http://jayflemma.thegolfspace.com/?p=5442From the article:
Now I had the good fortune to play Mid Ocean on the same day as Malcolm Gosling purveyor of both fine rums and crisp iron shots. (He’s quite the stick, you know. He shoots in the 70s regularly.) His world famous Gosling’s Black Seal is the quintessential ingredient in the Dark and Stormy – not only the Bermudian national drink, but one of the island’s greatest contributions to world cuisine.
“I want you to write in your article that they ought to restore the 13th green so that the front of the swale is green too!” opined the jovial Gosling, and I was glad to heartily agree with him. After all, Stephen Kay’s successful restoration of Forsgate’s 17th hole by returning the front of the swale to actual green (rather than fairway) made their Biarritz one of the world’s great golf holes. Besides, most golfers find it more fun with the swale in the green, so they can try to putt through it. Practically buoyant after my talk with the affable Gosling, and just as desirous to see a green restored to its former Golden Age glory, I gleefully promised him I’d address the idea with Tom Doak.
Malcolm, there’s just one problem…
“The earliest aerial photos we have show that the front of the swale was NOT green,” Doak replied.
Balloon…meet pin.
“We’ve been checking, believe me,” confided Doak, “but we haven’t uncovered anything to indicate to us that the front was ever green.”
A core sample might confirm this. After all, many Raynor/Banks greens are built on a layer of charcoal ash. That’s how Kay confirmed that the front of the swale at Forsgate was actually green, lost over time by lazy maintenance practices and tight budgets. But Doak is nothing if not thorough. If he had reason to tell the club to restore something worthy of restoring, you know he’d have brought it up. Disappointing? Yes, but hey Malcolm, it’s nothing a few Dark and Stormies can’t fix.