Guys:
Ron's overview is quite close if you get get past all of his overblown analogies and color commentary
I have worked with the club for the past 8 years or so. They are a tough club from the perspective that there has always been too many old boys steering the ship with cronies controlling the money and puppets as chair-people who can never make decisions---and you thought golf architecture was all fun and glory huh? On the backside of all this is that Lockport is a very blue collar town and set out of the way from main stream private golf--they have a very small membership and struggle constantly.
While I have done quite a bit of work for them, it has not come in the correct order. In the late 90's I added two new holes, what are the 8th and 9th presently and added new tees on 3 others to bring the course from just over 6,000yds to 6,500+ yds. Then in 2002-03 I did a master plan for them and it sat on a shelf for almost 4 years before anything was done and then it was only rebuilding a bunch of tees. This past spring and summer we finally did some more interesting work--redesigned/rebuilt some bunkers on the new 9 that was added in the early 90's, before I even lived in Lockport. This work was done in house.
On to the good stuff. The Thompson holes; 1,2,3,4,5,15, 16, 17 & 18 are quite delightful and fun to play. The escarpment that Ron describes is about the only interesting land feature in all of Niagara County and trust me when I say this, Thompson made the most of it with his 9-hole course which was completed 1949/50. Thompson's work was actually a redesign of an existing course, designer unknown. Thompson completely rerouted the course and built all new greens, getting so much more from the escarpment and the long and narrow terraces that transition as the escarpment falls from top to bottom. Side note, when I did the MP in 2003, the club demanded that they have a new practice area (they don't have one) and they wanted it built on Thompson's 16th hole--a strong par 4. I did do a design and it does show in the MP, but I went on record saying that it wasn't my idea and I would never help them build it. It has never been built, but recently I have heard a rumor that an influential member has contacted another architect he knows to get a design for a range on the 16th hole. I still don't believe it will ever happen as there are still enough members who love Thompson's work and would never allow it to be destroyed.
As Ian has always said, and he is quite right, Thompson was brilliant when it came to green site design and establishing an interesting defense that extends all the way back to the tee. He wasn't too bad a routing either
and this is probably the best feature at LTCC. At LTCC, I believe his work was no where near as flamboyant or stellar as his more noteworthy work across Canada, but as you can tell from the documents Ian posted, thanks Ian
, he was very purposeful and deliberate in what he wanted and in the directions he left his construction supervisors...even if they or the shapers were drinking too much
The tragedy of this is the fact that a long time member who gave me these documents has several more originals like these, but will not part with them and the worst part is, the club doesn't know he has them
Mark: I would say the scenery experience comes from the escarpment and its movement--other than that the Niagara County area is relatively flat and fairly uninteresting. The Thompson holes are without a doubt worth the experience, the others are essentially fillers and fall on land that doesn't relate.
TVCC is coming along, but like all other clubs times are tough. The MP is about done, just the final producted left and they are preparing with my help, a phased implementation plan. Oyster Harbors is very quiet with politics and the market keeping things on the back burner.