What are the top 5 restorations in golf

[Joel_Stewart]

From Websters:

 something that is restored; especially : a representation or reconstruction of the original form (as of a fossil or a building)


To me, California Golf Club is the best I have seen although it is not completely in it's "original form".

Los Angeles Country Club?

NGLA?

Yeamans Hall?

[Alex Miller]

My breadth of restoration knowledge is very small, but I recall hearing Yale was not so impressive before their latest restoration. Am I wrong?

We're all waiting for Pinehurst #2 as well, curious to see how that ends up.

Bethpage Black?

That's all I got.

[Patrick Kiser]

Cal and LACC are the two I would have gone with as well.

St. George's is a fine example considering how far it's come.

Meadow Club comes to mind too.

Sleepy Hollow is another.

A lot of good things going on at Winged Foot right now.

[Kevin_Reilly]

I played Meadow Club a bunch back in the 80's (friend's dad was a member) and the place had no soul...might as well have been Palo Alto Muni or Marin CC.  Today, it's completely different, of course.

Also locally, I'd mention the good work at Pasatiempo and Claremont. 

[Tom_Doak]

The Cal Club is excellent work but it is really NOT a restoration ... It includes several redesigned holes.  If it was just one or two you might overlook that and call it a restoration, but it was more than that.

We have done some good ones in California, which are well documented here.  I will throw in a vote for Camargo.  When Mr. Dye first sent me there, the bunkering was hideous.

[Jonathan Cummings]

I think Lester did good work at Old White.  Also, Keith Foster did a fine job restoring Maxwell's Omaha CC.  JC

[Steve Lapper]

While it certainly remains early and no less than a tad premature, I'll go out on a wing and nominate Dellwood, when Jim gets finished there!

[Mike_Young]

I become a little confused with this restoration/renovation/remodel stuff so I may be incorrect in calling this a restoration but I think it is....either way it is good....Holston Hills...

[Jeff Dawson]

I've heard wonderful things about the work  Greenwich Country Club was doing 

Can't wait to see LACC it looks very good.   I would love to see Pinehurst No.2 on the list, but unless CC are able to do some work on the greens I can't add id to the list.

Great thread.

[Dean DiBerardino]

The work done at Canton Brookside by Brian Silva was really good!

[Roger Wolfe]

If the value of a restoration is based not only on the quality of the final product... but takes into account the state of the facility BEFORE the restoration... I have never seen anything compare to Spence's work at Carolina Golf Club in Charlotte.

Yes... I am somewhat biased.

[J_ Crisham]

My top 5 that I've played recently would include Cal Club, Pasa,OFCC South,  Skokie and of course Beverly for sentimental reasons! Honorable mention for the fine work at Flossmoor, Exmoor, and Blue Mound.
                                               Jack

[Adam Clayman]

Pasatiempo deserves mention. The course has come alive since I lived out that way.

[Gene Greco]

The work done at Canton Brookside by Brian Silva was really good!

...and so is the work Brian Silva did with MacCurrach Golf Construction (Chris Kleinsmith project manager) at the Southampton Golf Club.

In fact, the work is so good that one of our mighty neighbors asked them to come over and do some work on one of their more noteworthy holes!

[Ben Sims]

From what I've sen relatively lately, Gil and his guys on are on a helluva roll with great reno work.  Plainfield and Sleepy Hollow were very well done from what I saw there.  Plainfield in particular was one of the biggest surprises of the year for me.  Word has it that LACC North may be an easy second best in California now.

Pasa was also a revalation and my first "great" golf course.  The pictures of before and after on the 16th green are pretty cool.  I think Urbina poured his heart into that renovation and it shows.  I haven't seen it yet, but I hear that Yeaman's is extremely well done.

[Rory Connaughton]

In SE PA, Aronimink, Philly CC and Lancaster were all very good efforts

[Tom_Doak]

My top 5 that I've played recently would include Cal Club, Pasa,OFCC South,  Skokie and of course Beverly for sentimental reasons! Honorable mention for the fine work at Flossmoor, Exmoor, and Blue Mound.
                                               Jack

Jack,

My understanding was that the South course at Olympia Fields was a Smyers redesign, not a restoration at all.  Am I wrong?  I have not been back there in ages.

Amazing that even on here, the lines between redesign and restoration are so blurred.

[Phil McDade]

Tom:

There are several GCA regulars who know pretty well the work on the South course at Olympia Fields; let's hope they chime in. My sense is that the Bendelow original was largely restored, although a couple of holes from what I heard were significantly changed. The North course was also restored prior to the Open, but I think Mungeam's work there was more along the restoration vein.

I think Beverly fits the "restoration" definition more clearly than Flossmoor, which has one brand-new hole (par 3 13th), an essentially brand-new hole (the 8th), and two quite significantly changed holes (4th, short par 4 on the front nine, and a par 4 on the back nine -- 12?). I agree it's something of a slippery slope definition.

