Mark:
Thanks for the tour. I will be happily giving a lot of tours there in three weeks' time at the Grand Opening, and the Renaissance Cup immediately afterward.
I am happy that the finishing holes for once are not criticized as weak. The routing worked out to their benefit this time.
Mike Sweeney is correct that the 18th hole is loosely inspired by the 18th at Stonewall. Bill Coore had designed a hole originally [which would have followed from what's now Blue #1] that played from my landing area down to the green, and then across the pond to where the practice green stands now. But, we had no idea what the clubhouse was going to look like at that point, and both of us were concerned that because of the size, getting up too close to it would distract from the golf hole. So, I shifted the green to the other side of the water, and the tee back down the hill.
The key was to plan the 17th hole to play through that thicket of trees that went across just short of the cross-bunkers. That was a very thick area, and it was a leap of faith to plan on going through it and dealing with the drainage issues there and try to visualize a hole we really couldn't see. But, as it turns out, the 17th is one of the best holes on the course, thanks to Eric's and Mike's and Bruce's hard work. I love that 17th green -- which is all Eric's, I didn't say or do a thing to it.