"The floor is now open for questions."
Well, I don't have questions, just a few corrections.
"Despite the fuss over the greens on #'s 7 & 10, only the 1st green was (partially) lost. It's coming back pretty well."
Sounds like you played there recently. This just confirms the great job Mark Michaud and his crew have done bringing the course back.
Many greens were left damaged. The worst being the 1st,7th 13th and 14th. The 2nd and 3rd were the best. But all had some degree of damage. My guess would be the 1st lost 40% of it's surface.
"I saw no evidence of clown's noses, lopp-the-loops or windmills (except in the distance at National)."
The USGA took them away immediatly after the Open........and blamed the grounds crew for them being there in the first place....
3) "The caddy corps is adament that #7 green is challenging enough under everyday play conditions and the USGA completely missed the boat in assuming that the world's greatest players needed extra clhallenge. "The hole is a par 4, anyway - why make it a par 6?".
Maybe for you, not for me.
4) If you didn't know that a "major" had been played there 7 weeks ago, you would never guess it from the condition of the grounds (except around parts of the perimeter). The trampled down rough in the spectator areas does yield better lies than the rough just off the fairways so the playability of the course is marginally easier for the guy who hits it "long and wrong". Otherwise, all evidence of the infrastructure and the people is gone.
Absolutely Agree
5) I hit 8 iron into a couple of acknowledged "great" par 4's that I remember being pretty good 3-5 irons for me when I was 25 years younger.
And those holes would be.........................
With apologies to those who've not played the course:
1) Adding 60-85 yards on #'s 4, 9, 15 and 18 makes those holes LONG!!
3 holes were lengthened for the 2004 Open. 9, 15 and 18 weren't touched. 3,4 and 8 were lengthened less than 100 yards total.
2) The green on SH's Redan (#7 - Flynn left it from CBM's design) is about 1/2 the size of NGLA's Redan green and the topography of the hole doesn't lend itself to bouncing the ball on from the right quite as readily. The green does feed sharply to the left and the Redan bunker is quite deep.
I don't know how much square footage the 4th at National has but I'd guess it isn't twice the size of the 7th at Shinnecock.
3) If #11 isn't the world's greatest short par 3, it's surely the best I've ever played BY FAR (I've not played Troon). If you miss the green (straight) long going downwind, the little pitch back into the wind is actually do-able. Under any conditions, missing left is guaranteed dead.
It is the world's greatest short par 3.........I'm a little impartial though
4) Because of the tree removal at National, you can see the top of the hill on the 3rd hole at NGLA from the 13th tee at Shinnecock. The perimeter trees at National haven't been touched so the view isn't totally unobstructed, but it still looks pretty neat.
Never noticed the hill of National's 3rd but there are a number of area's now visible, Sebonack GC included.