Bronze Buffalo Ranch is our club. It’s where I learned to golf… and, more importantly, where I learned to love golf.

During any given round, a 30 handicap can hit a PGA caliber shot, while carding an 112. It’s that one shot that keeps you coming back; that, and the people, the landscape, and that rare, endangered species… a birdie. There are indelible moments, when you look up from your ball and realize just how fortunate you are to be standing in one of the most breathtaking places in the world.

The 10th hole at Bronze Buffalo is one of those special locations — a par-3 featuring a stunning peninsula green, guarded by bunkers, and a wickedly deceptive approach. I’ll confess, there are at least 50 Borballs lurking beneath the liquid surface of this painting.

A great hole forces total commitment to your shot — here? There is no alternative.

The setting is sublime. Having spent so much time out here playing, watching and paying attention, I was excited to explore it in paint. Commissioned by a wonderful couple, this work offered a chance to spend time with a familiar place in an entirely different way.

At 30″ × 53″, the Belgian linen gave the landscape room to stretch out. I wanted to preserve the ethereal sense of space… invite the viewer to let their eye travel through the scene and linger.

The opening stages were about establishing the composition and the relationships between the major areas… sky, middle ground, water, and foreground. There would be plenty of time for detail. First, the painting required a foundation and structure.

Painting a place you know well comes with an interesting challenge: you have more information than you need.

There’s the source photograph, and then there are all the countless hours you’ve spent there. Differing skies, rapidly changing light — it’s about all of the details you notice between shots.

The work becomes a matter of deciding which observations belong in the painting, and which are best committed to memory.

Throughout the process, I continued paying close attention while out on ten. When you’re working on a painting, looking is the job… even when you’re supposed to be concentrating on golf.

A shift in color, an edge, a relationship between the water and the land… these observations followed me back to the studio, and, for the sake of sanity… I shook off the tee shots that came up short.

As the painting developed, the decisions became smaller… where to push, where to pull — where a mark could bring an area to life, and where the existing strokes already told the story.

That’s a part of painting I love. A small adjustment can change how you experience the whole canvas.

Golf and art are the same… at times, it’s what you do away from the course… and easel… that make all the difference. I took a few days to let the painting breathe and came back with fresh eyes.

After spending so many hours inside a composition, a little distance helps you see what actually needs attention.

The synthesis between the sky and water proved the tether for this painting. The entire work was created with a mix of impasto brush and palette knife strokes. The sky features heavy brush strokes, while the water mostly scraped with a palette knife to capture the reflection.

Each first layer was established with a wash of large brush strokes. Gesture, flow, tempo… what works on the course, works in the studio.

The final sessions were measured: a few accent colors, some stronger tones, extra impasto marks. Looking, thinking, painting — and then looking some more.

Understated effort is everything in the home stretch. Each addition must earn its place, not unlike every club in your bag.

A few final adjustments, a touch-up to the chair, and the painting had arrived.

It was a distinct pleasure to paint a place that has become a significant part of our lives. I’ve stood on this hole thinking about club selection, wind and everything that might happen once the ball leaves the tee. Spending time painting it gave me another reason to pay attention.

Thank you to my collectors for trusting me with this commission. Bringing a place I love onto Belgian linen has been a pleasure from the first marks to the last.

Bronze Buffalo Ranch, Hole 10 — 30″ × 53″, Acrylic on Belgian linen. By Borbay.