In California you have Trump National Los Angeles which if not a "bad" course is definitely not a good one. Monarch Beach Golf Links is pretty poor.
Pre and post, "if not a bad course is definitely not a good one."
Where did Pete Dye go wrong ?
Where did he go wrong?
The land was really not suited for golf. The course resembles the terrace farming used in Italy.
The playing corridors are not wide enough and each hole has a concrete curbed cart path that runs the entire length of one side of the hole (usually the higher side) and is often in play.
The first hole has an incredibly annoying fake water feature that drowns out the Pacific Ocean.
Recovery shots are impossible if the fairway is missed by more than a few yards in places.
In addition to the stupid water feature four or five unnatural lakes were added to the property and are really out of place.
The course is unwalkable.
With the exception of the 1st hole all of the holes run either north or south which makes for a very boring routing.
Most of the holes play relatively straight.
The green complexes are pretty redundant, most of the greens are turned at around a 45 degree angle in order to make straight holes seem less straight.
Trump did have people come in and do some additional work on some green complexes to put more variety and interest in them but Dye's original green complexes were pretty boring.
The green contours are unnatural and often don't tie in to the surrounding land.
The course feels very unnatural and contrived.