Had a nice walk around the revamped Royal Melbourne (East) on Tuesday with a long-time member who was kind enough to show me the changes and explain what had been done, which in many instances is extremely subtle and wouldn't be noticed by someone not intimately familiar with the course (such as me!).
The holes in question are 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15 and 17 -- ie. every hole on the outer paddocks except for 5, 9 and 14 (I trust Tom D or someone else will inform me if I missed small changes to these three holes).
I don't have pictures of every hole, but I did snap what I thought were the most significant alterations.
The 6th is changed fairly significantly, with a greater width at the front for a running approach and softening of the shaping in the back and left of the green, which previously were fairly sizeable. There is also a great little chipping area long left that may well prove to be the preferred miss to back pins. Would the hole be further improved by the removal of that large gum tree?
The par five 7th appears to have seen the bunker outside the dogleg on the drive reduced in size, as well as the cross bunkering short of the lay-up being increased in width, eating more into the fairway and adding some interest on the second shot.
Bunkering inside the dogleg at the 8th has been made smaller, eating less into the fairway and allowing the inside line to be taken without so much carry over the sand.
An expanded second fairway bunker at the 10th creates new challenge for big hitters who could previously hoist a high cut over the first bunker and inside the second one. This has been paired with clearing on the left that widens the fairway out there for the weaker golfer/shot.
The 11th has had changes that appear to be at once extensive and also nigh on unnoticeable, at least for me. Has the fairway been raised to improve drainage? I'm not sure. I do know the angled ridge short of the green has been altered somewhat and I must say the angle and slope has it feeding the front left bunker the way you see that done so effectively on 2 and 12 at Rye. It also feeds -- if the ball has insufficient speed to reach the bunker -- a little chipping area that will mean a pitch over the front left bunker to a left pin. No pic, sorry.
At the 12th, a small bunker greenfront left is gone and replaced with a fairway-height chipping area fronted by a small ridge up to the green. The old bunker was small and rendered blind by the giant foreshortening bunker 30-70m in front of the green, probably a good change.
The short par three 13th used to have some fairly unattractive long grasses in front of the tee, but that has been replaced by a short bunker that then creates a "string of pearls" that stretches all the way to the greenside bunkering, much like 15 at Kingston Heath. The tee has also been expanded and now flows more naturally out of the 12th green, another great touch. Bunkering and tee look wonderful and lift the hole a couple of notches in my book.
Finally, the 15th has been changed significantly, and most noticeably at the green, where the predominant left-to-right slope is gone in favour of a noticeable front-to-back tilt in the rear half of the green and a gentle front-to-back-running valley that aims at the outside of the dogleg, where the club and architect would really appreciate if you hit your drive, taking care not to rain 46 grams of terror on the houses that flank the RHS boundary!! Unfortunately, the vegetation at the right remains, and it is still out of character with the other 35 holes that comprise Royal Melbourne. For my money, that area is similar, but not nearly as well done as the grassy areas on 12 West that guard the boundary. In any case, these changes improve 15, though not so much as to make it a strong hole, but it is what it is and like the 3rd at Yarra Yarra, the major issue at play is the boundary proximity and its related legal and safety issues.
The 17th hole is also getting a new set of tees, which were being shaped (edit - by Brian Slawnik) while I was there. I can't see that they are in a significantly different place than their predecessors and would be interested to know whether it was simply a case of re-construction, or if they have indeed been moved.
For the most part, the changes are fairly subtle and look extremely faithful to the spirit of Royal Melbourne.
15 is now better, but for my money 6 and 13 are the most improved holes, and I also suspect 10 will play more true to the design intent as a result of the new bunkering that should mean more players must interact with the cross bunkering on their second shot.