I had the pleasure of spending Friday at Sebonack, with Tom Doak in the morning and then Jim Urbina and the rest of the crew in the afternoon. Everyone there was fantastic and it was a great way to spend a spend the day.
It was the first time I've been at a course under construction, and it takes some imagination to picture the end result.
As far as progress, most of the course is shaped, at least roughly, except for a few greens and features here and there. You can certainly tell what each hole will be like.
The site is just amazing. Holes 1, 11, 12, and 18 are on the edge of the drop-off down to Peconic Bay. There's a staircase behind the first green - 46 steps and you're on a beautiful beach, in complete solitude. I spent half an hour down there on the shore, just looking out over the water and making little piles of rocks in the sand.
Overall the course is a mix of more open holes on the hills near the water, and more treelined holes a bit further inland. The first tee is quite close to the first at NGLA. The routing is a bit unusual in that the 18th green is directly behind the first green.
The course will be gorgeous, and hard, too. If you all have any questions about my impressions of it, go ahead and ask, although with Tom and Jim checking this site regularly, I'm not sure what I could really add!
(By the way, I snuck on to NGLA - it was closed - and walked all 18. What a place! All I can say is the obvious, which is that I've never seen anything like it - but who has? Some of those greens are unbelievable - 6 and 7 were my favorites. But this is for another post.)