So many interesting comments, thanks to all who attended for taking the time to come see the course and for giving it so much thought. The positives are wonderful to read, particularly seeing the FUN word in caps, since that is the goal isn't it? But the criticism is important because we know there are elements in need of tweaking and the insights gleaned from Sunday and these posts is of great help.
Just a few comments/responses, and I'm sure Gil will chime in when he gets back in town:
Ran,
Glad you liked the second on #1, it's a favorite of mine and of course as you can testify from having seen the site prior to golf, everything there is natural except for the bump left of the green to provide a subtle penalty for bailing out. There were times I could swear that green site was an abandoned hole! We're going to do some subtle work to try and make the hazard borders a bit more noticeable (hopefully to add to the fun of playing the shot, and to reduce the number of people distracted by the lack of visibility.)
Dan,
Those are very kind comments about the routing, thanks, I'm sure Gil will agree, you are putting the course in some pretty amazing company! It's neat to hear you preferred the front nine routing, most won't because it's not as separated and we've always wondered about its contrast with the back, but I've felt the front nine holes would be more fun to play, and the tighter out and back setup would accentuate the beauty and scale of the back nine land. What's even more exciting is to see how the connected holes at 2 and 5 are working and not slowing down play. Actually, speed of play has been UNBELIEVABLY good. It must be the ten minute tee time spacing and course width?
David M. and Tom Paul,
Interesting discussion on 3 and 12, it was total coincidence that they fall at the same point on each of the nines. I have played both several times, and can't see the similarities on the drives, actually, I'd counter they are quite different because of what the green/hole locations are dictating. I'm with Ran that 12 might benefit from tenth at Riv bunkering, or really might not, the big open field nature of it is fun and a little deceptive, time will tell. I'm still not sure if the options we were going for on 3 work, and I'm still not sure how to play 12, because as Geoff, Mike and Brad can attest, I played 12 Sunday with them in a way I never imagined: drive at the green, lofted sand wedge second to the upper hole, but the wind was so strong that it forced that strategy and made for a fun decision making process on the second shot.
David Kelly and JohnV,
As you guessed, your different views on playing 7 are just what we had in mind. It's really a matter of preference, and then executing the shots. So whichever way you want, go for it. The theory with the back left hole location was that a lay-up was actually going to provide a better angle/view, but again, I could see where playing to the alternate right fairway offers a great chance to use the backstop to nestle a ball into that pin. And JohnV, 16 green is easy to hit, just land it short and let it roll up!
Geoff,
Interesting insights, I'm not surprised that you like 11, the green was Gil's attempt at a Raynor-like ridge, I think he pulled it off beautifully, glad you agree. A note on 6, I finally hit the shot that lands well short and rolls up through the swale and onto the green, it was pretty neat. It definitely can be done, just a matter of placing your tee shot and turning over a shot, which is hard to do with the hazard left. It's probably a better hole for right handers in this respect.
Mike C,
Thanks for all the kind comments and especially the things you'd like to see worked on. We talked about 10 during the round and I think that will take the focus of changes/restoration of lost waste area over #9, as we feel pretty comfortable with it for now, mostly because of the fairway contours. I would agree that the concept for the course would be a nicer example to follow not just for public golf, but also for a private course. As for the grassing, as much as I hate the rye, it is still providing a lot of roll, you saw it without a few days of cutting, which probably didn't help, but the soil drains so well that the ball still runs. The transition between rye fairway and bent approach will soften in appearance in time (hopefully). And no disagreement here on the cart paths. What a waste of several hundred thousand dollars, I still hardly ever see carts on them! Whenever they finally spray the concrete with iron, hopefully they'll become less of an annoyance on holes like 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 16.
Geoff