Played East Hampton this weekend. For a detailed discussion, please see the original post on this one that ran from 5/2-15 and is on page 40 of the archives (as of 8/19).
Fact #1: Greens were at a very fair speed; stimp couldn't have been over 8 and even downhill sliders were do-able. In fact, uphill putts were downright slow.
Fact#2: Although the front nine is loaded with trees, they are well situated so as to NOT obstruct shots from the fairway or tee boxes.
Fact #3: Although there is plenty of grunch on the front nine, you can FIND your ball in there. Pars are hard to come by but bogies aren't that difficult.
Fact #4: The back nine also has plenty of grunch, too. Some of it (although not all) is "unfindable" stuff that slows up play and makes double bogies hard to come by. Also, there are actually SPRINKLERS between #'s 10, 16, 17 and 18 to put water on the stuff! Why does fescue need to be watered when it's already "rough"
Opinion: Front nine is a superb collection of holes on a really cramped piece of property; the attempt at a Pine Valley look was quite successful - even down to the color of the sand. 8 and 9 are neat green complexes that beg for more acreage (which just doesn't exist). Back nine reminds me of a "wild and woolly" Garden City with more interesting green complexes. #18 is a little anti-climactic but there wasn't much real estate left at that point, either. A REALLY deep front bunker complex might help the visual impact of that hole, though.
Other than the sprinklers in the fescue, I was very impressed. If it was any shorter, EHGC would replace Taconic as the best short course I've ever played. Come to think of it, if they've lengthened Taconic with new tees to 6400 yards, then EHGC wins!
My first look at a Coore & Crenshaw - I hope I get to see many more.