderdale. They are at Bandon Dunes to absorb its beauty and to take notes.

I am carrying for Mr. Han Xiding. He is developing a resort which will host Mr. Doak's two newest golf courses on Hainan Island, in the southwest of China. The first course will break ground in November, on an island in the Nandu River. Mr. Doak told me that it would be the equivalent of putting a golf course on Roosevelt Island in NYC. This golf course will be adjacent to the capital city of Haikou. The second is going to be a large project at the northernmost point of the island, at Mulan Bay, with lots and lots of rocky coastline and sandy hills (http://golfclubatlas.com/feature-interview/tom-doak-june-2009).

Tomorrow we will be joined by Tom Doak on his newest creation, Old Macdonald Golf links.