"Back to the Olympic Club"

[David_Tepper]

Brad Klein on the Gil Hanse renovation:

https://www.golfcourseindustry.com/article/olympic-club-san-francisco-klein/?fbclid=IwAR2TrUCGfuQJqQnulzzRPWSl4PN9Yj-LeZj8_9rL4MCJ84FFQXrX3Bs3DFw

[Wayne Wiggins, Jr.]

David


Like you, and quite a few others on this site, I'm a member at Olympic, and marvel at how off-the-radar this transformation has remained. Of all the restorations/renovations/redos chronicled here over the years, along with the myriad golf sites like Fried Egg, Broken Tee, etc., it amazes me how little is being discussed and shared out there.


The highlighted work in the article along with the loss of scores of trees, will blow people's minds especially when thinking of those longstanding perceptions about being too narrow, too claustrophobic, and one-dimensional.


Should be a really fun and interesting (two words not often used when describing the Lake!) course when it reopens.


WW

[John Foley]

Wow did not know this. I guess Gil did a little selling when he was in the area. This sounds like a great news.


Back in the day the changes others put in here created some huge discussions and now this is almost swept under the rug. My have thing changes.


Wonder what Gib's take on this is?

[Wayne Wiggins, Jr.]

I never could figure out how to post pix, otherwise I would.

[Wayne Wiggins, Jr.]

A ha! Think I've figured it out.
#9

[Max Prokopy]

Great news - I played there only once but thought the merits were far beyond the legendary cheeseburger dogs.


Given the profile of the club and size of the membership, it is odd there's not more publicity about the renovation.

[Michael Chadwick]

Of all the restorations/renovations/redos chronicled here over the years, along with the myriad golf sites like Fried Egg, Broken Tee, etc., it amazes me how little is being discussed and shared out there.

The progress is looking quite promising so far, but from my own outside point of view, the club has put little effort into messaging the scope or rationale for the work. Which admittedly is understandable; they're probably not trying to sell memberships, and already have the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup on the books. Even Klein's article doesn't make any mention of the original architects, apart from indicating historic aerials have been referenced for reincorporating additional fairway bunkers. What I could ascertain from the article was a predominantly infrastructural theme.


Lake Merced, in contrast, made Hanse's diagrams publicly available on the site before breaking ground, and had a clear narrative about returning as closely as possible the aesthetics of the course to what MacKenzie did when he was hired to redesign Locke's course. Which, again, was likely done under different motivations when it came to memberships. 


 

[Matt_Cohn]

The progress is looking quite promising so far, but from my own outside point of view, the club has put little effort into messaging the scope or rationale for the work. Which admittedly is understandable; they're probably not trying to sell memberships, and already have the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup on the books. Even Klein's article doesn't make any mention of the original architects, apart from indicating historic aerials have been referenced for reincorporating additional fairway bunkers. What I could ascertain from the article was a predominantly infrastructural theme.

Lake Merced had some captivating old pictures, especially of that par 3, where they could say, "We're gonna make it look like THIS!" And they had the MacKenzie name. I'm not sure Olympic has either, I would agree that I can't succinctly summarize exactly what's being done, other than rebuilding the bunkers to look like an old course and restore some lost ones. But I'm not even sure if the bunkers are being renovated to the style that was there, or if they're just being made to look older. I know that not many people like the bunkers that were created 8 or so years ago, and I think that was a large motivation for the current work.

[Tim Passalacqua]

The progress is looking quite promising so far, but from my own outside point of view, the club has put little effort into messaging the scope or rationale for the work. Which admittedly is understandable; they're probably not trying to sell memberships, and already have the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup on the books. Even Klein's article doesn't make any mention of the original architects, apart from indicating historic aerials have been referenced for reincorporating additional fairway bunkers. What I could ascertain from the article was a predominantly infrastructural theme.

Lake Merced had some captivating old pictures, especially of that par 3, where they could say, "We're gonna make it look like THIS!" And they had the MacKenzie name. I'm not sure Olympic has either, I would agree that I can't succinctly summarize exactly what's being done, other than rebuilding the bunkers to look like an old course and restore some lost ones. But I'm not even sure if the bunkers are being renovated to the style that was there, or if they're just being made to look older. I know that not many people like the bunkers that were created 8 or so years ago, and I think that was a large motivation for the current work.

The fairways have been widened by about 25%.  I would say about 45 yards wide on average.  Fairways with more slope (4&9) are wider.  Greens are 35% larger.  The new bunkering recaptures the 1920s look of the course that Sam Whiting built.  A lot of the bunkers look very similar to old aerials I have seen and Gil has made tweaks to others.  The fairway bunkers added on 4, 9, 11, 14, 16, 17, and 18, were all originally built by Sam Whiting.  The green expansions are wonderful.  Along with the additional size, Gil is adding a good deal of variety to the shapes of the greens.  As you can see in Wayne’s picture of the 9th green, it has a rectangular shape.  I feel this is one aspect of the project that has been overlooked.  It will be great.  The only new hole will be 7.  Gil is angling it right of the current 7th, so the walk to 8 tee will flow perfectly.  When 8 was rebuilt before the ‘12 Open, it created a terrible walk back to the tee of 150+ yards.  Problem solved.  Overall, you’ll see more variety and more playability.

[Tim Passalacqua]

Also, I think golfers will be pleased that 18 fairway is 40 yards wide.  The 2 original fairway bunkers have returned.  More options off the tee depending on how far you want to get down the hill.  Preferred angle is on the left side, so you can get a straight angle to the green.

[Adam Lawrence]

I remember visiting Olympic in 2017 to report on a round of bunker renovations, and I can't say I took to the Lake. It struck me as hard, charmless and no fun. Championship heritage is all very well, but it wasn't my kind of golf.

