For those of you familiar with RTJ's White Course at Eisenhower Park on Long Island, the Nassau County muni has undergone a rather significant transformation over the past year.
Newsday outlined some of the changes back in June, and I was out there this weekend to take a look for myself. Considering I've always found the course to be a repetitive bore, I was very pleasantly surprised.
The park has built and/or restored bunkers all over the course, turning it from a monotonous procession of straight holes and gaping greenfront traps into a course that at least gives the illusion of shape and movement with the addition of dozens of fairway bunkers.
Also, many of the new or refurbished bunkers have been built with sod walls, replacing what had been the rather unsightly pushed-up traps that have long protected the White's greens. A few small pot bunkers were added too.
The last aspect of the change is the removal of rough around the elevated greens on about a half-dozen holes. On those holes, the runoffs are mowed down to fairway cut. Not sure if the park plans to expand this change to more holes. Unfortunately there still isn't much, if any, potential for run-up shots to the White's raised greens, even with the low cut.
White has long been among the small handful of courses on the Island that I've had little to no interest returning to, but these changes, in my opinion, have definitely boosted the appeal of the course. It's still not a gem from an architectural standpoint, but it's not often you come across such quick and drastic changes for the better -- especially on a muni, with all work done in house by park staff.