One of the virtues in having 90 holes of golf (5 individual courses at one facility) is the wherewithal to make the Black the kind of course it should be. For too long the powers that be failed to understand what a jewel they had -- a masterpiece that needed some fine tuning and TLC which is now happening through the excellent work of their new superintendent and staff.
GeoffreyC:
Right on target about the sign at the first tee ... "Warning the Black is extremely difficult golf course and is recommended only for highly skilled golfers." Those are not empty words or some PR fluff.
This sign means if you duff the ball -- play military golf (right / left / right) you have no business on the Black. You will simply become massively frustrated and so will those poor souls who happen to play behind you. The Black pays no heed to any golfer who fails to deliver quality shots time after time even with indifferent putting surfaces on a third of the holes in my opinion.
When you have a jewel of a piece of property that the Black exists on I think you have to max out the opportunity in making it the best golf course possible.
My frustration GeoffreyC is that pace of play at the Black is akin to the death march you often get at PB and a number of high profile public courses. I can remember the last time I got to the 2nd tee at the Black -- there were 3-4 groups waiting to play that hole. What did they eventually do? Half of them started to practice putt and chip at the nearby 17th hole on the Green Course! The facility is doing a better job with pace of play but more must be done -- especially after the Open finishes and more players than ever before will be chomping at the bit to play it.
I don't want the Black to be dumbed down. I want it to be the snarling non-negotiable beast that gives credence to its name ... B-L-A-C-K. Golfers should know, even fear, that mistakes will result in the lights going out real fast. When that happens you will know the meaning of how dark things can become on the course.
Richard:
With all due respect, when you say "playability" at the Black you can all but eliminate 2/3's of the people who simply cannot deliver the type of shotmaking the Black calls for -- and I mean this BEFORE all the renovations were made to the course. The terrain in itself is difficult to walk for a good portion of players who are used to an all-day picnic when they play. What should they do? How about going over to the other solid courses at the facility?
Think of skiing -- you have double diamond hills. You know what that means -- stay the hell off this slope unless you want to be in traction for the next few weeks.
A simple changing of about six greens would make the Black equal to any course among America's finest -- an opportunity was there and I'm afraid it was missed.
GeoffreyC:
Don't know if you are aware but the USGA will grow rough (about 1-2 inches in height) at the base of the 6th hole. Sorry to see this. Why eliminate the risk and reward feature and make this just an iron to the top of the hill hole?
As far as the 1st hole is concerned I think having an inside bunker would have been a better solution than the planting of ash trees -- unless the tee is placed to the far right you will have players easily angling over the corner with little fear. I do it now and have had as little as 100 yards into the green. A massive nunker at the corner would really make the decision to be bold a bit more demanding than it is now.
