[Tom Naccarato]

I was fortunate to recently get some files I had from an old computer and came across an AVI file I had created of Hollywood Golf Club in Deal, New Jersey, which was part of a topic shortly before I returned to participation on this website. I think it shows the changes to be both dramatic and, for the most part needed to restore Hollywood back to its place in the world of American Golf Architecture, and what a place it must have been. (and still possibly is)

My apologies, the imaging isn't perfect, but its close enough to see a loss of features.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v235/Tommy_Naccarato/?action=view&current=holly.flv

[Patrick_Mucci]

Tommy,

As much as I'd like to see Hollywood restored to the Hollywood that's presented in the aerial hanging in the Men's Locker room, the one I gave you a copy of, that much of a radical change isn't going to occur overnight, if at all.

You have to remember that Hollywood was altered/softened over decades.

It's not going to be restored overnight.

The best you can hope for is that certain "old" features are gradually restored.

You have to remember that the course was designed as a "Championship" course.

Now, you have juniors, seniors and women playing daily.
The course presented in the aerial is beyond their ability to navigate.

In addition, the culture of golf has changed dramatically over the years.

The need or quest for fairness can become pervasive.

While you and me might revel in playing the old Hollywood, others would whine that it's too difficult, too challenging, and for them, as dues paying members, they might be right.

So, there has to be a happy medium.

I believe that medium is a partial restoration, a restoration of those features that are tolerable for today's members.

It's the membership that must approve and fund any restoration.

When you've taken a recent bite of the apple, I don't know how many more you get so soon after the first.

So, I believe that the answer may be a selective restoration of those features that the present membership can reasonably tolerate.

Unfortunately, until the economy is robust again, I don't see any substantive changes occuring.

Hollywood remains a wonderful golf course, challenging, yet sporty and fun from tees commensurate with one's game

[Tom Naccarato]

Patrick,
As shown many years before, I finally got them back up and running:

[Tony_Muldoon]

Patrick,
As shown many years before, I finally got them back up and running:

Tommy I think you'll find these days it's in colour...oh and with sound...and car crashes and lots of explosions.  The sex scenes have got more interesting though.

[Agman]

Gee, Tommy, you scared me. I thought you were posting that  Musso & Frank's had just shuttered...

js

[Patrick_Mucci]

Tommy,

That's a more recent aerial.

Can you post the original I sent you ?

[Steve Lapper]

Tommy,

As much as I'd like to see Hollywood restored to the Hollywood that's presented in the aerial hanging in the Men's Locker room, the one I gave you a copy of, that much of a radical change isn't going to occur overnight, if at all.

You have to remember that Hollywood was altered/softened over decades.

It's not going to be restored overnight.

The best you can hope for is that certain "old" features are gradually restored.

You have to remember that the course was designed as a "Championship" course.

Now, you have juniors, seniors and women playing daily.
The course presented in the aerial is beyond their ability to navigate.

In addition, the culture of golf has changed dramatically over the years.

The need or quest for fairness can become pervasive.

While you and me might revel in playing the old Hollywood, others would whine that it's too difficult, too challenging, and for them, as dues paying members, they might be right.

So, there has to be a happy medium.

I believe that medium is a partial restoration, a restoration of those features that are tolerable for today's members.

It's the membership that must approve and fund any restoration.

When you've taken a recent bite of the apple, I don't know how many more you get so soon after the first.

So, I believe that the answer may be a selective restoration of those features that the present membership can reasonably tolerate.

Unfortunately, until the economy is robust again, I don't see any substantive changes occuring.

Hollywood remains a wonderful golf course, challenging, yet sporty and fun from tees commensurate with one's game

Patrick:

  Do you feel good about the club's selection of Rees Jones to advise on and then execute such a restoration plan? Just a question?

Steve

[Patrick_Mucci]

Steve,

I'm not so sure that the selection of an architect had much to do with determining the final outcome of the project.

I think the membership had a level of "tolerance" for what they'd permit in terms of a departure from what existed prior to the project.

I think Rees Jones's credibility with the membership allowed him to do things that might not have been permitted by other architects.

I also know that Rees wanted to do more in terms of restoration work, but that the club wasn't in favor of going further.

There were also a good number of members against doing anything to the golf course.

At the time the project was being undertaken, the specter of Bobby Jacobson and the changes he made to the golf course over the years, loomed large over any attempt to undo them.

Adhering to the notion that another architect would have been more successful in restoring more of the golf course is unrealistic, especially if you were aware of and understood the mood of the membership at the time of the project.

Had one educated and lobbied the membership, starting at least two years prior to the genesis of the project, the result might have been different.  But, that didn't happen, so there's no sense in creating hypothetical questions that can't be answered.

[Tom Naccarato]

Pat,
The bottom one was the one you sent me--I think....

I'll have to check, but that's the one.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Tommy,

You're correct, this is the original aerial I sent.

As much as I love the golf course as depicted in this aerial, the features that I don't think would be restored are the wonderful Cross Bunkers.

In today's golfing culture, they negatively affect the game of the larger segment of the membership, and as such, in the name of "fairness" they probably wouldn't be restored.

But, many other bunkers could be restored over time.

Right now, I think every club is putting capital projects on hold.

My fear is that clubs, in an attempt to reduce maintainance costs, will start eliminating features (bunkers and others) that require daily or regular maintainance efforts and expenditures.

I can also envision clubs abandoning the maintainance of the non-playing areas.

[Kirk Gill]

That course had a LOT of bunkers.

Do you folks have any ground-level pictures of Hollywood back in the day?

[Patrick_Mucci]

Kirk Gill,

Tom MacWood and others found some old ground level photos.

They may be on another thread about Hollywood.

It was certainly a unique course.

What I'm surprised by is that it was never presented as a "peer" course to Pine Valley.

Both were intended as "Championship" courses and from the looks of this aerial, Hollywood was every bit the test that Pine Valley was, absent the elevation changes.

What can't be seen in the aerial photos are the spectacular green complexes.

The putting surfaces have abundant contour and slope and are well protected.

For some reason, Hollywood flew under everybody's radar when it came to identifying "championship" golf courses that were member oriented.

[Pat Burke]

Kirk Gill,

Tom MacWood and others found some old ground level photos.

They may be on another thread about Hollywood.

It was certainly a unique course.

What I'm surprised by is that it was never presented as a "peer" course to Pine Valley.

Both were intended as "Championship" courses and from the looks of this aerial, Hollywood was every bit the test that Pine Valley was, absent the elevation changes.

What can't be seen in the aerial photos are the spectacular green complexes.

The putting surfaces have abundant contour and slope and are well protected.

For some reason, Hollywood flew under everybody's radar when it came to identifying "championship" golf courses that were member oriented.

I would be curios to know how much Hollywood being an all jewish club impacted its notoriety.  I grew up playing across the street and had the opportunity to play there often as a kid.  It was always a cool place and seemed much more difficult than Deal GC

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