Thanks for the compliments on the pictures. A few quick thoughts on Five Farms:
While I trust Jim's assessment that there is further tree removal to be done, I would think that work would be more a selective fine tuning than a wholesale job. This is NOT one of those courses choked by trees. Rather most are well out of play. I actually thought Five Farms had an unusually striking variety of trees that presented a beautiful setting to the course without adversely impacting the architecture.
Second, this is one tough course. The brutal rough, undulating fairways and a par of 70 made the course seem much longer than the listed 7100 yards. I played very well for me and didn't crack 80. Five Farms will definitely test your game.
Dan Herrmann, interesting comment on seeing some similarities to Flynn's style. I haven't played many Flynn courses (only 3 that I know of), but I do think Five Farms and HVCC have some similarities, particularly some of the bunker work.
Finally, I am very much a "gut reaction" type of person when it comes to my assessment of courses. By that I mean, I usually have a gut reaction to a course and that initial impression rarely changes upon further reflection. Five Farms was an exception for me. My initial gut reaction was that it was a very good course worthy of its ranking somewhere in the middle of the second fifty of US top 100, but probably not much higher. To my surprise, however, I have found myself thinking about Five Farms a lot over the 4 months since I played; the terrific routing, the wonderful green complexes, the great mix of holes, the challenge, the strategy and the beauty. I remember every hole and every shot vividly without any effort of recollection, which I always find to be a good litmus test to quality. So upon further reflection, I am now confident that Five Farms is in fact underrated, which is no small feat considering its ranking.
Ed