I think Forse's work at Lawsonia bears mentioning; he clearly worked at getting back to Langford's original intent there with wide fairways and large greens. It could still use a bit more restoration, but it's siginficantly improved. Tom -- join us for the Midwest Mashie in May of next year to see it up close!

[J_ Crisham]

My top 5 that I've played recently would include Cal Club, Pasa,OFCC South,  Skokie and of course Beverly for sentimental reasons! Honorable mention for the fine work at Flossmoor, Exmoor, and Blue Mound.
                                               Jack

Jack,

My understanding was that the South course at Olympia Fields was a Smyers redesign, not a restoration at all.  Am I wrong?  I have not been back there in ages.

Amazing that even on here, the lines between redesign and restoration are so blurred.

Tom,  You are correct that OFCC South is more a reno versus restoration. Cal Club is probably as well. Have played the South 5-6 times since the reno and if my memory serves me the 3rd,12th,14th have been changed significantly. Hopefully Jeff Goldman will chime in as he was instrumental in implementing the process. Flossmoor has been changed as well-it is now one of the finer designs in the South Chicago area.My only critique of Blue Mound would be that another 500 trees could have been  removed without missing a beat. Some of the most interesting greens in the Midwest-second only to White Bear Yacht in my opinion.
Beverly is definitely a restoration!                                                                                          Jack

[Phil_the_Author]

Tom simply puts it in the phrase, "We have done some good ones in California," but the work that he and Jim Urbina did at San Francisco Golf Club in restoring the greens after the nematode the severe problems they suffered is magnificent. The most important aspect of hole design on any Tillinghast course, by Tilly's own words, are the entrances to the greens. They were able to both preserve and eactingly recreate how the putting surfaces flowed from these surfaces and onto the rest of the putting surfaces. The wonderful rerstoration of 13-15, as well as the bunkers throughout the course, would follow directly and only because of that.

The work that Rees Jones and his crew are currently doing at Baltusrol Upper and Lower in recovering long missing Tillinghast features is also terrific. Once again bunkers are being both put back to where they opriginally were and shaped and including features as they originally were built. They are also slowly recovering the green entrances that were done away with in the past by turning them into rough frontings. The Lower will get rave reviews during the 2006 PGA.

[Lynn_Shackelford]

Going back to Joel's post, I am curious why he classifys Cal Club as a restoration?  I understand there is no such thing as pure perfect "going back to every mound" restoration.  Without having seen it in person, Cal Club didn't have all those bunkers before, no?

Even at LACC liberties were taken.  The course is now much longer and some extra tees around 11 and 16 never existed in Thomas' day.  However they attempted to stay loyal to the original bunkers and locations, pretty much.

So Phillip, Rees is restoring what his father took away at Baltusrol?

[Phil_the_Author]

Lynn,

Yes. I was there twice in the past 2+ months and toured the place with Rick Wolffe and Bob Trebus and on one memorable day, with Pat Mucci as well. Rick pointed out the old Tilly features that have been restored as well as others that will be taken care of in the future.

If you're in the area get in touch with him and take a tour.

[Patrick Kiser]

Also locally, I'd mention the good work at Pasatiempo and Claremont.  

How can I possibly forget Pasa.  Duh! moment.  Day and night from before.

What about Seminole?  Some time ago, didn't Brian Silva do a job there too and it was well received?

[Lynn_Shackelford]

Lynn,

Yes. I was there twice in the past 2+ months and toured the place with Rick Wolffe and Bob Trebus and on one memorable day, with Pat Mucci as well. Rick pointed out the old Tilly features that have been restored as well as others that will be taken care of in the future.

If you're in the area get in touch with him and take a tour.

The Upper course has always been one I wanted to play.  The Lower Course is just difficult and hard work.

[Patrick Kiser]

Without having seen it in person, Cal Club didn't have all those bunkers before, no?

Not exactly...  Sean and Josh should jump in here, but from I've gathered on various threads is the old Doc and Hunter came in after Willie Locke(Lock?) / A.V. Macan and what you see now was pretty much put in bunker wise (except for the five new holes obviously like the 7th).  

It's interesting too when you juxtapose Pasa and Cal with respect to bunkering.  MacKenzie was in a bunker phase or something.  Sean and Brad state the current Cal site dates back to 1924-25 (even if the club dates to 1918 but moved to the Ingleside site where SFGC used to be in 1920).  Apparently from Sean's timeline, Cal was Mac's / Hunter's second NorCal job (after Meadow Club) and this would have occured "a couple of years after" meaning ... 1927.  And Pasa is around 1928-29.  I mean ... totally different from say Meadow club.

So it's part resto and reno...

Josh's before and after pics to Jeff's thread (note the 1938 aerial):
 http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,35842.0/

Another thread or two with some historical pics:
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,38153.35/
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,38183.0

Willie Locke(Lock?) / A.V. Macan at Cal from Sean and Brad:
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,24999.0
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,33563.0