[Tim Passalacqua]

I remember visiting Olympic in 2017 to report on a round of bunker renovations, and I can't say I took to the Lake. It struck me as hard, charmless and no fun. Championship heritage is all very well, but it wasn't my kind of golf.

Understood.  I’ve always thought the Lake course had a great piece of land and it’s one of my favorite routings in golf. Now, it will finally have the architecture to complement the site. The Lake will challenge you and present interest in a way no other course will.  The way the holes are routed and the uneven lies make it unique.  The course being draped over the the side of the hill is different and makes the it stand out.  I still would encourage everybody to move up a tee to have more fun.  6600 from the blues in Daly City is like 7000 elsewhere.  I think a lot of people would thoroughly enjoy it from the whites.

[Brent Carlson]

The progress is looking quite promising so far, but from my own outside point of view, the club has put little effort into messaging the scope or rationale for the work. Which admittedly is understandable; they're probably not trying to sell memberships, and already have the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup on the books. Even Klein's article doesn't make any mention of the original architects, apart from indicating historic aerials have been referenced for reincorporating additional fairway bunkers. What I could ascertain from the article was a predominantly infrastructural theme.

Lake Merced had some captivating old pictures, especially of that par 3, where they could say, "We're gonna make it look like THIS!" And they had the MacKenzie name. I'm not sure Olympic has either, I would agree that I can't succinctly summarize exactly what's being done, other than rebuilding the bunkers to look like an old course and restore some lost ones. But I'm not even sure if the bunkers are being renovated to the style that was there, or if they're just being made to look older. I know that not many people like the bunkers that were created 8 or so years ago, and I think that was a large motivation for the current work.

The fairways have been widened by about 25%.  I would say about 45 yards wide on average.  Fairways with more slope (4&9) are wider.  Greens are 35% larger.  The new bunkering recaptures the 1920s look of the course that Sam Whiting built.  A lot of the bunkers look very similar to old aerials I have seen and Gil has made tweaks to others.  The fairway bunkers added on 4, 9, 11, 14, 16, 17, and 18, were all originally built by Sam Whiting.  The green expansions are wonderful.  Along with the additional size, Gil is adding a good deal of variety to the shapes of the greens.  As you can see in Wayne’s picture of the 9th green, it has a rectangular shape.  I feel this is one aspect of the project that has been overlooked.  It will be great.  The only new hole will be 7.  Gil is angling it right of the current 7th, so the walk to 8 tee will flow perfectly.  When 8 was rebuilt before the ‘12 Open, it created a terrible walk back to the tee of 150+ yards.  Problem solved.  Overall, you’ll see more variety and more playability.

Tim,


Regarding the greens - are the shapes being restored to original or is Gil adding his touch?  I assume the slopes are original and staying the same.


I played the course in 2021 and enjoyed it more than I anticipated.  It's a cool routing.  The vibe is great and I like the last three holes a lot.


Cheers

[Tim Passalacqua]

The progress is looking quite promising so far, but from my own outside point of view, the club has put little effort into messaging the scope or rationale for the work. Which admittedly is understandable; they're probably not trying to sell memberships, and already have the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup on the books. Even Klein's article doesn't make any mention of the original architects, apart from indicating historic aerials have been referenced for reincorporating additional fairway bunkers. What I could ascertain from the article was a predominantly infrastructural theme.

Lake Merced had some captivating old pictures, especially of that par 3, where they could say, "We're gonna make it look like THIS!" And they had the MacKenzie name. I'm not sure Olympic has either, I would agree that I can't succinctly summarize exactly what's being done, other than rebuilding the bunkers to look like an old course and restore some lost ones. But I'm not even sure if the bunkers are being renovated to the style that was there, or if they're just being made to look older. I know that not many people like the bunkers that were created 8 or so years ago, and I think that was a large motivation for the current work.

The fairways have been widened by about 25%.  I would say about 45 yards wide on average.  Fairways with more slope (4&9) are wider.  Greens are 35% larger.  The new bunkering recaptures the 1920s look of the course that Sam Whiting built.  A lot of the bunkers look very similar to old aerials I have seen and Gil has made tweaks to others.  The fairway bunkers added on 4, 9, 11, 14, 16, 17, and 18, were all originally built by Sam Whiting.  The green expansions are wonderful.  Along with the additional size, Gil is adding a good deal of variety to the shapes of the greens.  As you can see in Wayne’s picture of the 9th green, it has a rectangular shape.  I feel this is one aspect of the project that has been overlooked.  It will be great.  The only new hole will be 7.  Gil is angling it right of the current 7th, so the walk to 8 tee will flow perfectly.  When 8 was rebuilt before the ‘12 Open, it created a terrible walk back to the tee of 150+ yards.  Problem solved.  Overall, you’ll see more variety and more playability.

Tim,


Regarding the greens - are the shapes being restored to original or is Gil adding his touch?  I assume the slopes are original and staying the same.


I played the course in 2021 and enjoyed it more than I anticipated.  It's a cool routing.  The vibe is great and I like the last three holes a lot.


Cheers

Brent,


From what I understand, the current slopes are staying and Gil is expanding the edges.  From the aerials I’ve seen, I think Gil is putting his touch on it, which is great.  He will add a lot more variety and character to the greens.  9 didn’t look rectangular in the old aerial.  He does such an unbelievable job at making each hole different through bunkering or green shapes/slopes, which the Lake needed.  If you liked 16-18 before, wait until you see them next time! 

[Tim Passalacqua]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CrD6E61M7A3/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=


Some fun, quick commentary from Gil about the routing and land on the Lake.  I’ve never tried a link from Instagram.  Hopefully, it works.