I played Worcester G&CC yesterday, a course I have always liked, but less so with the passing years. Some ten years or so, the club made dramatic changes to a largely intact Dr. Mac course. In the name of safety, three new holes were added and the land for some of the original holes was sold off. To top this off, the club alowed the pro to design the new holes and the alteration to other holes to make way. The new holes have had ten years to settle and there is still little love for them. The biggest reason is that most feel the course is no better for the changes, in fact worse. Additionally, the three new holes are in a flood plain and are out of commission for most of the winter. Why a proper archie wasn't consulted is the question everybody asks, yet nobody knows the answer.
To add insult to injury, many of the green complexes are long & narrow with bunkering on either side, placing a preimium on the correct angles of attack. In recent years, the club has planted so many trees that the only angle of attack is the correct one because most of the others are blocked by trees with no chance for recovery. The two members I played with lamented what has happened to their course - a very rare opinion of most I talk with concerning trees. The usual reply is don't hit it in the trees - showing a complete lack of understanding for the point being made. In any case, these two chaps said the Forestry Commission was giving them trees to plant with the idea that some will be taken away at some point for re-planting elsewhere. Has anybody ever heard of this before?
Ciao