Feel free to bash . . .
I think the bunkers at Cypress Point are awful.
They simply do not match the landscape.
They are so out of place that I'd describe them as visually offensive.
All those "squiggely shapes", with very "definite edges" look so incredibly un-natural.
-Ted
Ted,
I agree with you here. On the web site, they encourage you to look at Shackelford's book to reference the original views of the holes... From the video posted, my one round there in 1994, and Shackelford's book, Cypress Point appears to have lost some of its natural appeal.
As a member at a Mackenzie course that went through the rebuilding of his bunkers, I remember how clearly it was communicated to the membership the bunkers were being revetted specifically because maintaining the bunkers in the state in which they were originally designed was making it impossible to keep the sand in them.
Even then, there was considerable disagreement within the membership on the wisdom of these changes until a year or so had gone past. It was duly noted the sand covering in the bunkers was more consistent, allowing the crew to direct more attention and resources to the playing surfaces on or around the greens.
Even though the possibility of returning the bunkers to the Mackenzie 'look' still present at RM and some holes at Kingston Heath has been effectively eliminated, we went from 5th to 2nd ranked course in Australia and moved from the second 50 to 34th in the world rankings within 7 years. At the same time, many of the members thought it was important to maintain the overall wild naturalistic look of the course, since the side-by-side comparison to the immaculate playing surfaces provides much of the aesthetic interest–beyond the staggering ocean views of course.
The 'renovations' at CP don't seem to have changed the depth of the bunkers or the playing characteristics of any hole to a noticeable degree. What reason was provided to the members for ruining the aesthetics of the course, when it does not result in an improvement of playing conditions in the long term? If Cypress Point had a larger local member base, the discussion may have been a little more vigorous on this topic. That said, the areas away from the greens look relatively untouched.
Taking photos of the course in the middle of the day doesn't show Cypress Point in it's best light either.