I played the Wolf at Paiute Indiana reservation north of Las Vegas a few weeks ago. It is, in my opinion, one of Pete Dye's best courses recently. Although condition of the course is not counted with Best New nominees, it seems many of the new courses are immaculate from the outset, and the Wolf fits into that pattern. Don't let Webb/
Soremstam 64-65 (on Shell's Wonderful World of Golf) mislead you. The Wolf is a strong test, about 7,600 from the tips. The holes run every which way, and are of varied lengths. The biggest drawback is the 15th, a copycat island hole like the 17th at Sawgrass or the 17th at PGA Stadium West. It is out of character with the rest of the course. The holes are fringed with wild flowers, and it is quite pretty and will improve as it matures.
I also played Bear's Best in Las Vegas, a collection of some of Nicklaus' western holes. The 10th, a replica of a PGA West Resort hole, is very much more severely contoured than the other holes. It also features two holes--a par 3 and a very short par 4--from the Old Works course in Montana, replete with black slag bunkers. A supposed replica of the 14th hole at Castle Pines didn't come off too well. The pines are scraggly and I don't recall the hole looking the way it is replicated. Other than that, it fits together well. It all depends on how one views replica courses. One nice thing about it from the Nicklaus company standpoint is it doesn't have to worry about tradename or trademark infringement or other similar problems since it already owns them, and it already has the plans.
A week before I was on the site of Bull's Bay just north of Charleston, S.C.. Mike Strantz has quietly constructed a mountain on the property. Fishermen use it as a landmark. While I was there, some workmen were at its summit, and they looked like ants. Locals tell me it spreads out quite nicely from there and will be very well received. Unless you know the exact way, you can't find it. Go 2 1/2 miles north of the main entrance to Charleston National on highway 17. There is a black mail box on the right hand side, and, across the median, a fire station. You turn right at the mail box and wind back about a quarter of a mile on a dirt road to the staging area. Also, while in Charleston, I drove around Rivertown, a new Palme/Seay design across the street from Dunes West just north of Mt. Pleasant. It is all ready to go, and it looks terrific.