I attended the BMW Media Day which coincided with the reopening of Cog Hill's #4 (Dubsdread) course yesterday and had the opportunity to interview Rees Jones, along with the owner and course superintendent and Camilo Villegas, the defending champ. From an overall perspective, Jones did a laudable job of lengthening, strengthening and visually improving the look and playability of the golf course. The work involved a complete rebuilding of all 18 greens (with sub-air systems), a new bunkering scheme (96 deep-and-steep old-style bunkers that are very reminiscent of the bunkers at Olympia Fields North), cutting down hundreds of trees (plenty more should go IMHO), recontouring of most of the fairways and a major re-design of the seventh hole, with a pond sitting at the turn of the dogleg. Not that length means all that much to the touring pros, but the new Dubsdread can now stretch to 7550 yards. Here's my quickie review of all 18 holes, with the proviso that the distances given are rough estimates because they gave us a provisional scorecard with distances from the blue tees.
#1 450 yard par 4 dogleg left to an elevated and well bunkered green. Jones cleared out a bunch of tree clutter left and right of the fairway and built a cluster of bunkers on both sides of the fairway with visually intimidating mounding. Most mortals will be resigned to using a nine-iron or wedge to extricate from most of the bunkers on the golf course and the monsters on the first hole are no exception. The putting surface appears to be 25% or so smaller than the original green and it has much more internal contouring than the Dick Wilson green. This hole will be a bit of a brute for regular players (like the rest of the course if you play the blue tees or further back), but the pros probably won't have that much difficulty. It will probably be a three wood-eight iron starter for them.
#2 230 yard par 3 to a shallow horizontal green with bunkers basically surrounding the putting surface. This replaces a recent re-design of the second hole that nobody was particularly fond of. The green on the new hole strikes me as being extremely difficult to hit and even more hard to putt. This is no birdie hole for the pros, that's for sure.
#3 430 yard relatively straightaway par 4 to an elevated green. The tee shot is pretty basic, but the shot into the green is fairly dramatic. The bunkering around the green is quite impressive and the green itself has several shelves that will allow a great deal of variety of hole locations.
#4 415 yard par 4 with a small hazard near the fairway that shouldn't be in play for the pros. Surprise, surprise, the green is well bunkered and actually appears somewhat larger than its predecessor. Along with the third hole, this will allow the player to get some momentum before the rest of the front nine starts beating him up.
#5 490 yard par 4. This used to be a short par five. Now it is one of the most difficult holes on the golf course. Jones put in a string of pearls bunkering scheme on the left side to visually frame the hole and encourage the player to play right of center. Just for a little more fun, he put in bunkers on the right side, leaving an extremely challenging tee shot for all levels of play. The green is turned ever so slightly to create a difficult angle of attack. Tough hole.
#6 240 yard downhill par 3. This is one of the most scenic and scary par 3 holes in Chicagoland. The hole plays downhill and usually downwind to a hard to hit green with several humps that redirect traffic away from other parts of the green. Jones put in a USGA favorite run-off chipping area to the right of the green. This looks extraneous and unnecessary to me, but the USGA (the target of the re-do) seems to love the challenge that these provide, regardless of the design integrity issue.
#7 415 yard par 4 dogleg right. This used to be a weak and visually uninspiring hole. The principal difficulty was presented if the player leaked his drive to the right and found himself in a grove of willows and buckthorn. All of that clutter has been removed and replaced with a pond that will surely catch its fair share of balls by those who chance the shortcut in order to have a short iron to the green. The green strikes this observer as fairly controversial because of the size of the hogback and the extremely demanding nature of some of the potential hole locations. Everyday players will really struggle with all aspects of this hole, but especially with the flat stick. Very impressive bunkering around the green with a five-yard wide run-up area.
#8 380 yard straightaway par 4. This was one of the worst short par 4s in Chicago before Jones blew it up. The new rendition is flat-out beautiful and fun. He removed dozens of trees on the left and replaced them with a sprawling bunker that one would best avoid. There is a lateral hazard on the right side, so accuracy off the tee is again demanded. The green is elevated, well bunkered and, once again, a bit of a devil to putt because of the internal contouring.
#9 600 yard par 5. This has always been one of the most challenging three shotters in town because of the double dogleg design, the pinching oaks on either side of the fairway and the behemoth green. It still is. The green is more elevated than its predecessor, with a back left shelf that has all the appearances of a day four placement. This is a legitimate three shot hole for virtually all of the touring pros.
#10 370 yard par 4 with a sharp dogleg about fifty yards from the green. They sort of ran out of real estate here. Jones improved the look and playability of the hole with tree removal and a set of bunkers on the right side. The green will provide some challenge, but this is still a great birdie opportunity. One wonders why the grove of oaks on the left wasn't removed in order to create a driveable par 4 with plenty of risk/reward. Jones commented that he didn't really see an opportunity for a driveable par 4 on the course and he surely knows more than moi...
#11 575 yard par 5 with a sharp turn to the left about 100 yards from the green. Another three shotter for most mortals, but a great player might have a chance to hit the green with a fairway wood if he smokes the drive. The big bunker at the turn will catch some traffic as well.
#12 220 yard downhill par 3. Sound familiar? It should, because this is fairly reminiscent of #6 and the upcoming #14. This is one of the problems with the original routing, because a great course really shouldn't have three long downhill par 3's, IMHO. This is a hard hole but the weakest of the bunch, not that I'll get many birdies on it, my friend.
#13 is a 465 yard par 4 with a barranca in front of the long rectangle of a green. Out of bounds looms on the right and bunkers on the left make the player pray for a dead straight drive. Murder, Inc.
#14 is a 220 yard downhill par three with a spectacular set of bunkers and a terrific Tom Doak-like green that Rees Jones conceived. There! I put Rees and Doak in the same happy sentence. In truth, I think Doak would be impressed with this green and many others on the golf course. Jones took a lot of chances with green shapes and internal contouring and this just might be the best.
#15 is a 520 yard par five that will probably be shortened by forty yards and played as a par four in the BMW Championship. If so, it will be a brute. As it is, a decent player will have his second relatively easy chance at birdie here. Another terrific green that takes a slight turn off the fairway to the right.
#16 is a 420 yard par 4 gentle dogleg left with a lateral hazard on the left and a set of bunkers built into the hillside on the right. This is probably the signature hole on the golf course. It surely has the most eye candy for the beholder. Jones shrunk the green pad and put in some clever humps and hillocks that will prove daunting.
#17 is a 430 yard par 4 that moves ever so slightly to the right. Jones built up the left side of the fairway at an angle pointing toward the green and put in a mess o' bunkers in that location. The result is a visually intimidating tee shot to a well bunkered difficult green. This is a big upgrade from the previous hole, which used to be a bit of a cupcake for the pros.
#18 is a 465 yard par 4 with a pond just in front and to the left of the green. The bunkers on the right of the green might be a popular bailout spot, but the shot out of the bunker is predestined for the drink. Very difficult finishing hole with a much better putting surface.
Rees Jones sure knows how to satisfy a customer. Frank Jemsek was willing to spend $5 million on the off chance that he could one day host a US Open, which was the lifelong dream of his father, the legendary Joe Jemsek. I'm not all that high on his chances, but that is mainly because I think Butler National will admit a female member or three in the relatively near future. As it is, Dubsdread may have the right stuff to be Open worthy. It is long when it needs to be, demanding off the tee and on the green. Some will probably criticize the course as a bit of a death march, but it is named Dubsdread, after all, and they do want the US Open. If the get it, I'll start calling it "Prosdread"...