Thank you, Carl. I have played UMaryland...not one of my faves. It seems like he has designed a lot of courses...how many of them are places GCA.com would really like?
I don't have enough experience to say anything helpful about Cobb, but again I would emphasize that today, I belive, Quail is more of a Tom Fazio course. Beyond that, my sense is that GCA.com would not think favorably of Quail, but I could be wrong. I do think it bears seeing in person, rather than just on TV, to evaluate. It is a BIG course. As I understand it, the design has been driven by Johnny Harris' (developer and de facto owner) desire to hold major professional tournaments. He's finally landed "a major" - the PGA Championship in 2017. I enjoy watching the pros play the course. I cannot imagine that I would enjoy playing it myself. It's essentially an "all aerial" course.
Number 15, a par five, would probably play as a par 7 for me, but many of the pros can reach it in two, with risk. Number 5, another par five, is very similar to number 15, but without any water. Both are left doglegs, down somewhat off the tee and then really up to the greens. For my money, they are too similar.
Although not an island green, no. 17, a par three over water, seems to reference no. 17 at TPC Sawgrass. If I played the course, I think I'd just skip it, but for potential disaster excitement the fans seem to like it. No. 17 will be substantially redesigned beginning Monday. I believe I have read what they are going to to it, but I have forgotten the details. Except for 17, the other par threes seem similar to me, and not very interesting.
No. 8 will also be changed - again. It is a short part four, and it has always had (as I recall under the Fazio era) a very funky green. This year is no exception. Geoff Ogilvy suggests giving up on the hole as a par 4, and converting it to a par three with a new green where the par four landing area is now. [See Charlotte Observer article by Ron Greene, Jr. linked to above.] Seems like a good idea to me. He then says, make no. 6, currently a par 3, into a short, drivable par four. Apparently that would revert to original Cobb design, although I have no personal recollection of that.
Jay F: "Is Quail over-rated? If so, is it over-rated for the worst of reasons - i.e. because they really bend over backwards to provide swag bags of ridiculous size to the players? (like BMW rental cars and expensive wine gift bags?)"Actually, Mercedes Benz (slap your mouth boy, as they would say in these parts
), not BMW. Certainly, the personal attention paid to the players, their wives and their caddies does not hurt a bit.