Restoration Shelf Life

[Kyle Harris]

A few things got me on this thought.

Completion of the Golf Course

Should the golf course be considered complete on Opening Day? What if, as is the case of many construction projects, completion either never fully occurs or is a 5+ year process?

The Clubhouse Fire

Or the thing that comes up that necessitates a major change to the golf course. Restoration work may undo the work completed, but perhaps the reason for the change still exists in some form?

The Plan v. Construction Debate

See the Ron Prichard/Gil Hanse thread about Aronimink

To me, this all begs the question...

What is the shelf life of a restoration? What changes have been made to noteworthy restoration projects in the past twenty years?

[Tom_Doak]

Most of the restoration projects I've done have happened over several years of changes, instead of all at once.  At times I've just longed for them to be completed so the members wouldn't have to deal with construction anymore!  But those clubs still want me to come back and look at things every so often.  I can't tell whether they are addicted to construction, or if the job is never really done.


All restorations have to start with some baseline in mind and that's usually a date at which the club has good info to look back at.  But people keep digging up new info on how the course has evolved, and are tantalized by something they see that's a little bit different.  And deep down, there are not many architects who turn down such work when it comes to them.

[Kyle Harris]

Tom Doak,

It still amazes me how much something recently completed changes the overall look of something still relatively new, as at Streamsong. Obviously this effect is a bit more pronounced on older courses. On your subsequent visits post-restoration, how much of the discussion is on features that matter to so-called shot values such as green/fairway contour, and how much based on the more window dressing elements like bunkers and grass lines?

[Tom_Doak]

Kyle:  Not sure I understood your first sentence. 


The answer to your question is that bunkers and sometimes trees dominate the discussion, because they're the only pieces that members can really pick out on an old black and white aerial.  Green and fairway contours tend to change less, because they are more expensive in terms of disruption to member play, but I could be underestimating that because there is little record of the changes.  I was just at Royal Melbourne and one of the old assistants was telling me how much the greens were changed when they re-grassed in the 1980's.  Since then the greens have been consistently mapped every 5-10 years, but the earliest map was done just AFTER the changes.  I guess that superintendent was covering his tracks.

[Joel_Stewart]

A few things got me on this thought.

Completion of the Golf Course

Should the golf course be considered complete on Opening Day? What if, as is the case of many construction projects, completion either never fully occurs or is a 5+ year process?

This is an obvious NO.  I've been watching Cal Club evolve since the restoration and it continues to get better.  SFGC continues to tinker as well, this going on 10 years after the restoration.

[David_Tepper]

A friend who is a long-time member at Crooked Stick tells me Pete Dye still hasn't "completed" the course.

[Mike_Young]

The odd thing about this subject is how it varies from course to course.  If a regional guy were to sign off on a course as completed for a municipality or in some cases a developer or club and then tell them it was not finished and would need adjustments to a few greens or tees etc in the next few years he would be fired.  And yet, on top private clubs it is just business as usual. 

[Ian Andrew]

Sure there's politics, money and trends ... but I think we sometimes forget weather can play an unusually large role in how long things can remain static.

[Mark_Fine]

Restoration will always be one of the most controversial subjects.  It is soooo subjective despite how black and white we often  try to make it.  Flynn for example often didn't build many of the bunkers he had planned for his golf courses until he saw how the course was played for a few years.  Some architects like Colt developed suggested tree planting plans for their layouts, some built tee elasticity into their designs and routings, ...   So what do you restore?   I do believe, however, that most architects had certain design styles and preferences and if you study enough of their work you can figure this out.  That coupled with extensive research into finding old drawings, early aerials and old photographs and you can probably get close to understanding what was once there.  It is a lot of work and not many architects want to take the time to do all the research.  And then some like Tom Fazio will state as he did in his book (I am paraphrasing a little) who cares what some dead guy did 100 years ago, I can do better 😊

[Kyle Harris]

Tom Doak,

In the now 5 years that Streamsong has existed in some form of looking like a golf course, and across many of thousands of photos I have of the whole process between now and then, we still can tweak something out here and it has a fresh/new look. This contrasts rather sharply with an era that has comparatively less photo documentation of all the subtle changes.

One of my early "shocking" moments in learning the golf maintenance side of the industry was just how much liberties can be taken with things like green contour during the course or seasonal repair work. A small washout can yield a substantive change in how a putting surface integrates with a bunker for example.

The legend of the second green at Pine Valley is that it was the product of the front portion washing out so many times over the first few decades of existence.

[Ian Andrew]

The restoration decisions have always been challenging ... I often choose to keep things that have evolved to something really cool.
It's the most subjective decision that I make regularly.


I would love to go with Tom Doak and team to Pacific Dunes with a set of photos from Archipalozza (which I have).
Hear their discussions about what has changed and listen to them discuss what should they would like put back.
It would be a window into whether my choices regarding evolution are the right ones.

[Tom_Doak]

The restoration decisions have always been challenging ... I often choose to keep things that have evolved to something really cool.
It's the most subjective decision that I make regularly.


I would love to go with Tom Doak and team to Pacific Dunes with a set of photos from Archipalozza (which I have).
Hear their discussions about what has changed and listen to them discuss what should they would like put back.
It would be a window into whether my choices regarding evolution are the right ones.

Maybe we can do that this winter.  I have to be back out there for a few days.


Kyle, your post has piqued my interest.  I have seen some examples of greens being changed by maintenance practices, but perhaps such changes are far more common than I've assumed.  That is a topic that really deserves its own thread, especially so that other superintendents will chime in.  I hope you start one!