Finishing touches being added to new golf course in Argentina
The finishing touches are being added to a new golf course in Argentina.
The course at Pueblo Estancia La Paz lies close to the town Ascochinga in the province of Córdoba.
The course has been designed by Frankie Bunge, with construction beginning back in 2011 before opening for play in November 2015. However, work is now being done to improve the landscaping of the site’s transition areas and surrounds.
Having previously worked for Landscapes Unlimited and Weitz Golf, Bunge built courses for a number of high profile architects, including Tom Fazio, Bob Cupp and Jack Nicklaus, before establishing his own firm – Bunge Golf.
As well as designing the course at Pueblo Estancia La Paz, he was also responsible for overseeing the construction element of the project.
“I believe in strategic design, and with most holes I favoured strategic play in the design, but some are suited more for a heroic style of play,” Bunge said. “I also focus on environmental matters, and at Pueblo Estancia La Paz, we have reduced maintenance areas by adding waste-bunkers and native plantations.”
The course is comprised of three distinct areas, which Bunge explained gives different sections of the layout a different feel.
“Seven holes are inside a park built almost 200 years ago designed by Charles Thays – a very famous French landscape architect – and feature huge trees,” Bunge said. “Another seven holes lie in the native and untouched areas of the Sierras Cordobesas, which include small hills and rocky areas with native grass species. The other four holes were built close to the Ascochinga River and incorporate the cliffs, beaches and river banks of the site.”
Bunge explained that he also took an experimental approach to the course’s bunkering.
“We have some bunkers built with rivets, some built with sleepers from train railroads, some waste bunkers and some that look a lot like the ones that Tom Fazio remodeled in Augusta Natonal,” he said.
Bunge has recently been appointed to manage a new project at El Terrón Golf Club, near Villa Allende, Argentina, and will work alongside architect Tom Weiskopf on this work.
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The course at Pueblo Estancia La Paz is the first 18-holer Frankie Bunge has both designed and constructed
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The course plays through three distinct areas offering a variety of settings
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The course opened for play in November 2015
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