I believe it's time to bring up Hardelot again as a lot of things have happened there since this thread was started.
Here is a quick recap if you don't feel like reading the whole thread all over again :
Last year, Frank Pont and I have been appointed to restore Simpson’s aesthetics and strategy.
Hardelot did not suffer dramatic changes over the years save for what time usually does to a golf course: encroaching trees, vanished bunkers, shrunk greens, narrowed fairways etc. A post war renovation also added some RTJ runway tees which will be replaced by more natural looking platforms.
Thank God the greens were very well preserved. They only would make a trip to Hardelot fully rewarding. In our opinion, Hardelot greens are among the best Simpson ever designed. Our job here is to leave them untouched and extend them back to their original sizes
With only 5900 meters from the tips and almost no room to stretch, Hardelot will never become long by modern standards. That said, we will bring the par down from 73 to 71 by converting 2 par 5s in par 4s (up to now, the course featured no less than 6 par 5s!) On top of that, we would like to implement a grass conversion program enabling the course to play faster and firmer.
Bunker renovation will be the most visually striking part of our work, all of them being rebuilt with typical Simpson lace edge style. Following the documentation we found (significant but sometimes incomplete), we try to replicate Simpson’s original bunker scheme but we do allow certain changes when necessary.
Here are some pictures and comments about the work we did last winter. Back nine restoration is programmed for this coming winter.
Hole 1:
Our main goal here was to bring back a strategy which had been lost due to excessive trees and an ill placed fairway bunker. Effectively, this reachable par 5 offered no real options from the tee. Players had to lay up short of the 1st bunker with a 3 wood before knocking another unlikely 3 wood into the green. If they don’t carry it all the way, a massive hump short of the green deflects most balls either left or right.
First, we moved the central fairway bunker 15 meters shorter so it’s now a risky yet possible carry from the tee for the long hitters.
Second, we cut trees all along the left side and widened the fairway by 10/15 meters opening a new route to the green. Long hitters will get a great shot at the green from anywhere left of the central fairway bunker and short of the 2nd fairway bunker on the left.
Alternatively, the right side of the fairway provides a safer drive but the 3rd fairway bunker on the left will put additional pressure on the 2nd shot.
The extended left green bunker is now as threatening as ever while the right green bunker has been moved forward to collect more inaccurate approach shots.
Hole 1 before restoration.
View from the 1st tee with new fairway extension on the left.
If you lay up short of the 1st fairway bunker, here is the shot !
An ideal drive will take you short of this 2nd fairway bunker. Your best chance to go for the green in two.
A threatening bunker just left of the green.
Hole 2:
Originally a par 5, this hole is now officially a par 4.
Although the 450 meters back tee remains opened for championships, we’ve built new forward tees for the regular players, including 2 new ladies tees.
Our main work on this hole was to scale down a large dune in the middle of the fairway which blinded the 2nd shot. The drive is now large and opened with no bunker while the long 2nd shot can be played in two ways : either safely to the left leaving natural tilt feeding back to the green, or straight at the pin with the risk of falling short right into a new grassy hollow.
Any player in the left green bunker will face a devilish downhill out.
When hole 2 was still a par 5.
Hole 2 now seen from men's tee. The dune on the fairway and its bunker are gone...
2nd shot into the green with renovated bunker on the left
hole 2 seen from behind the green with new grassy hollow in front of the green
Hole 3:
Few changes were made on this hole. We extended and redesigned the green bunkers, and cut a cluster of poplar trees on the left side trying to re-open a view from tee to green. Doing so, we got rid of the wet area where the poplars grew from and have replaced it with a more sandy soil.
The green is now "visible" from the tees.
2nd shot before restoration. Note the runway 4th tee in the background.
Same place after bunker restoration.
To be continued...