Gentlemen,
I've thought through the entire Lake Course mess thoroughly and am not done sniveling because there is simply no explanation to account for how poorly this reflects on the club. I understand the mantra that preaches full visibility of the target, but this ethos is peculiar to the Rees Jones notion that blindness is a defect and the goal of the architect is to present as antiseptic and objective an examination as possible.
Due to terrain and bunkering, the Lake Course has historically included blind approaches on #2,4,8,13,15,17 and 18. What can possibly be the point of (a.) repositioning the 7th green only 30 feet, slightly into the previous 8th fairway, and (b.) raping the flow of the existing terrain to achieve a semi-clear clear target from the new 8th tee?
The whole thing (I looked again yesterday) comes off as a series of disparate elements that taken individually are reasonably well executed, but enjoined together the effect is an awkward, segmented collection of features force-fed together. That this new work appears right behind the grill room windows draws attention to what can only be described as a blunder. The club and Bill Love obviously could not muster up the courage to do something controversial like a punchbowl green on the far side of the ridge, nor move the 7th green farther back and design a challenging putting surface to make the pitch shot extra-demanding.
The argument has been made that the original Lake Course does not have any undulating putting surfaces, yet a close examination of #1 shows that perspective holds little water. It is certainly the most interesting green on the golf course and demonstrates how a large putting surface can be configured in a manner as to create a different shot demand with every move of the pin. If #7 had been moved back 40 yards and the green designed to be closer to - for instance - #6 at NGLA, the green-to-tee walk would be alleviated and the shot value more in line with the triple tiered green built circa 1973.
I am still not sure how I felt about the three tiers; they were nowhere as hideous when compared to those putrid "grass traps" inflicted on the right side of the fairway after the tree fell down. However, none of it was original, so I see no reason why we ought not to have brought in a daring artist to sprinkle some pizazz out there. We needed Van Gough and instead hired a very good house painter.
The elevated tees on #8 grow more revolting every time I look at them. There is no earthly explanation for not simply using the existing topography and constructing an appropriate (read: simple) tee adjacent to the basin - thereby parroting a longer uphill version of what we had before.
Joel has uncovered some truths regarding the original putting surface contours (almost like a mini-Biarritz) that if restored would have been smashingly sexy. Yet, once again, cowardice carried the day and we are stuck with a lengthy walk - culminating in a trudge up a steep slope - to an overly long par-3 with little charm or elegance.
I refuse to subject myself to a pointless backwards trek with a five-wood and pledge to play the white tees on that hole unless forced otherwise in a tournament. That can be my protest at the club's misguided attempt at imposing classless machismo on a hole that once tested nerve and skill instead of brute exertion.
To make this development all the more egregious, the puppet-masters opted to maintain the canard that the "golf course has only one fairway bunker." This assumes that the twin traps forty yards in front of the putting surface on #1 somehow are greenside. The numerous original fairway bunkers obviously disappeared because of maintenance costs during times of economic crises. The landforms are still sitting there, but the puppet-masters chose to ignore shrieks from the grave and pretend there are no bodies of past glory buried under tufts of scraggly poa.
If you are going to close the golf course for seven months, it is best to dress her up before making an entrance on the red carpet.
My final suggestion/gripe would enhance the overall experience for bombers who play from the insanity tees. Let's take the walk to the very back tee boxes between #1-2, 2-3, 4-5 and 11-12. The installation of winding walking paths through the foliage would provide some visceral intimacy and sense of anticipation for the next hole. Think of the walk between #15 and 16 at Cypress Point. Close your eyes and make your way through a tunnel of brush and native plants behind the first green, eventually making your way to the new tee box.
Can you smell the greenery? Now continue along the dirt path as it finally turns right adjacent to the tee. You emerge from an enclosed English Garden sensation to a panoramic hillside view of the expanse of fairway and grassy dunes tumbling down the leeward side of the hill. Look to your right up the fairway and see the 2nd green in the far distance, the landing area blocked by a rise of the ground. You must swing away and trust what you cannot see. If only we had the vision to shave the right side of the fairway to introduce a bank shot.
Now, repeat something similar on the other examples, particularly between #4 and 5 . . . . . . . suddenly the long backwards march becomes a pleasant commune with nature instead of a monotonous hike against the grain of the topography.