I played North Shore Country Club today as part of my quest to play all the MacRaynors. I really enjoyed the course, and while I had never played it prior to the Tom Doak overhaul, I thought it was a really solid mix of original Raynors, Doak-Raynor hybrids, and original Doak holes. Doak did a very nice job blending his work in with Raynor's, and I thought that even the holes that were entirely Doak fit very well with the rest of the course.
I thought there were some really excellent holes on this course, including a wonderful set of par 3 holes (a great Redan, a very well done Eden, a Biarritz with a half green that nonetheless plays like a full, and a gorgeous Short added by Doak). Doak's 7th hole (Bandon) is justifiably loved by the membership, and the par 5 16th (Ravine) has a wildly undulating fairway. The Double Plateau 14th is one of the best versions of that hole that I've ever played.
The staff was extremely welcoming and friendly, and the club retains a very nice old school vibe.
Two interesting points about this course:
One, as anyone familiar with this course now knows, it was believed to be a Tillinghast design for most of its life until recently. I cannot see how anyone familiar with the work of Raynor or Tillinghast could ever mistake this course for a Tillie, and I would love to know how that really went undiscovered and unchallenged
Two, in the Confidential Guide, Doak rates this course a 4 and (in addition to questioning the Tillie provenance) states that the course "has some great pieces but never quite puts them all together." I'd love to hear what he thinks of the course now that he's put some serious work into it.
So, does anyone want a photo tour? I didn't see a previous tour of this course (though I'm still learning to effectively work the search). If anyone wants a look, I'll put up the shots I took of all 18 holes.